Fame and Misfortune

RIP Whitney Houston who has died, a mere 48 years old. Most people will know at least one of her songs, and listened to this great singer at weddings and other special events. Publicly a woman who had everything, but privately a broken, and tragic figure addicted to many things including crack cocaine and alcohol. I think you will agree, a terrible waste of an amazing talent, which started in her local church. So what could have happened?

None of us can sit in judgement, as we are all subject to temptations of all kinds. The higher up the success ladder you get, the greater these temptations become, and the more likely you are to succumb. From humble beginnings in her local church choir where her obvious talent was nurtured by singing to her Lord, this same girl grew into the woman who died as a result of many wrong decisions taken along the way. It didn’t all happen overnight, and she certainly would not have seen it coming.

Sin (now there’s an old fashioned word) grows on us slowly, so that we barely recognise the downward spiral. Satan (there’s another old fashioned word) knows exactly how to push our buttons to get us to believe that the temptation we feel isn’t exactly such a bad thing after all. Cast your mind back to the account of Adam and Eve in Genesis. Wasn’t it the serpent who suggested that the forbidden fruit wasn’t such a bad thing to have after all? That same sin which has affected us all since, was entertained by our original parents only after a mild suggestion. It was not a great big temptation in their eyes, and the sin was easily rationalised. Make no mistake, the devil works the same way today, and gets the same results. In that respect, we are no different from Whitney Houston. My message is to guard your faith well, because it is constantly under attack, no matter the talents you have.