Jehovah Shalom and the Tragedy of Whitney Houston

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Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. -   John 14:27 (NKJV)

She was only 48 years young. America's diva, Whitney Houston left us this past week, leaving behind a life and legacy of giftings most of us could never fathom and pain none of us would ever want. Amidst the silliness of non-news stories such as whether New Jersey flags should fly at half staff, there are so many lessons here for us to learn and apply if her tragic death is to mean anything beyond an occasional song to remind us.

And songs and memories we will have. Houston burst onto the pop music scene in the 1980s and her star seemed limitless. At the top of the charts and even starring in major motion pictures, Houston appeared to be one of the special ones that could stick around forever. Such are the lies this world sells to us. Lies of fame and fortune. Lies that money and prestige can bring happiness"or even any semblance of peace. Houston would admit decades later that she was using cocaine every day in the 1990s. Her troubled marriage is the stuff that tabloids were made for. She tried and failed at rehabilitation three times, never seeming to be able to defeat the demons she suffered from. By the time she attempted a comeback there was little left of her voice from the drug use. Then this week, she finally lost the battle amidst claims of prescription medication abuse.

I cannot speak for where Whitney Houston is. None of us can. If she had a relationship with Jesus Christ then she is free from her suffering and He has wiped every tear from her eyes. She was raised Christian and grew up singing Gospel so we can hope. But what we do need to speak to is not how she died but rather how she lived. Because how she lived is how so many of us live today. Tortured and suffering. Struggling and battling demons. Demons of addiction and drug abuse. Demons of depleted self-worth and spousal abuse. I know that it is not Christian-politically correct these days to speak about the demonic nature of the battles we face. It doesn't pay the bills. It doesn't keep people in the pews. We would rather speak in worldly terms such as mental illness and drug addiction. It makes us feel better about it. It puts a nice bow on the situation so we can move along and move on. It whitewashes the tomb. But I grow weary of watching people die before their time. It was not God's will for Whitney Houston to die in her bathtub at 48. He will use it as He uses everything for His glory but my Bible says:

For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. -- Jeremiah 29: 11 (NLT)

Not plans for cocaine use and to be beaten. Not plans to live a life of torment and torture, wrapped in the appearance of "having it all." Not plans to live without any peace. And that is what we are dealing with here. It is the elusive thing that so many of us chase still, inside the church and out. Peace. The dictionary defines peace as:

            Cessation of or freedom from any strife or dissension

And isn't that just how we tend to define it as well? Seeking to have no strife or dissension in our lives. Isn't that the peace the world tries to sell us? The entire cruise industry is based on selling peace in little seven day installments! But it is all fleeting beloved. The peace the world sells is nothing more than another lie. We all tend to fall into the trap of thinking if we could just have enough money, we would have peace. Whitney Houston didn't have a money problem. Or maybe we can start to think that of we could just be successful at our chosen occupation; then we can have peace. Whitney Houston was the best at what she did and recognized as such worldwide -- she didn't have a success problem. Whitney had the same problem so many of us have. She had a peace problem.

The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. Jehovah Shalom -- The Lord is Our Peace. But the translation from the original language is poor. It means so much more than the worldly, contemporary meaning of peace. Shalom was meant to convey wholeness and completeness. Meditate on that for a moment. At the essence of what we seek when we truly think about the word peace, isn't that more to the point? Because the problem with the worldly version of peace is that it is conditional. I will have peace when I am on vacation. I will be at peace when I get promoted. I will enjoy peace when my ministry flourishes. What is the problem with this conditional peace? When the condition disappears or never materializes, the peace leaves. When the vacation ends - so goes the peace. When the company downsizes - so goes the peace. When the ministry fails to grow -- so goes the peace. Perhaps Whitney Houston thought at one point of she could just get a record deal she would be at peace. Perhaps then it became needing a number one hit or a Grammy. Perhaps then it was related to her marriage. Whatever it was, it was elusive and when the enemy came knocking on the door of her unrest, he found a willing ear.

