I was not a follower of either the late Whitney Houston or Lady Gaga. But I’ve heard them both enough to know the differences in their talent are measurable. Whitney’s voice was so silky and solid, yet smooth, she was simply called “The Voice.” For Gaga it’s more about theatrics than talent.
But these ladies, both precious to God, are very similar in their search for love.
In a Vanity Fair interview, Lady Gaga quipped: "If I'm supposed to end up like some crazy casualty, then that's my destiny...I love show business. I need it. It's like breath! When the spotlight goes off, I don't know quite what to do with myself."
Her search for love in the spotlight will smother her. If she continues that pursuit she will not be able to breathe or succeed. Because every spotlight goes off. Who you are in the dark, when no one is watching, is who you really are. As one former Olympian wisely observed: "If you don't know who you are before you win the gold, you won't know after the gold is in your hand."
In the interview, Lady Gaga talked specifically about her search for love, a timeless theme of cinema and song. She lamented: "I have never felt truly cherished by a lover. I have an inability to know what happiness feels like with a man. It starts out good, and then they hate me. I had a man say to me, 'You will die alone in a house bigger than you know, with all your money and hit records, and you will die alone.'"
Painful, but maybe prophetic.
The many tributes to Whitney Houston reflected and replayed her life via video. One when she was very young shows her singing in her Newark, New Jersey church, belting out "just a little talk with Jesus makes it right." The other video was called "Whitney's last public performance." The song - "Yes, Jesus Loves Me." The two songs neatly and nearly record the start and end of her life, like the dates on our tombstone.
Those two dates are always connected by a “dash.” You may have heard the poem simply called “The Dash.” It talks about how quickly the dash goes by, how it is often a mad dash, and it’s what happens in the dash that makes the difference.
What happened in Ms. Houston’s dash? Lots of fame and fortune, but also failed love in relationships that were supposed to provide it.
Ms. Gaga’s dash isn’t done. But disappointment characterizes both these ladies in their looking for love.
God’s love is personal, powerful and present. Whoever truly leans on Him will not be disappointed: “If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved…everyone who trusts in him will never be disappointed (Romans 10:9-11 NAS). Whoever truly seeks Him will find Him: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). God has always held us in the palm of His hand and close to His heart: “In the shadow of his hand he hid me…See, I have engraved you on the palm of my hand [think Jesus’ nail-scarred hands]…he gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart…” (Isaiah 49:2, 16; 40:11).
My prayer is that your search for love leads you into the lap of the One who said he would never forsake us, forget us, or let us go (Hebrews 13:5).
