No matter what occupation or what platform to which God has called us, we can be careful to give glory to Him. We should always take care to preserve our sense of dedication to Him, and realize that every day, in the words we speak and the actions we take, that we are placed in a position through which He should receive the glory. The Bible tells us in Colossians 3 (ESV):
23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
Hannah Harper is a wife, a mom - and a really good singer, as evidenced by her victory in the latest season of American Idol, which was Season 24, if you can believe that. A Daily Citizen piece spotlighted elements of the life - and faith - of the 26-year-old winner:
She began her American Idol journey by auditioning with an original song, “String Cheese,” which she wrote about her struggle with postpartum depression after her youngest son was born. Her audition garnered over 120 million views and perhaps sealed her victory from the start.
“I was sitting on my couch wallowing,” Harper recalled for the judges during her audition, “I was just having a pity party and praying that the Lord would calm my spirit.”
She related that her son repeatedly asked her to open a package of string cheese for him, and she said, “I finally opened his cheese and when I did, I realized that God had put me in that place, and that where I was in my house was the biggest ministry that I could ever have in being a mom.”
The article goes on to say:
“What a wild, beautiful journey this has been,” the 26-year-old mom of three boys wrote on social media. “And somehow we’re just getting started.”
“Thank you to every single person who believed in me, prayed over me, voted, and helped carry this dream farther than I ever could’ve imagined. Y’all changed my life.” Harper concluded quoting the Scripture verse Jeremiah 29:11.
Her faith and her family are certainly important to her; the Daily Citizen story states:
In an interview, Harper admitted that being on the show as a mom of three was very difficult, and she couldn’t have done it without her husband by her side.
“We’ve been here since March and my husband and my three kids have been out here the entire time,” Harper shared.
“My husband’s been living at a hotel with them doing life, homeschooling my kids, and it’s been hard because at the end of the day, most of the other contestants get to go home and chill and it’s like as soon as I walk in, I want to give as much as I give here to them.”
She closed out the night after she was announced as the winner by singing Chris Tomlin’s song, “At the Cross.” Chris responded by inviting her to sing the song with him sometime. Furthermore, the runner-up, Jordan McCullough, sang, “Goodness of God” during the season finale.
The Daily Citizen story related how Hannah, along with other contestants, kept relying on their Christian - it included some quotes from The Christian Post: “Getting to be this open about my relationship with the Lord on a platform like this is an incredible honor to me…;” she added this about those other contestants: “Every single day … we’ve been in a dressing room having Bible study…The entire competition is scary, and there’s a lot of spiritual warfare … so it’s been really nice to have somebody like-minded.” The Daily Citizen noted that she is about to go on tour, adding, “I’m beyond thankful for the doors the Lord has opened and for the opportunity to walk this path...I’ll see y’all on the road soon.”
Well-suited to the road because of her family background, and dedicated to her home and family, Hannah Harper is a reminder of acknowledging God’s blessings and being devoted to walk in His ways. In a culture in which glitz, glamour, lavish lifestyles, and enormous self-indulgence rule the day, Hannah Harper seems to be a throwback, a reflection of a simpler time when the things that mattered to God seemed to matter to more individuals and families. In a time in which it seems that you’re waiting for another shoe to drop about the behavior of people in Christian ministry, Hannah Harper’s light is apparently shining brightly.
When we consider being the person God desires for us to be, we have to devote ourselves to living the principles of Scripture and recognizing that we are empowered in order that our lives can conform to His truth. Spending time with Him on a consistent basis is a way to stay strong, to keep those lights brightly shining. And, we should always be careful to recognize if and how we are glorifying God in the way we relate to others.