Have you ever wondered how someone stays humble and faithful while navigating fame and using their gifts on a global stage?

In this episode of The Collide Podcast, we sit down with 5x GRAMMY Award-winning artist Naomi Raine to talk about faith, music, calling, and character. Naomi shares the heart behind her worship, her journey from childhood dreams to Maverick City Music, and what it means to stay anchored in God amid public platforms and personal challenges. If you’ve ever struggled to stay grounded in your purpose, longed for authenticity in worship, or wondered how to glorify God in the everyday, Naomi’s story will speak deeply to your soul.

Meet Naomi Raine

Naomi is a 5x GRAMMY Award-winning artist, worship pastor, wife, and mom. She is known for her powerful vocals and her role in Maverick City Music, where she’s led worship on stages around the world. Naomi is also the founder of The Bridge Collective, an indie record label, and is passionate about uniting the body of Christ and pointing people to God through her music and life.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• How Naomi discovered her calling and learned to listen to God’s voice
• What it means to pursue authenticity in worship and leadership
• How to stay rooted in humility while navigating public success
• The importance of community and spiritual accountability
• The heart and mission behind her latest music and ministry projects

How This Episode Will Encourage You

Naomi’s wisdom and transparency will encourage you to trust God with your gifts, remain faithful in hidden seasons, and pursue obedience over popularity. Whether you’re a creative, a worship leader, or simply someone navigating your calling, this conversation offers fresh perspective and renewed hope that God sees you, equips you, and wants to use your life to glorify Him.

✨ Take a step today: Lean into the gifts God’s given you and ask Him how He wants to use them for His glory.

Check Out These Collide Resources Inspired by This Episode

Collide Women’s Conference - Join us for a powerful one-day event filled with inspiration, connection, and encouragement to help you pursue healing, purpose, and deeper faith.

✨ Learn more and grab your ticket at wecollide.net/conferences

Yes, You Bible Study - Encourages women to see beyond their inadequacies and walk in their God-given potential.

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So glad that you hopped on the Collide podcast.

If you're new around here, we have episodes every single week where I interview people who are seeing the living God, the one who is alive and well, who shows up and runs into our lives and collides with us and brings hope and healing and transformation, and then uses us in our pain, in our brokenness, in our inadequacy and. And uses our lives to impact and touch and bless other people's lives.

And so today I got the great privilege to sit across from Naomi Raine, who is part of the Maverick City music family, and she's won five Grammys, and she's a wife and a mom and a worship pastor and founder of the indie record label called the Bridge Collective. There's so many things to say about Naomi, but I'm going to let her tell you all of them. So take a listen. Naomi, it is so fun to have you on.

Where are you joining us from today?

I am. I'm saying. I'm like. I don't know. I'm at home. I am in New York and really excited about being with you today.

Oh, man, we couldn't be further apart.

I mean, maybe we could be, but in the United States of America, we're all the way up in the Pacific Northwest, and you're in New York City, so it's so cool to have this way that we can connect. And the.

The last time I saw you and the only time I've seen you in person, I was in a stadium, and you were traveling with Maverick City Music, and Kirk Franklin and some friends invited me to go, and I didn't know who you were. And I walk into this. This thing, and I'll tell you what. And I know you.

You don't need some compliment from some random lady from who knows where, but there were so many people on the stage. There was probably, what, is there, 30 people on the stage for that show?

Yes. With choir and everything.

When you picked up the microphone, I felt like the Lord has anointed you, like everything else could just fade away and you can sing us all into heaven. I mean, it was the most beautiful, powerful experience to see you leading so many people in worship.

So I have to say this is an honor that I get to sit and talk to you today.

I appreciate you saying that. That means a lot, a lot to me. I don't know. I don't know why, but, I mean, I do know why, but you know what I'm saying? I'm not saying anything.

Yes. Well, Naomi, you've won five Grammys. I mean, do you ever have to just pinch yourself? Was this ever in your wildest dreams?

Did you ever imagine this would be your life?

Never. Never ever. Never ever, ever, ever. So I'm. Every single day I get. I don't.

It's not like I look at the awards every day, but there are moments where I'm like, what is this my life?

Seriously, I think to be able to have number one, to be able to do what I love to do and like, that in and of itself and like, and it be, like, accepted and received by people is beautiful. And then, like, to have it have a greater impact than probably what I expected is the second beautiful thing.

And then for it to be, like, accepted and appreciated by other people in the field. And in music period. So not just in gospel music, but in music period, is another. It's like another jewel on the crown.

And I know that's nothing compared to, you know, the jewels that we get when we get to see Jesus. But it's really nice to be able to experience some, like, really amazing things here on earth. So I sometimes go, God, is this my life? You know, I.

I was just living to get up to heaven, and now it's like, I get to enjoy some. Some cool stuff on the ride.

So some heavens come down to earth. I love it so much. When you were a little girl, what did you dream to do?

Oh, this was it. This was it. I wanted to sing, and I knew I wanted to write songs and sing. That was it. And I've always been.

