The Road to High Places
Last Sunday evening sometime between 7:30 and 8:00 pm the texts and calls began to pour in from friends and family. It was Oscar night and people wanted to know what just happened! I suppose they wondered if I had an inside scoop, or at least a clue about the drama unfolding before their eyes since I was a “Hollywood insider.” Emphasized with high-pitched voices and wide-eyed emojis everyone asked, “Did Will Smith really just smack Chris Rock in the face and yell at him in anger…or was it just a Hollywood scripted moment?”
I had met Will Smith at a previous red carpet event. I found him to be kind, engaging, and generous and can only guess what led to his reaction at the Oscars. I answered calls and questions that Sunday evening and throughout the next day as well as I could.
No doubt it was a shocking moment. My husband Amick and I were watching the show in our family room when we were jolted to attention, barely believing what we were witnessing. I can only imagine what it was like to actually be there. Watching it live on TV was bad enough. Amick has been a performer at the Academy Awards several times. I’m glad this was not one of those years.
Right about now you may be asking why I’m spending my time and energy writing about a seemingly overboard reaction from one Hollywood-ite to another because of an “insensitive joke.” After all, there has already been plenty of piping-in on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook along with varied assessments from every news channel. Enough already!
I agree.
However, what I do feel absolutely compelled to examine with you is one sentence from that evening. Just thirteen words you may have missed that were spoken in the midst of that unfortunate incident.
“At your highest moment, be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you.”
Those words were spoken to Will Smith with fatherly wisdom from the seasoned sage, Denzel Washington.
Keep in mind this was the same night Will Smith would win his very first Oscar for Best Actor in a leading role, one of the “highest” honors in show business.
This should have been a mountaintop experience for the very talented actor. Instead, he found himself climbing out of a hole he emotionally stumbled into.
There but for the grace of God go I.
This could happen to any of us. It could happen to me, it could happen to you. I’m writing this to you as a warning and a call to remember that the devil is real and he prowls around looking for someone to devour, especially before a victory.
“Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Matthew 6:13
Ironically, Will shared in his acceptance speech that “I am being called by God at this time in my life to love people, and to protect people…” he then added, “I want to be a vessel for love.”
Evil pulls us in the opposite direction God is calling us to.
God is calling us upward! When we are pulled down, we can rely on God’s gifts of love and forgiveness to move us back up to the high places He intends for us in spite of any mistake we may make, even at The Oscars.
The next day Will Smith issued an apology to Chris Rock via Instagram. I believe it is sincere. My hope is that it will lead to forgiveness and a better relationship between the two men than there ever was before. But this article is not about Will Smith or Chris Rock. It’s about all of us. It is a call to acknowledge that we have an enemy in this world who is against us, but we also have a mighty God in heaven who is for us. It is a call to…
Be equipped by knowing God’s Word ~ Ephesians 6:10-13
Do the work by living according to God’s ways ~ Matthew 5:16
Win by receiving Christ’s victory over sin ~ James 1:12
Be prepared for the road to high places ~ Habakkuk 3:19
And remember…
“If God is for us who can be against us?”
Romans: 8:31