My heart aches over the tragic death of Whitney Houston. The aching stems, not from a naive perspective on life and death, for I know full well that death is but a doorway to an even greater existence.
The heartache that I am experiencing stems from the sobering reminder that there are pitfalls in this life that some of us will simply never climb out of on this side of glory -- never. As an encourager and optimist, "never" is a really hard word for me to accept.
As Christians, we often desire see the evidence or manifestation of God's deliverance of our loved ones in this life. But, time and time again we see that, in some instances, full relief and release may only come once an individual is freed from their earthly body.
Some of us, no matter how much time we are given to enjoy the goodness of the Lord in this life will find ourselves "like a dog returning to its vomit," (Proverbs 26:11) habitually and helplessly returning to people, places and things that are toxic. We end up learning the hard way that "just one time" or "just one more time" can prove to be one time too many.
We don't yet have all the details concerning Whitney's death, but we do know that she, a recovering addict, had been drinking on the night of her death. With a body ravaged from drug abuse, it's hard not to suspect that, "one more glass" of this drink or "one more dose" of that medication may have added up to "one last" of everything for Whitney. We never know just how close we really are to the edge of the end until we end up falling over it.
Many in the younger generation are not at all familiar with Whitney Houston. But, somewhere out there is a little singer who will be called, "the next Whitney Houston." With everything we've got, let's help her steer clear of the false promises of drugs and alcohol.
I'm not condemning anyone, but I am saying that just because some folks tried and tasted a little bit of this and a little of that during their youth and made it out alright doesn't mean that everyone will do the same. The countless celebrity deaths and the deaths of our own loved ones prove that, for far too many, drugs and alcohol are pieces in a game of Russian roulette in which someone is guaranteed to bite the bullet.
Our children need to know that it IS okay to go through life without ever having tried drugs or getting drunk. These don't have to be the rights of passage that some have allowed them to become.
God has generously given each of us the gift of life. But if we, despite our best and most earnest intentions, continue to malfunction, perhaps we are recalled and returned to our sender. For, only God--the sender--can take broken and malfunctioning pieces and salvage them into something whole again.
Jesus Christ came to salvage us and make a way for us to be restored to our maker. My prayer and belief is that Whitney gave her life to Christ during her time in church and that the divine, melodic voice that God placed within her now resonates with supernatural clarity now that it-- and she -- have been Returned to Sender.
Please pray for Whitney's family, friends and fans, and...
BNcouraged!
Rev. Karen
No comments:
Post a Comment