When I was a little girl, you know, some well intentioned, they weren't well intentioned. They just didn't know what to do with me. They would. People would call me bossy and, like, she's bossy.

But I'm like, y' all are all listening to what I'm saying. You know, I have good ideas, but since I was a little girl, I was always in, like, leadership.

I was always, you know, having ideas, coming up with something that we should do. Ooh, guys, let's do this. Let's go here, or let's create this thing, or let's do this project.

And my friends, my friends who were good always, like, they gravitated toward that. And then we, like, kind of just began to do things.

And so I always wanted to sing, write songs and work with people and do things, and it just worked out. You know, Some people didn't understand. They called me bossy, but now I know that I'm just the boss, you know, and yeah, yeah, it's.

Well, it's funny because as women, when we. When we have strong ideas or strong passions, we're seen as bossy. And I think not. Not that we need to get down that trail, but for.

For men, they're not seen as bossy. They're seen as leaders. Maybe you were just born a leader, girl.

What was the first moment where you realized, oh, wow, when I sing, it impacts people, it impacts lives. It's not just something I enjoy doing, but I actually see God using it in other people.

I want to say, the first moment I realized it, I think I was in high school, and I went to a performing arts high school. So we sang and we did all the things. We sang arias and in different languages and all of that.

But I remember one time I was singing a song, and I remember my friends being like, nay. Like, they were like, nay. You don't get it. Like, when you sing, we feel something. And I didn't.

I always, you know, was comparing myself to the other people. Cause I didn't do a lot of, like, riffing and running. And I didn't. I wasn't not saying that I can't.

But it's just something that didn't feel natural to me. And they would, you know, when you're with your friends, that's all sing, you know, it's kind of like, you know, yeah, you go, you go.

You know, we're always encouraging each other. But there was something beyond the regular encouragement that was just like, hey, like, I think you're special.

Like, that was somebody else saying it to me. I didn't really. I don't think I really realized it for myself. Does that make sense?

But I think it was like I started to believe what my people were telling me because I knew they didn't have to tell me. They had already said, go, girl. Yeah, you sound nice. You know, they already did the regular stuff that we do, and it became more than that.

And I think as I walk through life, I think that's just not my prayer. I always want the Holy Spirit to speak. I know that it's not me, right? Like, I know it's not me, but I do believe it's something. It's a.

It's the Holy Spirit through me.

And I don't say that to be, like, false, humble, you know, like, you know, I believe I've worked hard to try to be as skillful as I can, to try to be as disciplined as I can in my life, to try to be as consecrated as I Can in my life. So that when something flows through me, it's hopefully flowing through as pure of a vessel as I could, you know, possibly get it.

You know, I'm trying. I'm trying to live for God, and, you know, but I recognize, you know, all my righteousness is filthy rags.

And if God is doing something with me, it's because he started it, you know? And so it's just like, it's not me. But.

Yeah, it's so interesting because I think you can feel inside yourself the. That there could be something special in you. You have a sense.

Like, it sounds like you had a sense since you were a little girl that God had put a desire, a passion, a dream inside of you.

But when other people go beyond just encouraging you, but they start confirming a gift in you, an anointing in you, that's when possibilities start to open up and you start to believe, oh, this is bigger than me. This is kind of beyond me. Which is so cool that that has happened to you. What was the first song you ever wrote about?

Well, I'm glad you asked. The first song I wrote, I was seven years old. I was in first grade. Wow. Mr. Dupera's class.

And every morning we would sit down and have circle time, and we could sing a song. And so I went. And we would get told a principle for. I think there was a weekly principle, not monthly.

There was a weekly principle, but the principle that we had was, everything begins in seed form and grows into an experience. So everything begins as a seed and grows into an experience. And so I wrote a song about that, and it was. Do you want me to sing it? Sure, no problem.

I'll sing it for you. But I do. It went. Everything begins as a seed and grows into an experience. Everything begins as a seed and grows into an experience.

That's what I sang to my classmates, and they started singing it. So we started singing it in class, and it was like, now I look back as an adult, and I go, what? Like, I was writing songs for the classroom.

The whole. The whole room wanted to sing it. But it was. You know, when I was younger, I was just like, oh, I just. I liked it. I put music to it.

And it seemed like it was a good application of, like, what we were doing. And it was. That was cool. So that was my first song.

Wow, that's so hilarious. I love it so much in that we got, like, a little concert there. First grade concert. Love it so much.

And I had to sing it in my second voice.

Yeah. So I've read that your parents prayed a beautiful prayer over you when you were little. Can you tell us about that?

Well, yes, I think what you're referring to is my dad, before he met my. Well, he knew my mom. They grew up, like, around the corner from each other. But before they got together, my dad.

My dad was, you know, a little playa playa and was with a bunch of girls. And the Lord really told him, like, hey, Larry, you need to get serious about me.

And so he stopped messing with other girls and went on a fast and was like, I'm not talking to any girls. I'm just focusing on Jesus. And while he's focusing on Jesus, he's in the basement praying. My mom comes over and rings the doorbell of my.

