youth, cluelessness and bravado, I headed off to the West Coast after graduating high school to“ make it” as a musician. I get out there and quickly learned that I am not the young hotshot anymore and immediately the life lessons start flying. To say I was humbled would be an understatement but, I did my best to power through. Then came one of God’ s first of many life detours for this ole boy and yes, it involved a girl. The courting ensued and one year later I found myself married at age 20 to an atheist and I’ m young, dumb and searching. There seems to be a pattern …
With a new wife and my tail tucked between my legs from failure after failure, I returned to Chattanooga in the early 90s but that only lasted until the late‘ 90s before frustration and challenges set the stage for another escape from‘ ye olde hometown.’ With my head once again in the stars I decided that it was time to head to Music City and let me tell ya … God was about to put me through the trials, and I had absolutely no idea because I was still nowhere near knowing Him.
Nashville was extremely good to me for nearly two decades from an industry perspective. I was abundantly blessed to have a career that most musicians could only dream of. I was also blind to it for most of that time, but God was right there walking me through it and patiently waiting on me to figure it out while also teaching me one hard lesson after another. These weren’ t just stumbles either. This was character building warfare, and the bullets flew constantly including learning what the word“ divorce” meant again but this time it was me. Again, with the pattern …
Now, it’ s the early 2000s and I am just a broken toy internally while my career is flourishing having achieved the stardom, I’ d so desperately sought after. It was then that God shone a very unexpected light in my face. Yes, it was a girl again but this time it was different because from the beginning she made it abundantly clear that if I am to date her then I must go to church. I was, and still am for that matter, smitten so of course I agree and we date which leads to me eventually meeting her family where I discover a well rooted Christian family centered on following Jesus. Something was happening.
By this point, I was overwhelmed by literally all of it and had no idea how to process it. This was a life that could not be more foreign to me having gone through a broken childhood followed by a broken marriage. I was totally off balance and that was exactly where Good wanted me. Even more importantly I am starting to truly hear the word of God for the first time in my life and it meant something which led to me getting baptized just before a very welcomed marriage( Thanks God for the do-over).
Earlier I mentioned that music always got me through the tough times. For over 40 years it has continued to be a huge part of my life, but it has also been the root of my darkness at times. The sheer craziness of the industry and its abundance of rather unhealthy occupational situations make the life of a musician rather challenging to say the least. Because of that, I tried many times to walk away from the industry only to find myself right back into it because of a new situation that felt promising. I thought I’ d finally escaped in 2017 when we left Nashville for South Florida but, by 2019 I was right back into it when I found myself involved with a number of independent artists which led to me playing on albums again, getting signed again and even becoming an executive, then President of a record label. This time things were great though and it felt like that this was finally worth it. That is when God threw one of the greatest curveballs of my life to date.
While riding on top of the wave of arguably my most enjoyable time in the music industry, God made it abundantly clear what He wanted me to do next. God wanted me to walk away from all of it so that I could use everything that He had given me to help glorify the Kingdom. All the knowledge, all the skills, the musicianship, the trials, the stories, the expertise, every last bit of learned content from age 12 to age“ Not 12.” Take it all and pass it on so that the Kingdom
of God can benefit from it, and you know what? Without an ounce of hesitation I heard, I listened and I obeyed. It was abundantly clear for the first time in my life. I did not question it in the least. It was just this overwhelming feeling that it was time as if God all of a sudden said“ aaaaaaaaaand … NOW!”
I have never been happier or more fulfilled both spiritually and musically than I am right now. It is truly that simple because now, it all is centered on Him. Every chapter of my life was about preparing me to truly serve, and my heart is now full because of it. I now get to help lift people up each week so that they can rise to their highest level to serve God and the joy I am experiencing is overwhelming. It not only justifies everything that has happened in my life but enforces the fact that it all had purpose. It only took 50 + years for me to figure it out, but that in itself is a testament to God’ s patience and how none of us know when it is our turn to heed the call. The goal for us is to reach the point where we can hear it when He does call and then trust Him! That’ s my story. I hope it helps inspire your story.
Blessed Grooves, SO’ S
Sean O’ Bryan Smith Sean currently serves God as Music Director for Boca Raton Community Church in Boca Raton, FL. Sean shares his experience as a respected music industry veteran to help worship teams grow their skills so that they can lift up congregations to receive the word of God. Sean is led by a servant’ s heart guided by Philippians 2:3“ Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than ourselves.”
June 2026 Subscribe for Free... 99