BIBLE REFERENCE:
“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all” Psalm 34; 18-19
The first thing I need to say is this. I am not a doctor, I’m not a psychologist. I do not have the initials PHD behind my name. All my knowledge and authority come from the Word of God. I know the Word of God speaks truth and I have very little trust in anything or anybody else on this blue Earth. Only God’s Word speaks truth, the world speaks lies, especially in these days in which we live.
Let me start out with the obvious. It seems that in this world we are hearing more and more about suicide and how it is taking over the minds and actions of so many young and old people alike. Suicide does not discriminate, it happens to the rich, to the poor, to the young to the to the old and everybody in-between.
Let me share a few alarming statistics about suicide. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the US for all ages. Every day, approximately 123 Americans die by suicide. There is one death by suicide in the USA every 12 minutes. Suicide takes the lives of over 44,965 Americans every year, give or take a few. These are alarming statistic to say the least. The question that a lot of people are asking is, why? There are many reasons, but I believe the main reason is because people are having a hard time coping with life in general.
The first thing that we need to understand is this, where does the original thought of suicide comes from. The scriptures of the Bible give us a truly clear indication as to why we are seeing so many suicides these days as compared to previous years. 1 Peter 5:8; tells us, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” Satan has been seeking whom he may devour and destroy since the Garden of Eden, but as of lately, the suicide rate has escalated to an all-time high. Satan knows that his time on earth is coming to an end, and he has to destroy as many lives as he can with the time that he has left. Those of us that are watching the signs of the soon return of Jesus Christ are well aware of what is taking place in the spiritual world. There is spiritual warfare going on in the unseen world that very few people are aware of. The battle is for the hearts and souls of mankind. The mind is where the devil seeks to indwell and he will eventually get control if allowed. There are three places where our thoughts come from, God, if we know Him personally, Satan, and ourselves. We need to be aware that if allowed, Satan can enter our mind at any time. It is our responsibility to control what enters our minds and immediately remove any thoughts that we feel come from Satan. A few areas where Satan can attack is through Ouija-boards, tarot cards, seances’ and anything else that has to do with the supernatural. Stay away from these kinds of evil. These are things that the Bible refers to as entries, where evil can penetrate your mind very easily. Open your mind to evil and evil will take over.
If you dabble in any of these practices, and you start to find yourself falling into a state of depression, you need to stop what you are doing immediately and call out to Jesus Christ right away. Do not think for a moment that you can defeat this on your own. Call out to Jesus to fight this battle for you. Here is a promise that we read in James 4:7; “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” You have the power to keep Satan out of your life just by calling out to Jesus Christ, but you have to truly believe it. There are at least seven prominent men of God in the Bible that I can recall that suffered some kind of depression during their walk on earth. So you need to know first and foremost that you should not feel like you are different in any way. You need to know that depression can happen to anybody at any time, it’s how you deal with it that makes all the difference.
King David was one of those that were troubled and as a result he battled deep despair. King David’s honesty with his own weaknesses gives hope to those of us who struggle today. Psalm 42: 11; this is David’s response to his struggles. “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Another man of God who suffered depression was Jeremiah as he wrestled with great loneliness, threats of death, feelings of defeat, and insecurity. Jeremiah is quoted as saying in Jeremiah 20:14; “Cursed be the day I was born…why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame?” God brought Jeremiah through some of the most vicious trails he had to endure but in the end, God blessed Jeremiah for his faith and trust in the Lord. Even Jesus Christ Himself was deeply anguished over what was set before Him. Mark 14: 34-36; we read; “And He said to them, (His Disciples) ‘” My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.’ And He went a little beyond them and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by. And He was saying, ‘Abba! Father! All things are possible for you; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what you will.” Jesus was grieved because the time had come for Him to suffer for the sins of the world on cross, but He gave it to the Father and trusted Him. My point in giving these examples is this, do not keep your depression inside, let it out and talk to someone. Start with Jesus in prayer and be sincere, but if you do not have that comfort level with Jesus yet, at least go see someone. It will not go away by itself; it will most likely get worse.
I know of a situation a quite a while back in our town where a pastor of extreme faith took his own life. That was when I felt the need to rethink my thoughts on suicide and try to understand it from a Biblical perspective. This local pastor was very pivotal in helping young and old alike work through rough times of depression where they were on the brink of committing suicide. Then one day not too long ago I heard the news that this pastor actually took his own life. It was a shock to the community because no one would have even thought this man had any problems that would prompt taking his own life. This made me think, so I tried to figure out what could have caused this pastor to end his life. Being a born-again Christian myself, I truly understand times of despair to the point where somedays I wish I were not here. If you have received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, then you are engaged in a fierce spiritual battle with unseen spiritual forces of the universe. If not yet, you will be! The Bible said we would. We read this in Ephesians 6:12; “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” We also read in Ephesians 6:10-11; “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” We, as humans underestimate the power of the spiritual world. Born-again believers can get beaten down by these evil forces of this world, where at times we feel that we are at the end of our rope and cannot continue to go on. This is the moment that I believe suicide enters one’s mind, and if it isn’t given over to Jesus Christ right away, it could very well end up in death. We need to turn it over to Jesus Christ and give the battle over to Him at once.
1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us this, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it”. The act of suicide is a spiritual battle that comes from within a person’s mind, so our only defense is also from within. You cannot win this battle by any acts of the flesh, such as drinking, engaging in pleasures of the flesh or anything else that might feel right for a moment. These actions will most likely escalate the problem even more in the long run.