Of my dad's house because, wow, she just got an idea to just go and talk to Larry, see what Larry's doing. But he told my grandmother, ma, I'm not talking to girls. I'm down here praying. I'm focused, right? And so she leaves, and he's praying again.

And the Lord gives him a word for his children and that his children are going to preach the gospel. They're gonna carry, you know, the. The message and the ministry that he puts into him and his wife for. For generations to come. And so that.

That was the word that he got. And this was. This was the same. I think it was the same week or maybe the next week, he's praying again.

And my mom the night before had had a dream about my dad, that she was marrying him. And so she goes over and she goes. She's like, you know, Mrs. Felder, I need to speak to Larry.

And so my grandmother goes, and, you know, knocks on the basement door, was like, larry, that. That girl Marissa is out here to see you. And he was about to say, ma, I told you, I'm not talking to girls again. And Lord told him, go to the door.

And so that was the whole thing. And so they got together from there. They got married. They. They had my brother, and then they got it right the second time. And then they had me.

No, just kidding. But, yeah.

And so that's been like a real crazy story of, you know, just faith and just being in the will of God and how the Lord set it up even before, like, he was praying, you know, and the Lord gave him the word about it. My mom was having a dream about them being married. And so it just seemed so like, this is a God thing.

Wow, that's so cool. Very cool.

Have you ever had, you know, because you You've had in mind since you were little that you wanted to be used by God to share the gospel by using your voice and your life. And have you ever had a season where you were deeply doubting your own abilities, doubting that. That you were going to be used by God in this way?

Or has it always felt like, no, it's just been laid out for me, and it's been a path that just sort of unfolded easily for me.

So I don't love answering this question because. Nothing wrong with the question.

I don't love answering the question because in real life, no, I didn't have a season of doubting that I could do it or anything like that, because that was never. I don't feel like God promised me that I could do something.

I feel like he promised me that I would just be his wherever I went and be used wherever I went. So it wasn't like, for me, like, the word that I had over my life wasn't that I had to perform or be great. I don't know if that makes sense to you.

And maybe it's the way my parents raised me. Maybe it's. I do. I am told that I have the gift of faith. Like, I just believe.

I'm like, if you tell me that's happening, then okay, Like, I believe that now. What I do sometimes struggle with is not the doubting if it's going to happen. I have doubted when it's going to happen. Like, and I have.

I was not doubted when I've been impatient. I have been impatient. And so it's like, God, like, when I'm. I'm waiting, or should I still be in this position? I would like to be there sooner or.

Or I'm not ready. Like, I don't really want to go. Like, are you sure we're doing this now? You know, some of it is like, whoa, whoa, whoa, Pump the brakes.

Yeah, it's not really been. If it was going to happen.

I think the words that the Lord has given me have always helped me be like, all right, well, I know that this is what God said. I don't. I was telling somebody before. It's like, I don't get nervous, like, when I have to sing. That doesn't mean I'm not nervous.

Does that make sense? Like, it's like, I'm.

I'm just like, okay, I know what I'm here for, and it's probably something I need to work on, but I'm kind of like, all right, if I mess up, I mess up. But I know that God wants me to do something here. And maybe it wasn't the singing per se, maybe it was my presence and maybe it was the prayer.

Maybe it was something I. A relationship that needs to happen or a connection that needs to happen.

Hopefully whatever room I'm in, people feel joy, they feel peace, they feel hope, they feel the presence of God. They feel like they can get a question answered, that there's wisdom in the room. Right? That's my thing. And I've never, I hope this.

I never wanted to come off like, arrogant or anything because that's not how I feel. I'm just always like, I didn't put me here, so I don't really think I could mess it up either. And I know I can. You know what I mean?

But it's like by just being obedient, you know what I mean? Like, if I'm just being obedient, if I do what he says, I think it'll be okay. And honestly, I think it has.

That doesn't mean I haven't made poor choices or I haven't maybe said things that I wasn't supposed to say or maybe didn't say enough. You know, there are some rooms that I've been in that I wish I would have spoken up.

But what I've learned, even through those processes is that like, the Lord was giving me an opportunity. It was like maybe the lion or the bear. Now I wasn't there when David killed this lion and he's. Or these two lions and this bear.

I don't know if it was like one lion and two bears or two lions and one bear, but I don't remember.

But I do know that I'm sure he may have picked something up, you know, the first time that he could use the second time and then pick something else up the second time that he could utilize the third time. So God didn't put him straight to Goliath. He had given him an opportunity, opportunity to kill something before he had been faced with Goliath.

And that way he wasn't afraid. He literally was like, who is this? When he got to Goliath. And so I think I've been trying to really walk through the things with grace. And if I.

I'm very introspective and I'm very self aware. And so I like to go over, like, what was this experience that I just had? I talked to the Lord about it.

Lord, can you show me, like, what can I do better? How do I need to move? Do I need to practice? There are moments where I'm like, hey, girl, you can't go up on stage without warming up.

That's not wise because you're not representing the king. Well, or learn the song before you go to sing on an award show.

Don't just pop up like willy nilly because you're around other people and these people aren't in the faith. You know what I mean? So it's different when you show up at a church and you don't know the words.

