S4 Episode #16- Megan Tibbits
THE ONE WITH MEGAN TIBBITS
Megan Tibbits is a singer and songwriter of inspirational music. Michigan born, she was raised in a very musical family, traveling and performing in the family band called ‘Living Truth’. Megan toured around the country with the group for over ten years, singing on stage by age three, recording harmony vocals by age six, writing songs on guitar by age twelve, and learning piano, harp, oboe, and saxophone along the way.
After graduating with a Music Education degree from Cornerstone University, Megan joined the performance company “The Young Americans” and spent two year performing and teaching music in Germany, the Netherlands, Japan and the United States. She then made the move from her hometown of Caro, Michigan to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music.
Upon moving to LA, Megan appeared before a national TV audience on ABC’s Rising Star, advancing to the top 12, and released her debut album ‘Until I Fly’ soon after. Since then, Megan has worked with artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Jonathan McReynolds, Danny Gokey, Brandon Heath & Marvin Winans Jr., and her videos have gotten the attention of artists such as Alicia Keys, Tauren Wells, etc. Most recently, Megan appeared as “The Harpist” on FOX’s I Can See Your Voice, and is soon to go on tour with author Bob Goff.
Megan resides in LA, performing, writing, leading worship, and speaking around the country.
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God speaks to His people. He speaks through His Word, but He always gives us access to a personal relationship with Jesus. He wants a personal relationship with us. Seek Him like this is the case.
THE UNEXPECTED
Megan has a degree in music education, and although she has never directly used that degree, God is so creative with the way that Megan is using those skills now. God’s MO in Megan’s life had been making beautiful things out of things we didn’t realize could be beautiful and doing in a totally different way that we planned.
Things may not look how you planned, but God can use every bit of your story. This might be the training ground for whatever is next. The way that God makes things come to pass may not be the way we prayed for or expected, but He always knows exactly what we need. He is a personal God who is tailor making each of our stories.
Through all of the struggles of chasing her dreams, Megan has seen God molding her character and surprising her with the unexpected along the way!
God has opened crazy doors along the way– from touring with Bob and Maria Goff to arranging songs for Jennifer Lopez!
THE FAVOR OF GOD
The favor of God shows up in beautiful places. God will sometimes use His favor to direct our next steps. God’s favor is His hand saying “yes”. So where we see God opening doors can be a way to know where He is leading us next!
GOD AS THE GIVER– NOT THE TAKER
In college, Megan had a fear that God would take away all the things that she loved in order to make God first in her life. She viewed God as a ‘taker’... but as she got to know His character, she experienced His grace over and over again. She realized the love of God is more perfect than she could have ever dreamed and that God is not a ‘taker’, rather He gave everything in order to love us.
If there is something that God is withholding– the Bible says that God “withholds no good thing”-- so if something is being withheld, then maybe it is not good for us yet. If God is going to lead us somewhere, then He can also lead our hearts there. He knows us better than we know ourselves and His plans for us are good.
TRUSTING GOD IN THE ‘NOT YET’
God cares way more about our character and identity, rather than our worldly success. As hard as it may be, we must learn to trust Him in the ‘not yet’.
God is always leading us forward– we are not ever stuck! There is always a step forward to take with The Lord. You may still be in a season of waiting, but ‘not yet’ and ‘stuck’ are not the same things!
When you are feeling discouraged with your delays, God is still working behind the scenes. God has a plan. Often trusting God involves discerning what I need to act on and what I need to release to God. God knows what we need better than we do– he cares more about who we are becoming. If he has withheld something, then we have to trust that it is not good yet. Maybe it will be one day– but there is something that needs to happen in your heart and life before you are ready.
When a baby is growing inside of a mom, it often looks like nothing is happening from the outside… but on the inside, everything is developing and growing! Just because we can’t see movement in the physical realm, doesn’t mean there isn’t massive movement taking place in the unseen spiritual realms.
DISCOURAGEMENT + LOSS
This was our second attempt at recording this episode, after the original recording was lost. Sometimes we experience a loss in order to make way for God to do something new in our lives.
FINAL THOUGHTS
You are not what you DO. God has placed His Spirit inside of us so that we can be the light to the world. The ways that you use your gifts is just the vehicle by which you get to live out who you were created to be. You are the gift!
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The Collected Podcast is produced by Jes Biondo and edited by Jacob Early. Cover art designed by Ben Biondo.