Here are two common areas in which suicide can and will become the final outcome if not dealt with right away. We hear about a lot of bullying going on in the adolescence years of life which causes young boys and girls to feel they can’t deal with it, so over time, they may choose to end their life. This has gotten well out of hand especially in the area of Cyberspace. i.e. The internet! The internet is in many cases being used to destroy young men and women. The ones suffering from this kind of bullying are usually too scared to take it to someone who cares. The reason being is that most people don't care and don’t take it serious until suicide hits. Then it’s too late.
The other obvious reason is loneliness. We often read about rich celebrities or people that seem to have it all, but for some reason they feel they need to end their lives. These are situations that start on the outside, but ultimately give entrance to Satan where he can enter their mind and start his spiritual destruction. We just sit back and wonder how someone that has everything can possibly have a reason to want to end their life.
If you are a victim of either one of these situations, know this, Jesus Christ is the answer no matter how brutal life can get. Both of these areas are where Satan can work in your mind and get you convinced that death is better than living. Romans 8:31 tells us; “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” No spirit or demonic entity can do you any harm once you are filled with the love of Jesus Christ. You will, however, still have spiritual battles, but none that will defeat you. Remember, it may feel like you’re losing a battle, but the war against evil has already been won. Everybody suffers in some way or another throughout life, but those that take it to Christ will come out victorious in the end. Trials are an essential part of being born-again.
For those that are lonely, Satan will tell them, “Nobody cares for you, you have no need to live, so just take your life and end the pain of loneliness.” Satan, however, does not tell you that if you take your life and end your pain here on earth, your fate with death will most likely be far worse than anything that you can experience during life here on earth if you have not received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. You need to know that if you reach out to Jesus Christ and fellowship with Him, you will soon realize that Jesus Christ is really the only friend you need. Jesus will guide you through those lonely days and bring you to a place of complete comfort. There is a saying that goes something like this, “You never know how much you truly need Jesus until Jesus is all you have. “
As for being bullied, know this, if you turn your circumstances over to Jesus Christ, He will give you the power and confidence that you need to defeat the evil around you. The Holy Spirit will do a work in you that will allow you to stand up and defeat the bullying that is plaguing your life. Romans 8:15; tells us, “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” Let me ask you a question, would your earthly father allow you to be bullied if he was aware of what was happening? Not likely! Then how much more will your Heavenly Father protect you? We need to trust the Lord Jesus Christ.
When people (Christian or non-Christian) focus on their situation, instead of Jesus Christ, whether it be physical illness or mental illness, whatever the illness may be, if not dealt with, the situation will get worse. Usually, mental illness and the pain associated with it will eventually require some kind of medication to help to help them cope with life. Eventually, you may end up needing stronger medication down the road, and the pain and feeling of worthlessness could get worse. This is where the spiritual disease of depression shows up. Feelings and emotions dictate how our life goes day to day. This is where Fear or Faith operates in our lives. Fear tells us nothing will change, and all hope is lost. Faith tells us all is not lost. Too many people think that all the thoughts that enter their mind belong to them, they just don’t understand. What we need to know is this, suicide is a spirit. When it shows up, it tells you that things aren’t going to change. People listen to those thoughts and accept them as their own and go on thinking there is no hope. Since they are focused on their issues and their situation only, they eventually believe that suicide is their only option for getting rid of their pain. Suicide persuades people to only think of themselves and their situation, not others that may love them very much. Everybody that takes their own life will most likely bring much pain and sorrow to those that love them. I’ve seen lives destroyed because someone who meant the world to them, committed suicide. Most people don’t understand that In Jesus Christ there is hope and you need to fight this battle with spiritual warfare. We are helpless in this battle if we try to fight it on our own. We read in John 15:4-5; “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing.” Jesus is telling us that apart from Him, we are helpless, but if you abide in Christ Jesus, all things are possible including winning spiritual battles that may entangle our lives. We read in Romans 8:9; “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.” Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” If you have not the Spirit of Christ, you are extremely vulnerable to the attacks of the devil and his fallen angels and you will lose the battle. You virtually have no defense. This is why we also read this verse in Romans 12:2; “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” If you keep renewing your mind to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ, you will prove what that good and acceptable perfect will of God is for you. It is not death, it is life everlasting.
This is where bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ will get rid of the spirit of suicide. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 tells us; “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;” “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” Our battle has to be won in the mind and that can only be accomplished by defeating the evil that indwells us. Jesus Chris is our victory and outside of His intervention, there really is no hope. Our hope lies in Christ and Christ alone! We have the strongest weapon known to man, Jesus Christ, our God, our Lord, and our Savior.
The Name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous man runs into it and is safe. Where do you run for protection and safety? In this spiritual world, the Lord tells us we can run to Him and stand strong behind the power of His name. This may be as simple as calling on His name with prayer when we need His protection. As simple as it sounds, it is easy to forget where to run to when we are in need of help. Stay focused on Jesus Christ and He will never leave you nor forsake you!
Let me end with this story, when I was young, I was bullied and picked on quite often. Sometimes to the point where I couldn’t take it anymore. I hated to go to school because I knew the evil that was going to befall me. Even then I always had a certain measure of faith in God, but not anywhere as close as I do now. I believe, without a doubt, that Jesus had a plan for me, and He would never allow me to be tormented beyond what I could endure. It is evident to me now in my life why He was always there for me. He had a plan for me, and I submitted to His will. His will is for me to do exactly what I am doing, sharing the Word of God with whoever will listen. We all have a choice, do we want to do it our way, or will we submit to God's will for our life. If you try to do it your way, don’t complain when it goes bad, which I can guarantee, sooner or later, it will. Submit to God's will and everything will work out in the end. Sure, you will go through rough times, but in the end. You win!
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