It's another thing when you're out in the world and you're representing the church and you're representing Christ. And so I want to represent him more. I don't wanna just be spiritual. I wanna be professional. I wanna be well spoken.

And so there are things that I can do to prepare myself. And I ask the Lord about those things and I ask people, the people that God has placed around me that can help me be better.

I know that, like, I know I'm not just here to sing. And so every room that God places me in, I'm like, okay, it means something to me, but I don't.

I'm not in the place of, like, it's not gonna happen or I'm gonna mess it up so much.

Cause I really believe, I'm telling you, if you get a word about your life before your parents are even together and your mom's having a dream and your dad's in the basement praying and God's doing stuff like that and he's giving words about you who don't even exist yet, but yet it comes to pass. And so, like, not only was I born right and life was happening, but it's also come to pass.

There's so many things that have happened already that make me go, oh, okay, God, this is your work, this is what you're doing. And I'm literally along for the ride. You know, this is not on me.

Yeah, exactly. You're entering into what God has already unfolded, which is so beautiful.

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I'm curious how you're navigating this. All of this attention The. The bigger stadium, all the things.

Like, it's different to sing to your first grade circle time than it is to go into a stadium and be handed a mic and leading thousands and thousands of people to worship. I mean, how are you can. How are you continuing to stay genuine in your worship with the Lord?

I think I. I think there's something beautiful about spontaneity and new and so having to sing the same songs over and over present a bit of a challenge.

But I've learned that even if I'm singing the same song, it's not the same moment in my life. I'm not singing it from the same space. I'm not singing it with the same people.

And there are moments where in rooms where I'm singing for me, Jyra is for me that night, you know, and there's some nights where I'm realizing, oh, no, I'm encouraging someone else and Because I. Because I already know what he's done. If that. Does that make sense? I've thought about this a lot because I answer a lot of these questions.

When I was younger, I. I remember my first time kind of singing out. I went to a megachurch, and I grew up in front of a bunch of people. That wasn't the daunting thing.

I remember I had an audition once, and there were four people sitting in a room, and I was so afraid to sing. And I remember telling them, they realized I was nervous, and I was just like, I'm scared. Like, you guys are looking at me. And I was little.

I probably was like 10. And so I remember them saying, hey, there's four people in this room, but there are gonna be thousands in the room that you sing in.

And they were just saying, like, but honestly, this is harder. And so I realized it was instantly that I went, oh, these eight eyes on me. Or, you know, these 10 eyes on me always are gonna.

Is gonna feel worse than the many eyes I can't see all of those eyes. And I had learned, I guess I don' happened.

It's a memory that I have, like, it's a core memory for me where it was like, hey, the big rooms are not going to be difficult. I don't know if God did that by his grace. And then I remember, you know, we would.

We would do like Easter plays in coliseums and in big stadiums, and people would be all over there. And it just wasn't a thing. I kind of grew up with it. So I'm saying. And I know that's not the only type of attention but that doesn't.

To me, I'm just singing to God. Like to me, I'm back in that, in my own closet from when I was little. And to me, if he's pleased, then that's fine. I've had to. I'm a prophet.

As a prophet, you learn sometimes you're saying something that people don't get with. I don't need people's buy in. And it kind of sounds very confident, but I've been in trouble with God before and I don't like that.

I'd rather be in trouble with people than, than with God, you know, And I am learning, I'm learning how to, how to just be okay with what he says, with what he does and how he moves and not worry about the people. But I know there's a lot of attention that we get, you know, on social media that's different than in a room.

And if I'm honest, I don't love the pressure of that.

I feel like sometimes there's a pressure to answer questions and say the right thing and, and be on somebody's side, you know, and music is not really like that. Like when you're an artist, you want you. We act like we don't want it, but we want everybody to love our art. Right.

I think as believers, we want everybody to love our Jesus, right? We want everybody to. And so. But being a, A, a person means that everybody won't agree with you.

And so if I'm honest, I have, I do struggle with just the pressure sometimes of just being honest and maybe people disagreeing with me. But if I am also super honest, I haven't had, or maybe I haven't seen so much of the pushback.

And I know everybody doesn't agree, but I don't pay attention to that. I try not to focus on that. I'm here on assignment and whoever I'm supposed to reach, I'm gonna reach in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. Well, I, I can imagine that the pressure and the responsibility feels heavier the more your reach increases.

But I love that you're constantly putting that back on God and saying, this is your calling, this is your mission, this is your gospel, this is what you've asked me to do. It's like that responsibilities on him. Like, I love that you seem to be navigating it extremely healthy.

I'm curious, when you look around at other people who are navigating a high calling with a great reach, are there any heroes or mentors where you're looking at them and you're going, oh, man. I'm taking notes. I want to be like them in this way. And who are they?

Yes. One of my main, main people is CeCe Winans. I remember there was some stuff going on with Maverick. I don't even remember what it was now, but.

And I was talking to her, and I was a little frazzled because I'm like, I don't know what to say. I don't know what to do. I don't know. You know, I was kind of like, what? And she said, Naomi, you're proven over time. And I said, okay, Mama.

