Many times in my life, I have seen how God goes before me. BUT….never at that exact moment. Always afterwards. Looking back over your life is actually a wonderful thing when you look with an eye as to see what God has done. Allow me to give you an example from my own life.
For those who do not know, I am currently in the Christian music industry.This is my daytime job. I work with Christian artists and events and music. And make no mistake; I love it. But I only started in the industry when I was 44. Most people think of retirement by then. How will it happen? What do they need to put in place? Not me, I started a new business in a new field at 44. And I did this, because God said it. Let me tell you the story of how I ended up in the music industry. It is a God story.
I was at a very bad place in my life at 44. No husband, a 9-year-old daughter to bring up, no job, no car. And every morning I would ask God what I am to do. One morning I heard a loud voice in my ears asking …”JULITA! What do you have in your hands?” I got such a fright, I ran into a lamppost. But I stopped and looked at my hands and I said:”Lord, all I have is music.” The next moment, in the Spirit, I saw the events I would be doing in future, the artists I would work with. And I believed Him. It was impossible. I had no knowledge of this industry; no experience and no money….how on earth? But one thing I knew — if God said it, it is settled.
Music has always been a very important part of my life. I have been singing since I can remember. I spent hours and hours listening to my parents’ LPs (those old turntable records, for the younger generation who might be reading this column). They had all the Springbok Hits volumes and lots of Gé Korsten, Jim Reeves, John Denver, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Elvis and Gospel LPs. I could sit for hours and hours, listening to these and imagining myself singing some of these songs. Old hits, like House of the Rising Sun, Jolene, Sweet Caroline, All I Need is the Air That I Breathe, and all the Abba hits, and my all-time favourite, Piano Man. I knew them all.
I sang in the school choir since I can remember and when I was eight years old, I started piano lessons. I loved being able to play piano. I had an F.A.K. and a Hallelujah book from Church. I knew every song in those books. I played them through and through and through. I simply loved making music. I loved my piano. Then I was chosen for the world-renowned Tygerberg Children’s Choir and there I learned everything I know about discipline and breathing in singing.That choir was the best thing that happened to me as far as singing was concerned.
I was also very good at sports, and I think the choir brought a balance to my life. Otherwise, it would have been only sports. I was used for most of the solos in my school choir and some in the Tygerberg Children’s Choir and very soon, everybody who knew me, knew I could sing. I was asked to sing at every wedding, every funeral and every special occasion. In high school I was chosen for the Northern Transvaal Youth Choir, also a very prestigious choir, and again I was head girl and soloist of the choir. I also played the leading role in the musical at my school, and so I was invited to many occasions and events to sing.
After school, I sang with people like Jannie du Toit and Innes and Franna Benadé. The youngsters reading this will have no idea who I am talking about (although they will know Franna’s son Rian Benade). I had many opportunities. I loved performing on big stages, was always extremely nervous beforehand, but the moment I walked on stage, the fear disappeared. Later on in church, this was what I did. I sang. I also started a singing group in church, and we were invited to perform all over South Africa. God used us and it was a beautiful thing. I simply just enjoyed it. But then, when married to the pastor’s son, I was told that I was not allowed to sing outside of church. At that stage, I was about to record my first album and I was told to stop everything, as I was not called to sing for “the world”, but for God. Being a young girl and easily intimidated by the older men of the church and having to submit to my husband, I walked away from the recording. This was devastating to me.
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So, for the next few years, I only sang in church. I received other invitations but had to say no and eventually the invitations outside of church stopped. It was okay. As long as I could still sing. I sang at many women’s meetings and gatherings and that helped. The music was always drawing me. My husband loved my singing. He always wanted me to sing, but only in church. As time went by, times changed and I eventually got to make a CD. But nothing extravagant or with a label. Just a nice CD recorded in someone’s home studio. It played on many Christian radio stations, and I enjoyed it when I got to places and people asked me to sing a song that they had heard on radio. I felt my music meant something to someone.
My husband always told me there was no one who could sing like me, but that I was not called to be a singer. I would get very upset with him, because that was one thing I could do. Sing. But today, looking back, he might have been right, or God worked it all for my good. I am not sure. There were many opportunities that came my way in my early twenties that I have not mentioned here – recordings, travelling overseas, etcetera – but none of those happened, as I had to decline them all.
In my 30s I was ordained as a pastor, and being a worship pastor was the best thing to me. I loved every moment of it. Eight years of doing worship healed many wounds, but there was always a longing on the inside of me for the stages of the world. I cannot explain it. I just knew I had to be a part of it. So, then, I heard that Michael W Smith was coming to South Africa and I soooo wanted to go. But we had no money for something like that. I prayed and asked God to provide me with the money, but He never did. I asked my husband to drop me at the CTICC where the event was happening and said that I would stand around in the foyer as I would be able to hear the music from there. So, he dropped me off at the CTICC.
I stood in the foyer, and as the people went inside, I saw a lady battling with some boxes. I went up to her and asked if I could help. She said: “Yes, do this, take that,” and so on. She put me to work right there and then. I quickly realised that this was Michael W Smith’s merchandise table. Eek! So, during the lunch break I was introduced to “Smitty” (I nearly fainted, but nobody knew). He came to the table to sign his CDs and speak to his fans. And I was with him the whole time, handing him the CDs, and so on. After the break, the lady who was working for Integrity – the biggest Christian record label in the world at the time, which was actually called Sarepta then – told me: “You can go inside now and listen for a while, and when you come out, I will go in.”
Whoop-whoop! I got to see part of the concert! What a blessing!
