Call to me, and I will answer you. I will tell you great and mysterious things that you do not know. … I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope. [Jeremiah 33:3,29:11 (GW)]
Be strong, all who wait with hope for the Lord, and let your heart be courageous. Psalm 21:24 (GW)
Suicide has been on my mind lately: not my suicide, but that of others. After a life-long battle with mental illness, the son of a well-known pastor and author, shot himself. A young mother, terminally ill from brain cancer, publicly chose to determine the day and way of her death. A famed comedian, suffering from dementia and depression, hung himself. While in a dumpster, a young football player, suffering from disorientation and mood swings, ended his life with a gun. I cannot judge their actions; I can only pray for their survivors.
Last week, a young man from our church also took his life. Like many of us, he’d made some poor choices. He’d messed up and hurt the people he loved. Perhaps he was sick at heart and burdened with guilt, regret or embarrassment; perhaps he could face neither his past nor his future. I don’t know and I cannot judge his actions. I can, however, pray for his survivors.
The one thing all these people had in common was loss of hope. Pain, mental illness, disease, brain lesions, depression, dementia, guilt, regret and more had blinded them to hope. Christian hope is the knowledge that no matter what the circumstances, we’re being changed for the better. To do that, however, we must trust in God and his promises. Unfortunately, sometimes circumstances keep people from seeing God’s light in the darkness of their souls, believing God’s plan in the terribleness of their circumstances, accepting God’s love and forgiveness in repugnance at their own behavior, or thanking God for all things.
Sadly, these deaths were not isolated occurrences. Globally, every three seconds someone attempts to take his or her life and every suicide leaves behind six to eight survivors. The loss of a loved one to suicide is devastating; I wish could take away the survivors’ pain, but I can’t. As Christians, however, what we can do is offer hope: prayers, love, comfort and the support of our community.
What gives me the most hope every day is God’s grace; knowing that his grace is going to give me the strength for whatever I face, knowing that nothing is a surprise to God. [Rick Warren]
Devotions of the Heart 