How Christian Radio Host Delilah Experienced God Through Tragedy
By Movieguide® Contributor
Nighttime radio host Delilah joined the “Jesus Calling” podcast to reflect on the power of music, her faith and how she experienced God through family tragedies.
“I realized early in broadcasting—I was probably 15 or 16—how impactful music is because you remember the song you danced to it your junior prom,” she said on the podcast. “Music touches us in a way that nothing else does.”
“I think that music is the language of the angels,” she continued. “You read the Old Testament, the scriptures, the Psalms, the harps and the music that was played. And you know, when King David comforted Saul, it was with music that he was able to calm his spirit and comfort him and kind of keep the cray-cray away. And it does that for us today.”
Delilah then shared how one of the lowest moments in her life would transform her and bring her closer to God.
“My relationship with God formally started when I was in my 20s,” she said. “I went through a really sad period in my life where I lost my brother and his wife. I lost my husband. He walked out on me and moved in with his girlfriend. And then I lost my job at a radio station.”
“[God] is right there in the seat next to you when you’re driving in your car, when you’re driving to work, when you’re at work, when you’re involved in negotiations,” she added about her relationship with God.
Delilah emphasizes vulnerability on her radio show, opening up about some of the tragedies she’s experienced, including the deaths of multiple children.
“It’s important to talk about losing Zack and my son Sammy, number one, because I want to keep their legacies alive,” she expressed. “Their bodies have gone. They’re no longer here, but their legacy of love is something that I want to live on forever.”
She added, “Especially, especially Sammy, my son that I lost in 2012, because he spent his entire life in an orphanage. And his greatest fear was that he was going to die in that orphanage, and not a single person would ever remember that he had ever been born. That was his biggest fear.”
“And at the time, I knew he would die prematurely. He was very sick. I thought he’d make it to 30, 40, 50 years old. I didn’t know that our time with him was going to be so short,” Delilah shared.
However, her son Zack’s death was “so unexpected and gut wrenching in every way.”
She said, “My son had come to us 10 months before and said, ‘I’m depressed. I need help.’”
Zack continued to struggle with his mental health, visiting a counselor weekly.
“What Zack did is, he made a really bad choice because he was on a medication that made him delusional,” she explained. “Suicidal ideation, homicidal ideation and delusions are the three big problems with the young people under 25 are on antidepressants. And nobody had ever mentioned that to me.”
Delilah concluded, “The memories don’t shrink. The pain doesn’t shrink, but your world grows around it. Your world expands around to include it.”
However, she uses her grief to fuel how she lives.
“God already knows when he’s going to call me home. So while I have today, while he’s given me this 24 hours, I can spend it mourning and depressed over what I’ve lost, or I can spend it rejoicing in children who still need me, who still need their mom to be fully present. So, I choose life. I choose joy. I choose to invest my energies into those people that God has in my life today,” she told PEOPLE.
“Yes, they’re gone, but they’re in Heaven, and now I can look forward to it with anticipation,” she told Woman’s World.
In addition to her radio show, Delilah recently released her book “One Heart at a Time” and hosts the podcast “Conversations with the Delilah.”
Movieguide® previously reported on Delilah:
American radio host Delilah recently shared how country singer Rory Freek aided her in dealing with the grief of losing three sons…
“Right after Zack passed, [Feek] reached out to me, and he said something to me that changed me,” Delilah said. “He said, ‘Your boys are much more a part of your future than they are a part of your past.’”
“Because you know where they are,” Delilah recalled Freek saying. “And because your hope is in the Lord, you know you’ll be with them again. So now you will look forward to that day with great anticipation. You won’t ever fear death again. You will look forward to it because you know where they are.”
