Worship Musician Magazine September 2020 | Page 31

A songwriter, artist, worship leader, Christian
activist, author, wife and mother, Natalie
continues to define a life of true worship. Five
times a “Female Vocalist of the Year”, she
has numerous Dove and Grammy wins and
nominations, radio charting singles, and has a
streaming audience in the billions! But at the
heart of it all is her passion for Christ, and her
heart for worship and service to her church
community. Her long-anticipated project, No
Stranger, releases later this month.
[WM] Natalie, it is such a pleasure to visit
with you today. Let’s begin with this question:
I love how our God is the great “re-inventor”
of our lives. I’ve personally experienced this
professionally several times, and I know
that you’ve had this happen within your own
life. After all, you initially aimed to become a
schoolteacher, which is entirely different than
what God had in store for you. I tell my students
that life is about calling, not career! What are
your thoughts on this?
[Natalie] I think that I fully agree with that
statement, but I also believe that life isn’t just
about “one”… I think sometimes we get caught
up in one thing that we want to do, where for
me life with Jesus is more about the journey,
not about the single destination. So when you
choose to position yourself close to Him you
know His presence and you know His voice.
I’m not some spiritual person who hears God
speak audibly, in fact I’ve been listening for a
long time and I’ve never heard Him audibly.
But I recognize that still small voice in my head
that I get in my spirit, and I feel like that’s when
you know, this is where He’s leading me. And
we might have a plan, and we might have a
destination that we think were on course to,
but when you understand how to be close to
the Holy Spirit and in His presence, then you
recognize that it’s obedience to where He’s
taking you that actually brings blessing. I guess
that is how I would view calling. Being called to
move in the direction that He’s leading instead
of asking Him to take me in the direction that I
want to go.
[WM] You’ve been at the top of your game
for quite a while and have seen the recording
industry change radically. What advice and
perspective do you offer aspiring vocalists and
songwriters?
[Natalie] It’s funny because I feel like I get that
question a lot, because yes, I’ve been doing it
for a while, my first record came out in 1999 so
it’s been over twenty years now which is hard
to believe. And I think it’s even more unusual, if
I can say this, for a female to continue doing it
quite as long, I don’t have a lot of female friend
artists. I started with some and they’re no
longer doing it, then I gained friends along the
way but I seem to be one of the few who are
still doing it, so I get that question a lot. I wish
that I had a cookie cutter answer of what you
need to do, or the recipe. But honestly, I think it
goes back to what we were just talking about,
which is calling.
When you view what you want to do as a
career there will always be an expiration date
on it, because you’re coming at it from a world
perspective of, this is how you market it, this
is how you do it. Then there is going to come
a time when you are expired, and they move
on to the next thing and the next thing. I think
that when I first started I kind of viewed it that
way, because I’m human and I wanted to be
successful. I was driven by the wrong things,
but by the grace of God… He had grace and
showed me and taught me that I if could learn
to hold this loosely from the beginning… if
I could actually loosen my own grip and say,
Jesus, where you’re taking me, lead me and I
will follow. When you keep the perspective that
you are not here to have a name but to be a
servant, I think that’s something that you don’t
just learn and it stays with you, that’s something
that I have to constantly reevaluate in my own
life.
You are here to be a servant, you are here to
serve and to build His kingdom, not to build
your own kingdom, and sometimes that is a
daily reminder for me. Sometimes I’ve got it
and it’s a monthly reminder, but it’s a constant
reminder. I think that if I would give advice to
someone it would be to learn to serve at your
local church, and that’s going to be frustrating
for some, because they’re going to say, “I’ve
been serving at my local church for fifteen years
and now what do I do?” So I don’t have the
answer for that, because some will be able to
do it and some wont. I don’t know the line to
the heart of God, and I don’t know why some
succeed and some don’t. But I do know that
when you stay close to Him, and I will say this
over and over again in this interview, when
you stay close to His presence, not just His
presence that is Him everywhere at all times,
but His manifest presence, which is His
presence made known. When you stay close
to that presence you will be obedient to where
He leads you.
You know, my husband was given some really
incredible advice probably about twentyfive
years ago when he started to pursue his
journey. I don’t know if you remember a Bible
teacher named Jack Hayford? My husband
was actually on tour with Twila Paris, and he
was in a really devastating season of his life,
what he thought was going to happen wasn’t
happening. He thought he’d heard the voice of
God and then he found himself in a place he
never thought he’d be, all of these confusing
moments in life. He was like, “Lord I thought
this was you, and it wasn’t you, how did I get
here?” He was at Jack Hayford’s church, and
he was down in the basement library weeping,
and he heard the door open and close and all
of a sudden there was a hand on his shoulder.
This gentleman said, “Young man, why are you
crying?” And my husband, I wasn’t his wife at
the time, but he began to pour out his heart
about the calling of God, and the will of God,
how do I know when it’s Him. How will I know
when it’s me? And Jack Hayford said to him,
“There are things in the word of God where
He makes His will plain.” Like, this is His will
for you and Christ Jesus, we’re always caught
up in what His personal individual calling and
will is that we sometimes forget to take care
of His will that He has made plain in His word.
Love the Lord with all of your heart and soul
and mind, love your neighbor as yourself, pray
September 2020
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