Published: August 26, 2024
How God changed this worship leader’s life
By Movieguide® Contributor
Worship leader Sarah Kroger explained how God transformed music from a secret talent into a gift that she willingly shares to help others grow in their faith.
Kroger was closely connected to music from a young age. Growing up with parents who were both involved in music ministry, she has loved music for as long as she can remember. However, this led to her standing out at school and being bullied severely – which led to her hiding her musical talent in order to fit in.
“I knew music was special to me, and I didn’t want it to be destroyed like the rest of me was destroyed. So I built a kind of wall around it, and it became something that only I could enter alone,” Kroger said on the “Jesus Calling” podcast.
“I just locked that gift away and threw away the key and thought, I’m never, ever going to sing in front of anyone again,” she continued. “It’s just going to be something I do for myself.”
Kroger lived with this rule for years, even refusing to sing in front of her family. However, her concealment of this gift was challenged when she felt God calling her to lead worship services.
“I felt like God lovingly tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Sarah, I didn’t give you this gift just for yourself. I gave it to you for my kingdom. I gave you this gift for my glory. And by hiding it, you’re not doing anyone any favors. So are you going to step forward in faith? Are you going to say yes to me?'” she recalled.
“I went back to my church and started leading Sunday services,” Kroger continued. “(I was) terrified. It wasn’t like I said yes and everything just fell into place. I was still shaking all over and probably sounded like a dying animal every time I got up on the podium to sing.”
“I taught myself early on how to close my eyes, forget about the people in the room and just go into it like a prayer when I first sang in front of people,” Kroger added. “I literally had to re-center myself and think to myself, this isn’t about me. It’s not even about the people in this room. This is about glorifying God and giving back to God because he asked me to.”
Now that worship has become her profession, Kroger continues to invoke that truth and works to keep God’s glory at the center of everything she does. She also takes special care to ensure that the music she conducts is accessible to everyone, rather than making it a performance that’s all about herself.
“In many ways, it’s like we can create spaces where people feel safe enough to come to God as they are, and where they can bring their questions and whatever is on their minds into a worship service,” she said, “into one of our meetings, into everything we do. And we can foster that kind of atmosphere through music.”
Kroger draws on the pain of her past to help others currently in similar situations, encouraging them to keep up the good fight and live for the Lord rather than live in fear.
“The suffering in my life has led me to deeper insights, freedom and joy than I ever expected. I have also realized that there are fruits on the other side of this season that I would never reach and would never have reached if I had not lived through them first,” Kroger said.
“And that God met me in it, even if he was silent,” she added. “Silence is not the same as absence. It’s not the same. And we are never alone. He says: ‘I am always here with you.’ That is a promise from God, even in the midst of darkness.”
Their latest album, A new realitypublished in May.
“I hope that by listening A new realitypeople feel encouraged to bring their imperfect, questioning, doubting selves to God. I want people to be reminded of the beauty of His presence in the world. He is more real than we can comprehend,” Kroger said of the album.
“My new album ‘A New Reality’ explores two sides of the same coin,” she added on Instagram. “Getting lost in wonder and feeling lost in my wonder. When it came to choosing a location to create the artwork for this record, I knew it had to be a place whose majesty and grandeur is simply undeniable. It doesn’t get more epic than Big Sur, California.”