When the conference ended for that day, the lady said: “Okay, so see you 08:00 tomorrow morning.”
I just said it was okay and I left to meet my husband outside in the car. I was just overwhelmed. He had to listen to everything that had happened and knew there was no way out. His wife wanted to be at the CTICC the next day.
The next day at 08:00 I was there, and the same thing happened. The conference ended and her boss came to say thank you.
“So, who sent you to help?” he asked.
“Nobody,” I answered. “I just saw the lady battling with the boxes and offered to help.” He was blown away when he realised that I was put to work by “mistake”. I did not mind. He handed me a box full of Michael W Smith CDs and other merchandise to say thank you. I was over the moon! Music! CDs that I could not afford.
I said my goodbyes and then told him: “If you ever need something to be done in Cape Town, even if it is just to go pick up boxesl, I am here for you.” I gave them my contact details and we said goodbye.
A few months later, I got a call.
Planetshakers was coming to South Africa, and they needed someone to pick up some boxes for them. Then, Sonic Flood was coming to Cape Town… and so on.
For the next few years, I was the girl who handled the merchandise table when any Integrity artists came to Cape Town.
I never got paid for it. That was not even on my mind. I got to meet all these artists and hear their music and Integrity gave me a box full of the latest releases in the world every three months! That was more than what I could ever ask for! Even before it was on radio, I had it. How cool is that? I was serving without me realising that God was busy setting me up for my own future. He truly is an amazing God.
So, that day, –let’s call it my lamppost day — I gave my music back to the Father. In that moment He showed me what I would be doing in future. I saw the events and the artists, and I just knew that I would be busy with music.
I told Him: “I have no idea how to do this and how it works, Lord.”
He said not to worry, the things I saw in my vision would come to me. From the beginning I would work with some of the top artists in South Africa and in the world.
That made no sense, but I believed Him, for He is God.
So, from that moment on, if someone asked me what I did for a living, I told them that I was in the music industry. I was standing on Hebrews 11. The things hoped for and not seen. Then, one afternoon, more or less one month after my lamppost experience, I received a phone call from the CEO of Integrity Africa, Nurden Cross — also the man whom I had met that day at the Michael W. Smith event. Their head office was in Durban (Sarepta those many years back), and he said he was coming to Cape Town, and he wanted to know if we could meet. So, we met, and that day my whole life changed.
Nurden said that he had watched me over the years and that I was an excellent marketer. He wanted to know if I would be interested in managing his Cape Town-based artists. I sat there and was blown away! I had no knowledge whatsoever of “managing artists”. I had no connections in this industry. In fact, I was totally clueless, but I remembered my lamppost day and I knew God said it would come to me… and here it was, my future, sitting right in front of me. It was for me to say yes or no. It was my choice.
My heart burst with joy because I knew this was the future that God had for me, and it could only be good.
So, without showing any of my emotions (in other words, without freaking out) I answered Nurden: “Yes! I will do this.”
There was no money involved. I would get a 20% commission on all the work (I did not know at the time that they were called “gigs”), that I would bring in for the artists. I did not even care. I just knew that this was God. So, the first artist Nurden asked me to manage was Rozanne Visagie. She was known for her song, Kan ʼn man dan nie.
So, to fast-forward a little, what immediately started happening was that artists saw me managing Rozanne, and because Integrity put their brand to me, other artists started calling me to manage them. I prayed over each and every one and asked God to show me who they were in Him, who He made them to be, and to show me what to do with them. Many unknown artists came to me and are now well-known artists in South Africa, and some even in the world. At the peak of managing artists, we had 246 artists on our books. But let me not run ahead.
What I need you to understand here, is my years of serving musicians and artists and record labels. I had no idea that God was setting me up for my future. I did not even realise that I was putting seed in the ground. I just wanted to serve the music. Did not even do it for God. Just wanted to be close to the music. But this is what you need to understand. Listen closely now and read slowly. He gives seed to the sower. This was one of my biggest lessons in life. He gives seed to the sower. He gave me an opportunity in the music industry that day with the lady and her boxes. I accepted it and I sowed (without me realising it at the time), and years later, when I needed a harvest, God said: “You have a harvest ready.”
I was sowing into the music industry for my own future in music!
And here is the thing. God did not give me the money to buy a ticket to the Michael W Smith event. And one could have thought that time that God was not a “good Father”, but oh my word….this is exactly what He was by saying “NO” to ticket money. He was such a good Father, because if He gave me the money, I would sit inside and I would never have helped with the boxes and got to know the Integrity people. God was setting me up for my own future by saying “NO’ to the ticket money!!!. Are you hearing me? I know some of you now have things jump to mind where you can suddenly see God’s hand in your own life.
If you can grasp this truth today! Look for the opportunities God brings along your path and just take them and do what you need to do. Just serve people. Just serve. One day, when you need it most, your harvest will be ready to reap. He gives seed to the sower and is setting you up for your own future as we are “speaking” now. I have seen this so many times in my life now and if you look closely, you will see it too. And let me tell you this…many times, the bad things that happen, are the exact things he uses to work for your good (Romans 8), to set up a future glorifying Him and bringing intense fulfilment in your life.
I never got to be the great singer I wanted to be. But where I am now, I understand that to be able to do what I do, I must understand music, understand artists and have knowledge of it all. And I get so much more. I get to listen to everyone’s music and not just my own. That would have been the case if I got to sing; it would have been my music only. But now, I get to work with so many artists and so much different music. Far and above and even beyond I could ever dream and all I did was to help someone unpack some boxes. And I believed God when He showed me my future.
I would not want it any other way.
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