Our key verse today shows that Jesus understood these truths all too well. Working backwards in the verse Jesus summarizes the root of lacking peace. It is when our heart is either troubled or afraid. Somewhere in our heart there is unrest. Look at what God teaches us about our heart:

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. -- Proverbs 4: 23 (NLT)

It determines the course of your life! It certainly determined the course of Whitney's. It certainly determines ours as well. But God has given us specific teachings about both troubles and fears. First as to troubles:

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." -- John 16: 33 (NIV)

There is that word peace again! Jesus lets us know that trouble is unavoidable in this world. But that our hearts do not have to be troubled because He has overcome the world! He is telling us these things specifically so that we can have peace, shalom, wholeness, and completeness. And now onto fear:

Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. -- Philippians 4: 6-7 (NLT)

There is that word peace again -- twice! His peace is beyond anything we can even understand beloved. And what does it guard for us? Our hearts and minds, harkening back to the verse from Proverbs above. Thank God today for His Word is always confirming itself! And what are the two conditions here that Paul writes about in order to attain the peace we so desperately need? We need to have a dependent and grateful heart. Telling God what you need means you acknowledge that you are dependent upon Him. You cannot find your peace yourself. It can only be found through Him. You cannot find it in the world and the lies that it sells you. It doesn't matter how much money, fame or fortune you might find -- it will not bring you the peace you seek. When you thank Him for everything He has already done you acknowledge everything that is right in your life instead of focusing on what the enemy wants you to think you lack. Think about that for a minute. The grateful heart reflects to everything God has already done. It reinforces everything that is good in your life. That runs counter to the world. The world has us look at everything we think we lack. It is unappreciative. Within that lack of appreciation is the lack of peace. But by approaching God with our total dependency and a grateful heart, we sow the seeds of peace in ourselves.

Continuing through the verse we see that Jesus Himself recognizes the vast difference between what the world considers peace and what God considers peace! NOT as the world gives do I give it to you! The world will sell you peace in a bottle. The world will sell you peace in a pill. The world will sell you peace in divorce over reconciliation. It will sell you marital abuse as love. Jesus is saying to us here -- don't buy it! Whatever the world is selling you -- don't buy it! Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Jesus is the true embodiment of Shalom. Jesus is the missing piece that brings peace. He is what completes us. He is what makes us whole. Most of the world's solutions attack the symptoms and in the process create more symptoms! God prefers to cut to the heart of the problem and resolve it there. In 2009, Whitney recalls her mother's words in an interview:

"I am not losing you to the world. I'm not losing you to Satan. I want my daughter back. I want to see the child I raised, and you weren't raised like this."

But the saddest of all tragedies this week is that we did lose her to the world. We did lose her to Satan. That is not speaking to the state of her salvation only the fact that she is dead at 48 and should not be. I know that it is sometimes chic in the modern church to downplay the enemy to our souls but we do so at our own peril. He doesn't downplay us. He doesn't sleep. He doesn't take a vacation. The Bible says we should not be ignorant of his devices or schemes. Schemes such as selling us peace in a prescription. Schemes such as selling us love as abuse. Schemes such as selling us Shalom as being temporary and dependent upon ANYTHING other than Jesus Christ.

Lastly, from the key verse we see Jesus assuring us that He has in fact already left us this great gift. Not only has He left us peace but He has left us HIS peace. My God think about that for a minute! We do not need the peace the world sells us because we have been given the peace of God Himself! But why then is it so difficult? Why then can so many of us feel as if we lack the peace that Jesus has already promised and given to us?

Because we fail to walk in it. We fail to seek it. We fail to pursue it. We live in the world and we react to the world. We see the solutions it offers and we accept them too readily. We might lose the fight in the bathtub at age 48 but the downward spiral starts with seeking the cocaine at age 28. It starts when we feel that lack of wholeness in our lives and we seek to fill it with the things this world offers us. It starts when we feel that lack of completeness in our lives and we pursue our completion on the altar the world offers up to us. The altar of fame and fortune. The altar of greed and success. The altar of compromise to what we already know as the truth. And we make our sacrifices upon that altar and the fruit of it comes borne 20 years later. Twenty years removed from the Grammy-winning life. Twenty years removed from buying what the world was selling. So what is the magic answer? What is the secret to avoiding that altar and walking in the peace that God intended for us? The Prophet Isaiah teaches us:

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! -- Isaiah 26: 3 (NLT)

I am not suggesting these things are easy beloved. The choices that determine the course of our lives seldom are. They are seldom routine. But when the enemy presents you with the answer of cocaine to complete you -- you must trust God. When the enemy presents you with peace at the bottom of a bottle -- you must keep your thoughts fixed on God. There is a war going on beloved and like it or not -- you are a combatant. You will hear the lies of the enemy and you will have to make a choice. A final Word from God about the peace we all seek and desire -- His Shalom:

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me--everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. -- Philippians 4: 8-9 (NLT)

There's that word peace again. Don't fix your thought life on this world and the lies it wants to sell you. There is no peace to be found in this world. Not peace as God intended. Wholeness and completeness. Only God can make you whole. Only Jesus can complete you. Whitney; I pray you rest in the peace you could not find in this life.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- February 16, 2012

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.