Aaron Shust released his newest album, 'Morning Rises,' on July 16, after being inspired to worship and be brought closer to God through the struggles in his life.
Shust is the father of three sons and through the various trials and tribulations that he has recently faced in his family life, he has been able to find miracles and the strength to overcome through music and worship. "It's therapeutic to my soul to sing these words when life is tumultuous," Shust said, according to the bio on his website. "I need to write and find songs that I want to sing, songs that proclaim God as faithful, songs that proclaim God as larger than our situation and our circumstance. I want to sing songs that glorify Him and lift His name up."
Shust and his wife Sarah have three young sons who have faced a great deal of hardship in their young lives with medical struggles and, as parents, Shust and his wife have experience the great emotional toll that accompanies such struggles. Their second son, Nicky, was extremely sick as an infant and their third son, Michael, faced a heart condition as well as an early diagnosis of Down Syndrome. "He was born at 4:17 in the morning on January 13th and that was a rough day," Shust said. "We found out he had a major heart defect that would require open heart surgery. A lot of tears were shed and it was just a long day, quite literally and emotionally. When the sun rose on the morning of the 14th there was that ray of hope. It was a new day. We were veterans of one day. God is with us. The sun is rising and God's mercies are new. He's never early. He's never late. He doesn't leave to come back. He's with us. He called us to this."
Despite the difficulty the family faced, they found that God accomplished miraculous things in the lives of their young sons. "Nicky was in a really bad place at one time," Shust said. "The disease went from almost taking his life to being completely not in his body at all. Clinically, medically, certifiably it was gone."
They witness miracles in Michael's life as well. He managed to survive open heart surgery just five months after his birth, but was soon diagnosed with deafness as well. "Multiple tests came back completely flat lined. The doctors said he'd probably never hear," Shust said. "My wife Sarah felt led to take him to a prayer conference in New York and they prayed over him. When we took him back to the doctor those tests came back with a full range of perfect hearing. Miracles happen and it's just amazing. Our little boy can hear. It bolstered my faith."
With his new album, 'Morning Rises,' Shust decided to give God glory and praise for all that He had accomplished in the lives of his young boys. These miraculous experiences have given Shust a renewed passion and conviction that he should devote his life, wholly and completely, to God. "Sometimes He chooses not to heal and I don't know why, but we just need to trust that His ways are higher than our ways," Shust said. "His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and that He's still good and He's still God. He will one day make all things right like He promises. It's a strong balance of saying, 'Hey praise God because he heals and praise him even when he doesn't.' That's what this album hopefully covers. 'Morning Rises', to me, represents hope. 'Morning Rises' represents promise."
'Morning Rises' marks Shust's fifth album release and it echoes messages of hope and faith despite situations of hardship. The new album features Shust's rendition of the well known worship song, 'Cornerstone,' originally performed by Hillsong, as well as a number of Shust's original songs. In twelve tracks the album showcases Shust's worshipful vocals accompanied by light instrumentals such as piano, guitar and rhythmic drum beats.
The new album was proceeded by Ed Cash and marks the first album that Shust has recorded in studio with his touring band. "There is a risk involved when you use a road band, but these guys nailed it quickly and quite efficiently. They did a great job," Shust said. "We love leading worship. We're a worship band and I'm a worship artist. We love to do that. One of our favorite groups to play for are pastors at their conferences. When they get together and they don't have to preach next, those boys can sing! They jump right in the deep end and those are always rewarding."
The album begins with the 30-second intro, 'Morning Rises' that leads into the second song, 'God of Brilliant Lights.' This is a joyful anthem that tells of God's ability to shine in the darkness and to offer us His perfect and unconditional love. "This is an album about how God is faithful. God is steadfast. God is the same," Shust said. "Whenever our life goes crazy we can say, 'God is faithful.' If you believe the verses that we memorized as kids or in our early Christian lives, that He has a plan for us, that He's never going to leave us, that He's never going to forsake us, then that rings true. You need those truths in the dark hours."
The new album also features two songs which Shust refers to as 'throne room' songs, and they are 'Rushing Waters' and 'Great Is The Chorus.' "The idea is the chorus that surrounds the throne," Shust said of his song, 'Great Is The Chorus,' co-written with Matt Armstrong. "The chorus is raised by the voices of the saints, the angels, and the elders and is constantly happening. It's happening right now, praising the almighty God, and we have the opportunity when we gather to join in that chorus. We've sung that at my home church and it's been embraced."
The eighth track on the album is a track entitled, 'Deliver Me.' It proves to be a humble prayer, asking God to break the chains of this world and reveal his great strength to overcome. "The first verse says, 'He won't abandon. He won't deceive,'" Shust said of this song. "In the second verse, we change it from a horizontal approach speaking about God to a vertical approach where we sing to God directly and say, 'You won't abandon. You won't deceive.'"
In addition to his renewed passion for God, Shust has also found a renewed passion for life, itself. "I feel like every day is an adventure," he said. "Every day presents a challenge. How do we tackle this one? How do we approach this one? The answer is by the grace of God. In everything that comes our way, whenever we start to find ourselves overwhelmed, the mighty hand of God reaches down and picks us up. I feel that. His hand sustains us and we feel very lifted."
