Learning to Trust God With Your Growth

Written By: Kingdmusic (Denga Takalani)

Earlier in my career, I was so fired up about being different. In South Africa, traditional gospel has a huge audience. For a long time, it felt like that was the sound you needed to make to become a household name in gospel music. But I wanted to reach the younger generation. I wanted to carry the torch for urban gospel and help create room for a different sound.

There was nothing wrong with that desire. But somewhere along the way, I became so focused on what I wanted to build that I hadn’t really learnt how to surrender my gifts to God. I was singing about Jesus, but there was a deeper knowing of Him that my heart was longing for. I understood worship on the surface, but I wanted to learn what it meant to live surrendered.

Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain.” That Scripture challenges me because it reminds me that I can be busy doing something for God without allowing Him to lead it. I can have vision, talent and discipline, and still be carrying everything in my own strength.

In 2014, after releasing three Christian singles, I stepped away from the industry. I decided to serve in a local church as a worship leader and submit myself to leadership. I needed space for the Lord to work on my heart, teach me humility and prune whatever needed to go. I wanted to learn how to lead people in worship, beyond being an artist with a different sound. For four full years, I didn’t write or release music. That felt like a long time. New artists were coming up, releasing songs and getting opportunities. At times, I felt hidden and unseen. But I knew God was working in my heart, and I didn’t want to rush that process.

During those years, my family also experienced some of the deepest pain we’ve ever known. In 2015, we lost my brother-in-law in a car accident. In September 2016, we lost my maternal grandmother. Two months later, my dad passed away after spending a month in hospital. In 2017, we lost two uncles. It was loss after loss, and the pain was unbearable at times. I don’t have a neat explanation for that season. I still loved Jesus, but loving Him didn’t mean I wasn’t hurting. What I can say is that, in the middle of that grief, I drew closer to Him. I learnt to bring Him my pain and depend on Him in ways I hadn’t before.

Eventually, I felt God nudging me to write again and return to music. This time, I was coming back with a different understanding of why I was doing it. I still loved making music. I still cared about reaching young people. But I understood more deeply that this was ministry, and that my gifts belonged to the Lord. I didn’t need to carry the pressure of making everything happen.

Isaiah 28:16 speaks of the firm foundation God lays in Zion and the confidence of the person who trusts Him. That foundation points us to Christ. For me, it is a reminder that my security must be in Jesus, even when my career feels uncertain. When you’re secure in Him, you can take the next faithful step without panicking about how far ahead someone else seems to be.

Since returning to music, I’ve seen God open doors locally and internationally that I could never have opened for myself. My music has travelled around the world while I’m still based here in South Africa. I’ve collaborated with Christian artists I deeply admire. I’ve had opportunities to be on the road with artists like Lecrae, Maverick City Music, Travis Greene and Naomi Raine.

In September last year, I also had the honour of leading worship at a conference in Florida alongside artists including Jenn and Brian Johnson, Charity Gayle, Alexander Pappas and Katy Nichole. I’m grateful for those moments. But the thing that stays with me is knowing how much of that journey was beyond my ability to arrange or control. As an independent artist, I still carry a lot of the work myself. I still prepare, practise, plan, send emails and show up. Trusting God hasn’t removed my responsibility. It has changed the heart with which I carry it. My discipline is becoming a response to what He has entrusted to me. I want to care for the gift faithfully, while trusting Him with the outcome.

And I want to be careful here: surrender doesn’t mean everyone will receive the same opportunities I’ve received. God’s faithfulness cannot be measured only by collaborations, stages, awards or numbers. He was faithful when I felt unseen, too.

So my encouragement to you as an artist is to let God work on the person carrying the gift. Allow Him to examine your motives. Stay teachable. Serve where you are. Make room to know Jesus beyond what you want Him to do for your career. You can be ambitious and still be surrendered. You can work diligently and still rest in Him. You can celebrate another artist’s progress without feeling that God has forgotten you. I’m still learning this myself. But those four years taught me that a season without releases or recognition can still be a season of real growth. God was shaping my heart in ways I now carry into every song and every room I lead.

Be faithful with what God has placed in your hands. Trust Him with the timing, the doors and the growth. And as you build, keep asking Him to lead.

Reflection Questions

The Reset | Learning to Trust God With Your Growth

1. Am I allowing God to lead my growth, or am I trying to control the timing and outcome? What areas of my life have I been building in my own strength instead of surrendering to Him?

2. How do I respond when my growth feels slow or when others seem to be moving ahead of me? Am I able to trust that God is still working in seasons when I feel unseen?

3. Am I more focused on what God can do through me than what He wants to develop within me? What might God be teaching me about surrender, humility, and faithfulness in this season?