Ginny Owens knows a secret.
It’s one she learned through years of life experience—crisscrossing the United States and the world as a musician, meeting people from all walks of life.
“Life is not trite; it’s complicated,” Owens said. “It’s dark, it’s heavy on a lot of days. Not all days, but for a lot of people, when you meet them after shows and they tell you their stories, you hear about how heavy things can be. The loss and loneliness.”
Owens has experienced loss in her own life. She’s also uncovered the secret to finding contentment, hope and purpose in times of heartache.
“I found some words in Philippians 4 that really moved me in the season I was in,” Owens said. “Paul wrote Philippians from his prison cell. He said, ‘I have learned the secret to being content in every situation, whether well fed or hungry, in plenty or in want.’
“And he goes on to say, ‘I can do everything through him who gives me strength.’”
Owens’ new album I Know a Secret is all about living out the truth that Paul learned behind bars some 2,000 years ago.
“What does it look like to have that evenness of spirit, that joyful heart, that hopeful heart, despite what your circumstances are?” Owens pondered during a visit to Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in Charlotte earlier this winter.
The Jackson, Mississippi, native burst onto the Nashville music scene 15 years ago as Gospel Music Association’s New Artist of the Year. She stopped in Charlotte to play a few songs with fellow Nashville musician Kyle Buchanan on the heels of her November 2014 album release.
“Every song is about some part of what it means to be content in any and every situation,” Owens said, “whether that’s surrendering to God’s bigger plan or whether that is burying the hatchet and forgiving … or just allowing His love to transcend our insecurities and saying, ‘I’m going to go and live and love the way He does, without borders.’”
Owens admits it can be easier to declare God’s transforming love onstage from behind the piano than to live it out in everyday life. But she’s learning to dwell more on God’s love than the insecurities that can drown out the truth.
“We’re always changed by love,” Owens said. “When another human loves us, we’re motivated. It makes us feel like we can go change the world. What would it look like to actually believe that God’s love is a billion times more powerful than that?”
Owens says it would look like a life of service—taking care of others, reaching out when it’s uncomfortable and loving like Jesus.
“One of the secrets I’ve been learning is my life is actually not mine to keep,” Owens said. “Christ gave His life away, and that’s sort of what He calls us to do as well.
“Life’s no fun when you keep it. God put us here to give away our hearts and work with our hands … to be His hands and His feet on earth.”