CeCe said it, and that's it. You know, outside of Jesus, if she says it, you know it's true. And so, like, I literally was like, okay.

She was like, people will understand who you are over time. And I think that's one of the things with being in a collective or being in a group. Everybody doesn't agree on every single little thing.

But what I know I can do is be exactly who God has called me to be to keep my message consistent, to keep, you know, tell the truth, and I always will, and be who God has called me to be. I think one of my peer friends that has been that, like, something like that for me has been Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts. I love the way she navigates.

She navigates the things, and she's very vulnerable. She's very transparent. She's way more transparent than I am.

But I glean from her, and I respect her for her level of transparency and being like, hey, y' all, I'm struggling through this, and I wanna be like that. And I think there's my pastor, G. Morris Coleman. He is somebody else that I look to. He's also my manager. He's a really good friend of mine.

And so there's a. He's very. Not guarded in a bad way, but very. Has good boundaries. That's the word. He has great boundaries.

And he's able to say, hey, this is my private life. And he. This. This is what he told me. You have a personal private life, and you have a public life, and everybody doesn't have to know.

And then as I began to, like, read the Scriptures and really read, you know, Jesus prayed with people in some instances, but then he went alone to be with God by himself. Even though he had all of the apostles, the disciples following him and people. But they didn't go every single Him.

They didn't get every, you know, every little insight.

And so I think it's to really fight the world's way of, like, be in my face a hundred, you know, 100 hours of the day and see what kind of toothbrush I'm using and what my bathroom looks like.

No, I'm learning, you know, to have boundaries and be guarded, to be vulnerable where I need to be vulnerable, and then allow myself to be proven over time.

I love that the Lord has put these different voices in your life where you can hang your hat on things that God has used them to say to you that you needed to hear at the time to keep going. It's so very cool. What is it?

Wait, let me say this to you.

Yeah.

Let me say. I think I'm, like, answering these questions from the finished space or what? I think my life is mostly like.

But as I'm sitting here, I'm like, My friends will probably be like, yeah, most of the time, like, 80% you're there, but you have no. I'm gonna give myself 85%, but 15% of the time, you're texting me, like, I don't know what I'm gonna do.

I have, like, moments, like, really slim moments, windows of freaking out and being like, this is stupid. I don't care. I'm not gonna do it. You know, like, just like, a little rant, and then I come back to. But we know what I'm gonna do anyway.

You know what I mean? And so I don't want it to seem like I'm always like, I just know everything that's happening, and it's gonna be okay.

I do have moments where I'm like, this is not gonna be okay. This is going to be the opposite of okay. Okay. But I come quickly. But I just wanted to give you that.

Well, that's. I mean, that's real life. And I think people listening can so resonate with that.

I mean, heck, if we're 85, like, in our lane, like, reminding ourselves of who Jesus is and who we are because of him. And then we have 15 of, like, freakout sessions, and I need advice and can you pray for me?

And, oh, my gosh, this happened, and I don't want to deal with it. That just feels like the life of being human. Right.

But I was just reading about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane yesterday, and just the whole idea of him being like, I don't want to do this.

Yes.

Like, Jesus, like, he was like, I don't want to. I don't want to do what you want me to do, Father. Like, can you. Can you make this go away?

You know what I mean, like, that's the life of God in the flesh. So, okay, you know, you're rocking 15%. You're doing pretty good, Naomi.

Okay. I'm telling you, we were.

It's funny that you said that, because I was literally talking about this yesterday as well, talking about that prayer in the garden. And, you know, if you get to.

Because we sometimes feel like prayer has to wrap up into this night's neat bow where we're like, God, I'm sad, but you are my joy. You know, we want everything to wrap up. But I'm like, I know for a fact that Gethsemane prayer did not wrap up like that.

Now, he did say, nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done. But it wasn't like, yay, Father, let's go die. Like, he was not thrilled about what he had to do.

And I think that there's a space that I want to see many of us come to where we're able to be really real with God. I think there's so much pretense that we waste time and waste process. Right?

And moments where God could actually be working through and we could kind of be moving a little faster if we weren't in this space of pretense and trying to act like we're okay. You know, it's all good, and I'm okay. I have faith. No, I love when that man came to Jesus and was like, I believe. Help my unbelief.

It's like, okay, I believe enough to come to you. I know you can do this. But there's still stuff in me that doesn't get all of it.

And I really believe that when we embrace that, it gets us to where we need to get sooner. Because then God can say, well, let me deal with that unbelief. Let me deal with what you think.

You know, when Martha comes to Jesus and she's like, jesus, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died. And he's like, okay, thanks for being honest. He's not like, martha, how dare you talk to me like that? I'm Jesus, the Christian.

He's like, okay, Martha, get this. I'm the resurrection and the life. So you think it's this, but let me tell you exactly who I am.

God wants to reveal himself as who he is, but I feel like sometimes we delay or prolong our revelation, the true revelation of who he is, by acting like we already know it. You don't know. You know, okay, let's talk about this.

