When "Thy Will" first hit the airwaves, it didn't just climb the charts; it felt like a collective exhale for anyone who had ever been through the wringer. Most people know Hillary Scott as one-third of the powerhouse trio Lady A, but the story behind her solo gospel project, Love Remains, is where things get raw. It’s where the phrase you can rest Hillary Scott becomes more than just a sentiment—it becomes a necessity for a woman who was processing one of the most private heartbreaks a person can endure while standing in a global spotlight.
Grief is a funny thing. It’s heavy. It’s loud. Then, it’s suddenly very, very quiet.
For Hillary, that silence came after a miscarriage in 2015. You might remember the headlines, but the actual texture of that experience—the feeling of "why me?"—is what fueled the songwriting process. People often look at celebrities and see the Grammys or the polished red carpet photos, but they miss the moments when the makeup comes off and the house is empty. That's the space where this music lives.
The Misconception About "Thy Will"
A lot of folks assume "Thy Will" is just another Christian radio hit designed to make you feel good. Honestly? That's not it at all. It’s actually a song about frustration. It’s an argument with the universe.
When you hear the lyrics, you aren't hearing a woman who has all the answers. You're hearing someone who is tired of trying to figure out the "why." That’s where the idea that you can rest Hillary Scott starts to make sense. It’s the permission to stop performing and just be broken for a minute. We live in this culture that demands "resilience" and "bouncing back," but sometimes the most productive thing you can do is collapse into the truth of your situation.
Hillary wrote this with Bernie Herms and Emily Weisband. If you look at the credits of big Nashville hits, these names pop up a lot, but this session was different. It wasn't about finding a hook that would work on FM radio. It was about a woman crying on a floor.
Why the Hillary Scott & The Scott Family Project Happened
Family is weirdly complicated, especially when you work with them. But for Hillary, recording with her mother (Linda Davis), father (Lang Scott), and sister (Rylee Scott) wasn't a business move. It was a safety net.
Linda Davis is a legend in her own right—anyone remember "Does He Love You" with Reba McEntire? Yeah, that’s her mom. Lang is an accomplished musician too. When Hillary was at her lowest, she didn't turn to a corporate team. She went back to the people who knew her before she was famous. This wasn't about Lady A. This was about the Scott family.
Love Remains ended up winning two Grammys.
The irony isn't lost on anyone: her most painful moment led to her most critically acclaimed solo work. But if you asked her, I bet she’d tell you the awards were secondary to the healing. The album covers a lot of ground—hymns, new originals, and bluegrass influences—but "Thy Will" remains the pillar. It’s the song that people still message her about today, years after the fact.
The Science of Singing Through Grief
There’s a reason why music helps us "rest" when we’re overwhelmed. Psychologists often talk about "catharsis," but it’s more physiological than that.
When you sing, especially in a group or with family, your body releases oxytocin. It lowers cortisol. For Hillary, the act of singing these specific words was a form of self-regulation. You can literally hear her voice catch in certain recordings. It’s not "perfect" singing. It’s honest singing.
Think about the last time you were truly exhausted. Not "I stayed up too late watching Netflix" exhausted, but soul-tired. The kind where your bones feel heavy. In those moments, you don't need a pep talk. You need a mirror. You need someone to say, "Yeah, this sucks, and I don’t know when it gets better."
That is the service you can rest Hillary Scott provides to her listeners. It’s a proxy for their own pain.
Beyond the Miscarriage: The Universal Struggle
While the song was born from pregnancy loss, its legs come from how it fits into other tragedies. I’ve seen people use this track at funerals for grandparents, during divorces, or after losing a job they loved.
It works because it addresses the "silence of God."
Sometimes, there isn't a sign. Sometimes, the "rest" doesn't come because the problem went away; it comes because you finally gave up trying to control the outcome. Hillary has talked about this in interviews with Good Morning America and People magazine. She was very clear that she didn't want to be a "poster child" for miscarriage, but she realized that by staying silent, she was making the stigma worse.
Breaking the Nashville Mold
Nashville is a town built on "The Brand." You have your image, your fan base, and your lane. Lady A is the "glossy, harmonic, feel-good" lane for the most part. Moving into the CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) world was a risk.
What if the country fans didn't follow? What if the Christian market thought she was a tourist?
But the thing is, people can smell fake from a mile away. If she had released a gospel album just to "check a box," it would have flopped. Instead, it became a touchstone. It proved that the audience is actually way more interested in the messy parts of a celebrity's life than the highlights reel.
We saw a similar thing with artists like Maren Morris or even Kelsea Ballerini later on—this move toward radical transparency. But Hillary did it with a specific spiritual bent that felt very "Old South" meets "New Reality."
Practical Takeaways from Hillary's Journey
If you're looking for a way to find that same sense of "rest" in your own life, there are a few things we can learn from how she handled her public and private collapse:
- Don't do it alone. She brought in her family. Who are your "family," even if they aren't blood?
- Name the pain. "Thy Will" doesn't dance around the subject. It looks at the mess and calls it a mess.
- Accept the pivot. She didn't try to force a Lady A record when her heart wasn't in it. She changed directions.
- Rest is a verb. It’s something you have to actively choose to do, often by saying "no" to other things.
The Legacy of Love Remains
Today, Hillary is a mom to three girls—Eisele, and twins Betsy and Emory. Life moved on. The sun came back up. But she still performs these songs.
When you see her on stage now, there’s a different weight to her performance. There’s a confidence that comes from having survived the worst of it. It’s a reminder that you can rest Hillary Scott isn't a one-time event. It’s a cycle. You struggle, you collapse, you rest, you get back up.
The music industry is notorious for chewing people up and spitting them out, especially women as they age. But by pivoting to such a personal, spiritual project, Hillary built a foundation that isn't dependent on being "the girl in the country band." She became a voice for the grieving.
It’s easy to be a star when everything is going right. It’s much harder to be a human when everything is going wrong.
Actionable Steps for Processing Your Own "Quiet"
If you find yourself connecting with the themes of Hillary’s solo work because you’re in a season of "unrest," consider these specific actions:
- Audit your "performing." Where are you pretending to be okay for the sake of others? Identify one area where you can drop the act this week.
- Create a "Safety Playlist." Hillary used her family's music. Create a list of 5–10 songs that don't demand anything from you—no upbeat tempos, no "hustle" lyrics.
- Engage in "Low-Stakes" Creativity. You don't have to write a Grammy-winning album. Journaling, humming, or even just sitting in a dark room with a candle can trigger the same healing pathways.
- Seek Out the "Scott Family" in Your Life. Find the people who knew you before your current "title" or "success." Reconnecting with those roots can provide a level of security that new friends or colleagues simply can't.
Rest isn't about sleeping. It's about the cessation of struggle. Whether you find that through faith, music, or just sitting in the grass, the lesson from Hillary Scott’s journey is that the rest is usually found right on the other side of your most honest "I can't do this anymore."
Honesty is the only way through. Everything else is just a detour.
The story of Love Remains is a blueprint for anyone standing at the edge of a cliff, wondering if they should jump or just sit down. Sometimes, sitting down is the bravest thing you can do.
Next Steps for the Reader
- Listen to the full Love Remains album in order. It’s designed as a narrative arc, starting with the struggle and ending with a sense of peace.
- Read Hillary’s 2016 open letter regarding her miscarriage if you are currently navigating pregnancy loss; it provides a level of detail and empathy that the songs only hint at.
- Look into the work of Bernie Herms, the producer of "Thy Will," to understand how he uses specific musical arrangements (like the minimalist piano) to evoke emotional responses in listeners.
