TAYA is pulling back the curtain on one of the biggest "what if" moments of her life-and it's proof that God's plans can look very different from our own.
Speaking backstage at the 2026 Harvest Crusade, the Australian worship leader revealed that before becoming the unforgettable voice behind Hillsong UNITED's global anthem "Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)," she thought her breakthrough would come on The Voice Australia. Instead, a rejection email became one of the greatest blessings of her career.
After leaving her small hometown for Sydney with dreams of becoming a recording artist, TAYA worked in retail, faithfully served in church, and auditioned for The Voice Australia. Producers loved her performance and promised to call back within weeks, leaving her convinced she was on the verge of her big opportunity.
But while waiting for that phone call, everything changed.
A producer from Hillsong UNITED unexpectedly invited her into the studio to record background vocals. TAYA had no idea she was walking into the very first recording session for what would become "Oceans"-a song that would go on to transform worship around the world.
The surprises didn't stop there.
Months later, church leaders asked her to quit her retail job on the spot so she could join Hillsong UNITED and head to South Africa on tour. The invitation came despite the fact that she had never attended music college and had only started taking singing lessons after joining the ministry.
"I started crying," TAYA recalled, describing the invitation as nothing less than the kindness of God.
Then came the twist she never saw coming.
While touring with UNITED, the long-awaited email from The Voice Australia finally landed in her inbox.
She hadn't made the show.
Rather than feeling crushed, TAYA realized God had been writing a much bigger story all along.
"I got to be like, 'Well, thank You, Jesus,'" she said. "I think He's had a completely different direction for my life."
Looking back, TAYA believes the entire journey began with a simple prayer she prayed as a 16-year-old at youth camp: "God, can You use me?"
She never asked for fame, a platform, or hit songs-only that God would use her life however He chose. Decades later, she says she can trace every unexpected opportunity back to that moment of surrender.
Now, after helping lead one of the most beloved worship songs in modern Christian music, TAYA says her greatest lesson is trusting God's timing over her own ambitions.
"If God put those dreams and desires in your heart," she encouraged, "He will be the one that will best equip you and bring it to pass."