Because you spend so much of Your life pouring out in the hopes that people will have a real life collision with Jesus in worship. What are the ways we're getting. We're getting in our own way because we think we have to come a certain way to him.

And so we're not coming real, but we're expecting him to be real back.

You know, That's a great question. I think that when we come and it's hard, you know, like, I'm gonna get up and I'm gonna sing. Let's say I'm singing promises, right?

And I'm gonna sing it, y' all. I'm always gonna sing it, you know? I know why. Cause I'm a singer and I'm gonna sing it. And I'm like, ooh, ooh, and I'm gonna sing it. Okay.

But that could push somebody to a place who's listening that goes, oh, well. The reason that she knows that God's promises are yes and amen is because she's.

And how I've seen some of his promises play out has been in the very thing that I'm doing, right? So I've seen God keep his promises in my ministry, in the music, and there's a level of success with that.

Oh, well, the reason that's happened for her is because she can. Ooh woo. I can't ooh woo woo, you know, Or I can't do, you know that? Or I might not be as bold enough.

She's confident to get in front of a bunch of people on a platform and sing. I don't have that same confidence. I'm afraid of crowds or.

But so I think sometimes we start to compare ourselves to the person who ministered to us, and that can hinder. Right. Our expression of worship.

As a worship leader, I'm always like, man, I mean, if I'm honest, I wanna do sometimes more ooh woo woos than I actually get to do. Because I feel like the Lord is like, hey, pull back, simplify it.

Just let it be kind of what it is so that it doesn't become a barrier between me and the people. And so I think as a worship leader, my goal is to pull myself out of it, you know what I mean?

As much as I can, but also be in it as much as I can so that the glory of God can be seen. And when those moments come where it's like, oh, she's dope, or, oh, like, she's special, or God really is using her, it's like, yeah, but him.

I'm always pointing and trying to point back to him. I don't. I don't think it's easy. I think that people are always going to get in the.

And I'm using air quotes in the way of the glory of God because I think we were meant to give him glory, right? And so as we. As he shines, right? Let your light so shine so that men would see it and glorify your Father in heaven. There's a process to that.

We're supposed to shine, right? People are supposed to see the shine, and that should result in glory. And if by chance it doesn't result in glory, right?

If they don't just automatically give the glory to God, then we are to be like the disciples or the apostles. At that point when they were. People were going, oh, my God, I'm unfit to.

You know, they were bowing at their feet and they were like, wait, wait, wait, wait. Get up, get up. We're just mere men. We are not God. And then they began to preach the gospel.

And so for me, it's constantly bringing people's attention back to God, who's done the work, who's like, who's finished. Oh, my God, Such a beautiful finished work that we have that we get to remind people of who he is over and over and over.

And I know my worship team, people get tired of me. I know, and I don't care. I want you to get sick of me. When you read Paul's letters, he's saying the same thing over and over and over.

This gospel doesn't change. The truth about God doesn't change. Yes, there's so much we can say, but it all, like, boils down to the same thing.

And if that means we have to be redundant and continue to give glory to him, him over and over and over again, if I have to remind people, oh, man, I had vocal nodules and I had polyps, and I shouldn't be singing. I went deaf. I lost 50% of my hearing in both my ears. I should not be able to sing right now.

But God, you know, God had a plan, and he decided to do what he was going to do. Despite, despite the hindrances, despite the pitfalls, despite the moments, right? He's unstuck and stayed true to his word.

And so for me, these are all opportunities. I look at sometimes the moments that I'm like, the moments I've cried in the bed, and I'm like, God, I don't want this to happen.

The stuff that's been sucky, right? And really hard.

But I actually realize now, those were the things that God uses for me, that those are like signs and signals back to him, like, oh, but God is good. And look, he did this, and look, he did that. We always go to Paul and go, man, they had to lower him out the town in a basket over the wal.

And he got shipwrecked, and he got. You know, you can go through the things over and over and over of all the things that happen to these folks, but then it points back to Jesus.

So for me, to answer your question, for me, what it looks like getting into having a collision, right, with the true and living God in worship looks like remembering who he is, seeing him over and over and over again. And as a worship leader, reminding people that it's all about him. And so even if we're singing a song that seems.

Oh, even this song that seems to be about us is about him. And the only reason we can say, you know, I trust you, is because you're trustworthy. He's trustworthy over and over again.

And I don't mind being a broken record, and I don't mind being a dead horse, because I know that Jesus can raise that horse from the dead. All right? And we'll beat him again. Okay? I don't want to beat horses. I'm sorry I said it. Sorry.

Naomi, I love your faith and I love your heart. You are balancing so much. You are a mom of three kids.

Three. Yeah.

Is that correct? Three kids. And you are. You're doing worship pastoring at your church. You're. You're putting out album.

Like, how are you balancing all that God's called you to?

Well, this is the only question I can't answer. No, just kidding. I think, you know, I'm somewhat of a workaholic. And I will just say that it's better than being an alcoholic. And so I.

You know, I will. I'll go with that. Right. My liver thanks me, but I think that I enjoy. I enjoy movement. I enjoy progress. I enjoy productivity.

