I haven’t watched an Oprah show in years. Not because I have some opinion about her, because I really don’t. The truth is, I don’t think much about her one way or another.
So yesterday was strange. First of all, I turned on the TV in the middle of the afternoon. Ask my kids, I never watch TV during the day. I rarely watch it at night. They would tell you I always want the TV off and that I frequently say, “I hate TV.”
Secondly, when I turned on the TV, it had been left on the OWN network and there was no show on. Just a static slide on the screen encouraging viewers to watch Oprah’s farewell show.
So I flipped over to ABC.
It was about 4:15pm and as I listened, I found myself thinking: “I wonder how many people are watching this right now? What a tremendous opportunity she has to witness for Christ.”
Then I found myself praying, “Lord, if she knows you, please don’t allow her to let this opportunity pass without acknowledging you and thanking you for her success. Please give her the courage to thank you so everyone KNOWS she’s really talking about YOU and not this “energy” she keeps referring to.”
Knowing I was watching live TV, I continue to pray. And then, just when my attention started to wander, I heard her say “JESUS.”
What?
I missed it! What did she say about Jesus? All I heard after that was (I’m going for a transcript excerpt here):
“I have felt the presence of God my whole life. Even when I didn’t have a name for it, I could feel the voice bigger than myself speaking to me, and all of us have that same voice. Be still and know it. You can acknowledge it or not. You can worship it or not. You can praise it, you can ignore it or you can know it. Know it. It’s always there speaking to you and waiting for you to hear it in every move, in every decision. I wait and I listen. I’m still—I wait and listen for the guidance that’s greater than my meager mind…”
It didn’t take long for someone to post the excerpt and I got to read what she said about JESUS:
“What is the secret of success of the show? How have we lasted 25 years? I nonjokingly say, ‘My team and Jesus.’ Because nothing but the hand of God has made this possible for me.”
and then her last words – after TWENTY FIVE years of talking – were:
“to God be the Glory.”
And holy facebook explosion, Batman, the speculation began. Did she mean it? Was she just trying to “win” the Christians “back over?” Anita Renfroe posted an update about feeling like she was watching Oprah give her own eulogy and had so much cattiness in the comments she actually removed the update – and all the comments that went along with it. (hey, it’s HER facebook page, she can delete ANYthing she wants as far as I’m concerned.)
But before she deleted it, I commented. And for some reason, I copied my comment and pasted it in Notepad for reference or use later. And now it’s later. I posted the last two transcript excerpts above and then wrote:
“It doesn’t matter whether I believe her or not, if her witness drew someone closer to a saving faith in Jesus. If that happened, it WAS for His glory.”
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
I haven’t watched Oprah since I was stuck on bedrest with the quads (2001), but have been watching these farewell shows. I know what she believes with teh “energy” thing and it irritates me that she gets such a huge platform to preach it. Case in point, last week a woman from Zimbabwe who managed to move to the US (after being married at 11) and eventually got her BS, MS and PhD. She had hidden her dream of an education on a piece of paper and buried it under a rock. Oprah’s comment? “I have a favorite verse, I think it’s in Isaiah. ‘when my heart is overwhelmed, hear my cry and lead me to the rock that’s higher than I’, like it was a physical rock. If she gave glory to God, and it brings someone to Him, I’m all for it, but I honestly believe she’s talking about herself.