Another evening with Andy Squyres: Nothing is wasted with God
The Christian musician reminds us that God promises to redeem and restore our lost years.
A couple of weeks ago, I told you about a house concert we attended featuring Christian singer-songwriter Andy Squyres.
This past Friday, Anne and I went to see him again — our third Andy Squyres concert — this time at Provided Coffee in Concord, N.C.
We brought our friends Chuck and Ruth Myers along, and they got to experience what we’ve come to love: Andy wrestling with God through raw, poetic lyrics.
The crowd was bigger this time — maybe 150 people compared to 35 at the house concert. He still played a few songs solo, but for much of the night he was joined by four guitarists, adding a rich, layered sound to many of his songs.
Opening the night was his daughter, Elliot Squyres. She’s just starting out, but based on the three songs she performed, she’s clearly got something special. Honest lyrics, confident presence, and a voice that stood on its own. Her debut EP, “What a Time,” drops May 23.
I’m not a music aficionado. I enjoy all kinds of music, but I’ve never played an instrument and couldn’t explain the difference between a harmony and a tempo. And when the worship leader at church says, “Let’s go back to the bridge,” I often have no idea where we’re headed.
Ironically, I spent countless hours driving our youngest son, John, to guitar lessons when he was young. He stayed with it, and for nearly a decade now, he’s been leading a band — writing songs and playing guitar.
By day he’s an audio engineer, but his “indie-pop” band, “Self-Help,” keeps him busy on the side. They’re about to hit the road again, touring through Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
So while I can’t tell you what a chord progression is, I can tell you when lyrics hit something deep — especially in Christian and Gospel songs. That’s where music really speaks to me.
Dead Horse
One of the songs Andy played Friday that I keep thinking about is called “Dead Horse.”
“Dead Horse” is a poignant reflection on grief, loss and enduring faith. The title draws from the idiom “beating a dead horse,” symbolizing the futility of revisiting past pains.
Andy uses this metaphor to explore the struggle of letting go and the temptation to dwell on suffering.
Here’s how the song starts:
Here is my harvest of heartbreak
Here is my threshing of tears
I'd give you my dream but I lost it
Down in the locust years
The second verse starts:
Here is my secret miscarriage
Here is my public divorce
Nobody taught me to let go
So I learned how to beat a dead horse
In Scripture, locusts symbolize devastating loss and wasted dreams — a time when life feels stripped bare.
But God promises his people redemption and restoration.
See Joel 2:25: “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten.”
That’s a specific promise to the people of Judah at a particular time, but many faithful Christians see it as an example of how God deals with his people across all ages — bringing redemption out of loss, healing after discipline, and grace after judgment.
Joel 2:25 reflects God’s heart. He will restore his people for all the years the metaphorical locusts have eaten.
The refrain of the song is: “But nothing is wasted with you.”
This reminds us that even in the depths of despair, one’s experiences are not in vain when entrusted to God.
There are countless stories that underscore the truth that nothing is wasted with God — including one I shared last week about Jerri Reynolds. God took the dying wish of a 12-year-old girl and turned it into a living legacy that’s still bearing fruit half a century later.
That’s why songs like “Dead Horse” matter. They don’t gloss over grief or make faith sound simple — and they remind us that no loss, no failure, no long stretch of silence is beyond God’s reach.
He is the Redeemer of lost years and broken dreams — nothing is wasted with him.