But I've learned how to juggle, right? I've learned how to balance. I think I have pretty good boundaries. I've learned to say no.

I'm grateful because before I was in the position I'm in now, I felt like I had to take everything. I had to say yes to every opportunity that came my way, and now I don't have to do that as much.

And if I'm honest, I think I learned the hard way by taking on too much information and getting. What is it? Burnt out. I used to be Burnt out. I'm not burnt out anymore. I have days of rest. I have moments of solitude. I have put in boundaries.

And I've learned vicariously from Darius Daniels, vicariously through Todd Galbraith, about just scheduling, timing, making sure my rhythm is right. Tasha Cobbs, Leonard's another one, another friend that's like, hey, you can't do everything, you know?

And she's very good at being like, when she's with you, she's with you, she's smiling, she's happy. And then it's like, I gotta go. And when she has to go, she has to go. And you just learn how to respect it.

I'm like, I'm working with people because I think this generation, I think is we have the benefit of the generation before us that realize that they lost their families, they lost their children, they lost a lot pursuing ministry. And so we have the benefit of learning those lessons from them.

And.

And so now. And you know, this generation, low key, doesn't want to do anything. You know, it's also like, I want to quit my job and do nothing. Right?

And so we're kind of that and like, do what I love. We're kind of in that space too. And so I think we have a good extent.

And then after the pandemic and being home, you know, for like two years, I think we learned how nice rest was and leisure and like not having to go anywhere. The pandemic really changed me. It really helped me see what was important. I had to make some decisions about what is actually important.

And some of that might not work for certain people. You know, you might go, oh, no, I have to do this. I have to cook every night for my children.

That's not my praise, that's not my story, and it ain't my testimony. And it was at one point, but now I have teenagers.

And so, no, I'm not doing it because mommy's in a different phase of her life and a different space. And also you can cook too. And so we work together and we do. And I'm not like a big, like, let's eat it all the time. I don't like all of that.

But we are working on things together. And so I think there are some norms, some cultural norms that I'm okay with saying no to and saying no.

And then there are things that there are ways that I will stretch myself. So I'm not gonna stretch myself to be at an event, but I will stretch myself to be at my kids game.

I will stretch myself to be at A college tour that's happening and if I have to get off a plane and go straight there, so I'll do that for them. But also I might not be up till midnight playing Uno when we just played last night, you know what I'm saying?

And so there's like boundaries and different things where I'm gonna think, okay, no, not tonight, I love you, but I gotta sleep, you know, or I need to go to the studio and do this. And so I've learned how to kind of move some things around and when they're in school, a lot of times I sleep and yes and amen.

And I don't need to wake up at 6 in the morning and, and be on the, the 6am prayer. Now I might wake up at 8 for 8am prayer and then go back to sleep.

I'm just learning how to balance and say no and work out and do, you know, you just learn how to say no and not have to live by somebody else's, you know, a 50s model of what a home looks like and what a life or what a career looks like.

Yeah, it's so interesting the seasons that shift for a woman and our kids get to watch it, which is really interesting. I, I'm experiencing that in my own life where I was in ministry and then I was a stay at home mom for eight years, then I went back into ministry.

And so my kids have grown up watching me do this juggle and I don't always do it well and sometimes I do and sometimes they seen me say to my husband, look, I can't be me and be your mom. Like be like your mom, you know what I mean?

Like you want me to be like how she was, you know, But I also am doing all this and I can't be two women at the same time. So there's been so many shifts that we've experienced.

But now my kids are in college and college aged and it's been really interesting to hear them talk about what they learned and how they were shaped by watching a mom choose to enter into the calling God had in their life. So I'm kind of curious for you, at the end of, of your life, what do you hope your kids say? This is what I saw in my mom and I want to be like her.

Oh, okay. I hope that they say, and some of this I've already gotten a preview too because my kids are very expressive when they want to be.

Unless I'm asking how school is.

Good, good.

But I've gotten a little preview of it. I would love for them to say that, number one, that Mommy loved Jesus more than anybody.

And that love was shown through how she treated us, how she walked with him and with other people, how she treated Daddy, how she loved her family and how she loved those who became family. I think that's it. And that's my only hope and desire. I do, if I'm honest. One of my fears, one of the things that could make me like, oh, no.

Is that I pray that they, like, they, they. They talk to me like they get it. They talk to me like they understand. But, you know, as a mom, you're always like, I pray they get it.

I pray they understand. I pray that. Not that I don't want to be alone when I die. Right? I pray because my, My parents did the same thing. My parents were in ministry.

That was, that was number. Their, Their regret is that we didn't go on more vacations or they, you know, we didn't do. They were like, we were in church all the time.

And to me, my. My brother and I, we're like. But we had a great childhood. We loved it. We didn't know anything else. We weren't looking, you know, like, we weren't.

You know, sometimes you see the Disney commercial and you go, yeah, you didn't.

Know about the shores of Hawaii.

Right? Like, you know, we just, we loved it. We met some of our lifelong friends at church. You know, we. We built great relationships, and we.

