What baggage, what wounds, what regrets continue to hold you back from the more you know you’re made for? What parts of your life do you keep frantically sweeping under the rug for fear your followers or family or God, or worse, your own self will reject you if they only knew?

Naomi Raine – Grammy award winning singer, writer, producer, pastor, and worship leader – sets a life-changing example of authentic struggle and the resulting richness of life that comes from owning our messes.

Her latest solo album, Journey, is genuine and raw. Zero façade. Brutally honest and powerfully hopeful. She lays it all out for us – the good, the bad, and ugly that when acknowledged honestly, led her to more intimate relationship with God and those in her daily life.

Just a few of her nuggets of gold are:

• Worship is more about how you offer your day to God than how well or often you sing to him.
• Learning to be more honest with God helps us be better people to people.
• How to get back on the same page with God when we’ve veered off course.
• How to enjoy the “even if,” the waiting seasons well.

Naomi gives us permission to engage our struggles and in doing so, move toward freedom from them.

Whatever polished picture you think your people or your church or your God needs to see you and embrace you is BS, my friends. Working through your mess draws your (safe!) people closer, strengthens the relationship, and ultimately brings greater intimacy than sweeping things under the rug ever will.

But as Naomi reminds us, it’s a journey. And it’s a journey very worth taking.

Follow Naomi on Instagram!