JJ Heller's new album Sound of a Living Heart is available everywhere August 21. The singer/songwriter's gentle, introspective style first found a broad audience through "So You Think You Can Dance?," which featured her song "Your Hands." Radio was quick to pick up on her songs as well, with "Your Hands" and "What Love Really Means" impacting listeners across the country.

Sound of a Living Heart is a very worshipful album showcasing JJ's hallmark transparency and hope. JJ has blessed listeners by writing and singing such piercing and moving songs. JJ's remarkable singing voice and her interesting music and lyrics are truly captivating. What's especially cool about this album is how JJ invites listeners into her life by sharing what's on her heart, reflecting on life and faith issues with every single note. Painted Red, When I'm With You and Loved have been in heavy rotation for me since they released, and they have each featured standout songs like "Your Hands," "What Love Really Means" and "Who You Are." I had the chance to speak with JJ and her husband and musical partner Dave about "Fully Known."

Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

JJ: This song is based on a concept that has been floating around in my head for a long time. I'm so glad that it finally materialized into a song. One day the Lord put this idea in my head that God has decided to love you, and you cannot change His mind. I've been wanting to write a song incorporating that concept for a few years now, and it wasn't until I saw Tim Keller tweeted "Fully known. Truly loved" that I thought "that's it! I can put those two concepts together in the chorus, and take it from there." 

I think everybody desires to be known. I was thinking back to my college experience, and all of my high expectations going into my freshmen year, and nothing panning out the way I hoped it would. I went to college and hoped my roommate would be my best friend, that I would connect with a really great group of people and we'd hang out all the time. I thought I'd fit in with the basketball team that I was on, and that I'd get involved with the worship team. Basically, none of those things worked out. It was an extremely lonely time for me. 

While I was in High School, I did feel fully known. I had a lot of friends, and everybody knew who I was and what I was about. Then I went away to college and it felt like nobody knew me and nobody really wanted to know me. I remember this time when I was hanging out with the girls on the basketball team, and for whatever reason the guys on the basketball team started teasing this one guy to ask me on a date. I couldn't figure out if it was real or if they were making a joke. It was so hurtful, and I remember going back to my dorm room and crying. It didn't feel like anybody knew me. I was extremely lonely. 

That year, more than any other time in my life, I really leaned on the Lord. I didn't have anyone else. It was a very special time for me. I could feel His presence, and I could feel His love for me. I started to embrace my identity as His child, and whether any human understood me or not, I knew God did, and He loved me in spite of all my deficiencies. I think everybody at one time or another feels those feelings, and I wanted to put those thoughts into a song.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Hebrews 12:2 (NASB): "Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Song of Songs 4:7 (NIV): "You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you."
 
Psalm 139:17-18 (NKJV): "How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You."

Psalm 139:14 (NKJV): "I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well."

What is the takeaway message?

JJ: We've all experienced a moment of alienation where all we really want is to be understood, but instead we feel desperate and alone. In moments like this, the child inside each of us longs for the open arms of a comforting parent who knows us and welcomes us as we are. As I reflect on the most difficult times in my life, I can definitely see that that's where I grew the most. The Lord drew near to me in my darkest seasons. I am speaking from experience in the lyrics "His arms are always open. There is a home for the broken. All of the words He's spoken are true."

Dave: We've embraced JJ's desire to write from a female perspective for other women. As a result, while we were writing for this album, we were thinking about the struggles that JJ as a woman has had, and lessons we've been learning along the way. So much of it comes down to identity and finding a place you belong so you can live a life that's whole-hearted. Many of the themes of these songs are about finding your place in the world and recognizing your inherent value regardless of what you've done or what other people say about you, making yourself vulnerable to love and the pain that comes along with that. The album starts with letting down your guard and ends with the resolution to experience the fullness of life. It is a call to embrace the good and the bad so that your heart can be truly alive.

Lyrics:
Have you ever felt lost
Driving down the same road every day?
And you're caught in traffic
But everyone feels a thousand miles away

Does anyone see you?
Does anyone care?
Does anyone know your name?

You are fully known 
By the Author of space and time
He won't let you go
And you cannot change His mind
No, you cannot change His mind

Do you ever think back
To all the things you wish you never did?
And you never lose track
An endless loop repeating in your head

Could anyone love you
If anyone knew
Who you really are?

You are fully known 
By the Author of space and time
He won't let you go
And you cannot change His mind
No, you cannot change His mind

No matter how far you are
No matter how dark your past
His arms are always open
There is a home for the broken
All of the words He's spoken
Are true

In his book, "The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God" Tim Keller states: "To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us."

God's thoughts and love for us are deep, such as cannot be known. We cannot comprehend how many mercies we have received from Him. As the Lord knows us thoroughly and we are strangers to ourselves, we should earnestly desire and pray to be searched and proved by His Word and Spirit. I relate to the message that God created us to have value. I look at my wife and I hope she is secure in my love for her, that she knows that I love her and would never leave her. I look at my daughters and I hope I am communicating to each of my girls that she is beautiful, that she is valuable and that she is a blessing to me. 

God feels that way about men as well. We are valuable to God. As men, we are appointed by God to take care of and partner with the women in our lives. I believe men also need to hear this song. The song is a great reminder of the kind of heart we should have both as people valued by God and as Christians who can communicate our value to other people. As Christians, we are God's adopted sons and daughters, and we are "fearfully and wonderfully made." Don't let the world tell you who you are. It doesn't matter what you look like, if you have Jesus on the inside. That's where we can find our true identities, in Him!

"Fully Known" is a transparent, vulnerable and moving prayer-song. JJ's breathtaking lyrics "Does anyone see you? Does anyone care? Does anyone know your name? Could anyone love you if anyone knew who you really are? You are fully known by the Author of space and time, He won't let you go, and you cannot change His mind" brings me to tears as I pray along with her during the song. The bridge, "All of the Words He's spoken are true" is a gorgeous faith-statement to the Author and Perfecter of faith.  Amen to that!

(Watch JJ sing the song here.)