I mean, the greatest relationship was our relationship with Jesus. And we walked and saw our parents be real people that really loved God. They weren't one at church and then another way at home.

These were real people that. And so I want that for my children. I think they see that we're. That we love God and our whole lives revolve around him.

And that's from the top to the bottom. Like, everything we do in our home is revolving around who God is in us and how we can tell other people who he is.

And so my children, as they're making decisions about what they want to do with their future, these are the conversations we're having. Okay, well, what is the Lord saying to you? What is, you know, what is God saying?

How are you going to move in your life in a way that maybe you don't have to, like, do be in ministry per se, like, with, you know, in the church. But what is, what is this job that you want to do? How does that affect the world? And so for me, I hope that when I'm on my deathbed, Right.

That my children or my grandchildren are around me and they're like, mommy was a person who loved Jesus and loved us. I don't know why they have to talk like that. But, you know, love. Jesus loved us and loved other people and left a legacy.

And you know what I want them to say that she left us in a financial space where we don't have to worry about anything. That's one of the things I want to break generational poverty and set my children up to be able to have greater opportunities.

So my prayer is that they are not worried about, oh, my God, if she dies, who's gonna pay for the funeral? You know, like, I don't want them to be worrying about any of that. That is my. And I. I felt like I needed to say that.

Like, people need to hear that our financial, you know, decisions and stuff, that's a part of, you know, leaving a good legacy for our children.

Well, I have so many things I'd want to ask you, and I know we could hang out all day, but we have things we need to get going.

I want to ask you about your latest project, but before I do, just for fun, I have two fill in the blank questions, because I'm very curious what you would say. First one is dream collab. If you could collab with any other artist, who would it be?

I feel like I've almost collabed with Chris Tomlinson.

Chris Tomlin. That is awesome. I also hope you can fill in this.

Like, if you could only sing one worship song for the rest of your life and no other worship songs, what would it be? Go.

It would be Agnes Day. That's hallelujah. Hallelujah for the Lord God Almighty reigns. Yeah, I would do that one. Holy, holy Are you Lord God Almighty?

Worthy is the lamb Worthy is the lamb.

I love it forever. I love that so much. You have a new project. Can you tell us about it so we can follow along with what is going on with you?

Yes, yes, yes. I have a project out called Cover the Earth, and I'm actually going to release. I think you're the first person I'm telling ever.

Um, I'm gonna release, like, a deluxe version of Cover the Earth with some friends. With some songs on there. With friends.

Wow.

And really excited about that because it's. It's a. It's a project about the glory of God covering the Earth, and I'm just excited to get to share that with. With people and the songs on there.

I'm really super excited about the. The main single that we've been singing a lot is called One name Jesus. And it's really just about, like, it's about him.

I know, like, there are people that are like, oh, you're from Maverick City Music, or you're Naomi Raine, and you dah. Dah. You know, you know Chandler Moore and you da. You know all of these names. And I'm like, y' all, there's only one name that's important.

There's only one name that matters. There's only one name by which men can be saved. And so I just wanted to put out a song that was just. Just about Jesus, you know? So I'm excited.

I love that so much. And I just got an image of your father praying in a basement before you existed because the Lord knew that he was going to use you in powerful ways.

Thank you for sharing your story with us today. I know there's people who are going to want to follow you and. And grab a hold of this album when it comes out. How can they do that?

Well, you can follow me anywhere. That one can be followed by just putting in Naomi. N A O M I R A I N E I am. I'm kind of on the TikTok.

You know, I'm learning how to be like one of the kids. I'm doing a little TikTok, but mostly on Instagram, and I'm still a little bit on Facebook now. You might.

You know, I'm a little too young for Facebook these days, but, yeah, it's mostly that.

And then on YouTube, I like, release videos and stuff if you want to get, like, you know what, inside scoop on my life and all the things that I'm doing. And so. Yep. Naomi Raine, R A I N E.

Love it so much. Thank you, Naomi, for being with us.

Thank you for having me. I really had a great time.

Oh, have a great day.

You too.

Friend. I hope you enjoyed that. That interview with Naomi. How very cool to hear a part of her story.

I have to say that I've personally seen her minister to thousands of people, and she was so very connected to the spirit.

Not afraid to stop and pause and pray and ask the Lord to even guide her in that moment so that she could guide the thousands of people in this arena that we're in. And. And it's just so very cool to see her follow God's spirit as she impacts so many other people. I loved hearing your story. I hope you did, too.

And I hope you know that God is writing a story in your life and he wants to confirm something special in you. And he has a calling for you. The same God that has met her.

The same God that her father and her mother prayed to and asked him to unleash a calling on their children's lives. That same God is with you, and he hears your prayers, and he hears your prayers for your children. And he has a plan for your life.

So I hope that you'll keep colliding within and experiencing his goodness, experiencing his voice, experiencing his grace and his rescue.

If you need help to keep colliding, if you need inspiration, more inspiration like this, we have a jillion million resources on our website @wecollide.net we have Bible study books and courses and conferences coming up, so check them out. Friend, so good to be with you. We'll catch you next week.