Suicide is up 300% from my father’s generation. Over the last few months I have read an alarming number of articles on the suicide rate in our nation. A quick Google search will reveal that suicide is on the rise in almost every region – and most alarming, it is on the rise among pre-teens.
Would it surprise you to know that a number of the greatest people in the Bible at one time thought they would rather die than live?
Job gave up on life. Elijah prayed to die. Moses wanted the Lord to kill him. Jeremiah said he wished he had never been born. Jonah thought death was better than life.
What a list!
Yes, good people sometimes lose hope. The truth to remember is that each of these individuals lived. They not only lived, we are talking about them today. God did amazing things with their lives after they passed through “the valley of the shadow of death.”
You are not alone. Others have been there. You are not alone. Christ is with you.
Satan is a master of despair. He lives in darkness and loves to bring others into it. Remember that he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). “There is nothing to live for” is a lie from one who only knows death. And many believe his lie.
Our enemy is not only a liar, he is a murderer from the beginning. Jesus said that the devil came “to steal, to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10). If you are a child of God, Satan cannot touch you, but he can seek to get you to harm yourself. In a sense, that’s what all sin is – man bringing harm to himself and grieving the God who gave him life.
There are many reasons for which people take their own life, but there is always one person behind it – Satan.
And there is One who is able to deliver from it. He is the One who gave life to start with. He is the One who sustains life. He is the One before whom we will stand at the end of this life. His name is Jesus. He is life. Eternal. Abundant. Life worth living.
The jailer in Acts 16 “would have killed himself.” I love the words that Paul spoke, “Do thyself no harm.” And then he proceeded to give him the good news of Christ.
Several months ago while speaking to a large group of young people from this passage the Lord brought this truth home to my heart. In that Philippian jail that night there was the possibility of death and life. Satan wanted to destroy a man. Jesus wanted to rescue him.
We have a message that an entire generation needs to hear. It is a reason to live. It is hope. It is Jesus.
“For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion” (Ecclesiastes 9:4).
As long as there’s life – there’s hope! If you are breathing right now God is not through with you. He has a purpose for your life.
People view death as release. Relief. And in God’s timing it is indeed that. But, David reminds us that the timing is God’s alone, “My times are in thine hand” (Psalm 31:15).
Suicide is a cheap substitute for the release that is to only be found in Jesus Christ. It robs man of goodness and it robs God of glory. Death is not the answer. Jesus is.
Suicide is more than a statistic. It is a story ended too soon. Don’t miss the rest of your story…
Thank you for sharing this. My cousin took his own life two months ago and my grandmother became suicidal last month after my uncle passed away. She has now had to bury husband, 3 of her children and my cousin. To my knowledge my cousin never accepted Christ. My grandmother also does not know Christ. I am praying for opportunities to help her understand. She has been a JW for so long. My dad sat with her and showed went through the Romans Road with her last month but she just responded with she doesn’t want to go to Heaven because her loved ones will be in Paradise not Heaven. It was the most painful thing I have ever heard someone say. Please pray for healing for my family but most of all pray for them to see their need for Jesus.
So sorry to hear about your family members. Praying now for you and for them!