Blessing Offor Encourages Others To ‘Look For The Fruit’ That Comes From Hard Times
By Movieguide® Contributor
Christian singer Blessing Offor recently opened up about his journey to the top of the Billboard charts as a blind musician.
Offor’s song “Brighter Days” made him a star, even earning him a spot performing at the Grand Ole Opry and a 2022 Dove Award New Artist of the Year nomination.
“I feel like my music falls into what I call ‘the genre of humanity,'” Offor explained. “I want anybody to walk into this record and find themselves within it. I want them to feel the honesty of it.”
That honesty came from months in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The world was so busy making all the noise it likes to make, and all of a sudden, this thing we all went through together made us all sit still,” Offor said. “We got to realize that we’re not in control. I think that freaked out a lot of people, because we live our lives based on the idea that we are in control. But the fact is that life can turn itself upside down anytime it wants to.”
Honesty and an acceptance of not having control weren’t the only things Offor had to overcome and live with. The Nigerian musician lost his eyesight at 11 years old in an accident.
“If you’re going through hard things, embrace it,” the singer shared. “And then after you go through those hard things, look for the fruit that comes from it. You have to have something hard in your life to appreciate something beautiful in your life.”
“You know what’s funny is that I think being blind is a humbling thing for me,” Offor continued. “When I’m on stage and I’m playing and people are having the reaction they’re having — whether it’s a standing ovation or what — in my mind I just have to think to myself that I think they like it. I hope they’re smiling.”
“I feel like if I could look out and see the standing ovation, it would feel really good. But what’s even more cool is feeling it. That feeling is magical,” he concluded.
Movieguide® previously reported on Offor’s career:
Christian artist Blessing Offor recently released his first EP, Brighter Days, which consists of seven songs about his hope in Jesus after going blind in both eyes.
Born blind in one eye, Offor learned piano and developed a love for music before losing his eyesight completely at the age of 10.
However, the singer-songwriter does not let his blindness stop his vision for bringing people closer to Christ through music.
“Our baseline attitude should be gratitude,” Offer told The Christian Post in a recent interview. “Not to be cliche, but we all got to wake up today. That did not have to happen. Life in context should only leave you grateful.”
“I lost a bunch of my vision when I was a kid, right? But I’m here, right? I get to play music for a living. I’m living the dream. That is the same for millions of people right now,” he added.
Offor said that he trusts God’s plan for his life and accepted blindness as a part of that plan.
“I don’t want anybody else’s life but mine,” he explained. “Because whatever they’re going through, it’s not for you. So we all find ourselves exactly right where God wants us to be and equipped for the thing He wants us to be doing.”
Offor’s family history in regards to religion is primarily Muslim. However, Offor said that even after his father took the risk of converting to Christianity, it wasn’t until college that he accepted the Gospel.
“I really think Christianity thrives under pressure,” he said. “There’s a kind of beauty, there’s an extra kind of humility that you walk around with when you’re in a situation where you are not in power. It reminds you that earthly power isn’t the point. In the New Testament, the Church was never in power, but yet man did that thing grow.”
“If you look at the New Testament, those guys were very, very persecuted. In Nigeria, Christians could tell you what persecution means,” Offor continued. “Everything happening is meant to happen, and we have to continue to rely on what we know to be true and not freak out when the world acts crazy because the world is crazy.”
Offor said that while he lives out the Christian life in faith, he does not label himself as a Christian artist.
“I don’t think I’m the traditional Christian artist. I think of myself as an artist that is a Christian,” Offor said.
“I grew up with all the music in the world — Motown and jazz — and all of these things,” he said. “And I have always felt really deeply that Christians go through heartbreak, Christians go through loss, Christians go through the same emotions that everybody goes through. Why does being a Christian mean all of a sudden we don’t live human lives? So my mindset with making this record was just to be human.
“So I guess my whole thing is, I wanted to make a record that was full of human emotions, all the different kinds of emotions. Because being a Christian still contains within it being a person. I’m trying to bridge that gap. I can’t make music my dad can’t listen to. I can’t record songs that I couldn’t play in front of my dad because my dad’s just the sweetest, kindest, most God-loving man in the world. But that leaves a lot of freedom.”
- Content: +3Share:
- Content: +3