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"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort." —2nd Corinthians 1:3
The Apostle Paul had suffered horrible trials and tribulation while traveling through Asia, so bad in fact that he stated in 2nd Corinthians 1:8, “we despaired even of life.” In writing of God's sustaining grace concerning the poet William Cowper, Joseph Larson said . . .
Trials can make life seem not worth living. Paul said in 2nd Corinthians 1:9, "But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead." In other words, Paul says, “We felt as if we were under a death sentence and all hope was gone. But we suffered so that we would stop trusting ourselves and learn to trust God, Who raises the dead.” God will oftentimes bring a Christian to the point in life where there is no direction to look except up, to where all we have left is our faith. When all you have is God, God is all you need. God brought the Apostle Paul to the point where he even despaired life itself, so that Paul would learn to trust completely in God. Suicide is the Devil's Solution “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” -2nd Corinthians 7:10 Peter had denied Christ, even cursed His holy name. Later, when Peter heard the cock crow three times, he remember that Jesus had foretold of these things. Peter wept bitterly and repented. Judas on the other hand had betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (about $10,000 today). Judas panicked when he fully thought about what he had done. Jesus tried to get Jesus to commit suicide, tempting Christ to jump off a tall building (Matthew 4:5-6). Jesus responded by quoting the Scriptures (Matthew 4:7). If you have thoughts of suicide, it is likely a demonic influence (TV, movies and music today are saturated with subliminal messages and often the lyrics themselves, which lead the listener to commit suicide). One teen who commit suicide still head the walkman headphones on his head, listening to Ozzy Osbourne's song, SUICIDE! Most people are strong enough emotionally to listen to such evil music and escape it's power, but emotionally weak and mentally unstable people are vulnerable. Everyone is emotionally and mentally weakened at some point in their life. Please watch the following shocking documentary exposing the evil's of Rock 'N' Roll music... Instead of repenting like Peter, Judas went and hung himself. Peter and Judas demonstrate the correct and wrong way to deal with overwhelming pain, whether it be physical or emotional. Peter did the right thing by turning to God; but Judas killed himself to escape the emotional pain, just to end up in Hell. Jesus openly stated in John 6:70 that Judas was a Devil. Peter had godly sorrow, but Judas had the sorrow of the world. The sorrow of the world eats at a person like cancer until they lose their health, go nuts, blow their brains out, or hurt someone else. Godly sorrow is simply being sorry to God for what we have done and asking Jesus to forgive us. There's always a second chance with God. I don't care how much you've messed up, God will work with you. The hardest person in the world to forgive is yourself. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” —Isaiah 1:18 If you have reconciled your wrongs with man, and have made your heart right with God, then you need to forgive yourself. You cannot be right with God and wrong with man. If you have defrauded or hurt someone, then make it right. In some cases there's nothing you can do. A woman who aborted her baby years ago cannot bring the child back. All she can do is beg for God's forgiveness (and the father if he didn't want the child aborted). But if you've done all you can do to right your wrongs, then you should have peace in your soul. God will forgive anyone! There are many situations in life which can cause a person to feel overwhelmed to the point of wanting to commit suicide (the death of a loved one, being arrested and imprisoned, a spouse leaving, getting caught doing wrong, peer pressure, teenage pressures, etc.). In Judas' case it was guilt, his evil was exposed and he was overwhelmed with guilt. Judas could have been forgiven, but he instead foolishly hung himself. There is always a right way and a wrong way to deal with anything. Just lay everything out on the table before God in prayer. He promises to forgive you and to help you get your life together. You don't need to feel overwhelmed with sorrow and fear, just beg God to forgive you and then you do everything in your power to make things right. If there's nothing you can do about it or it is too late, then you must put the situation into God's hands and free your mind of something you cannot change. Satan Wants to Discourage You Forget the past, it is gone forever. Don't worry about the future, it may not be yours. Rather, lay up for yourself treasures in Heaven by living for Jesus and the gospel's sake. You don't have to kill yourself. You can have “a life” in Jesus (John 10:9-10). I suffer in physical pain everyday from problems in my neck. Not a day has passed since 2004 that I don't have aching constant toothache-like pain in my neck. Killing yourself is not the best way to make the pain go away. Life is full of problems, emotions, miseries and frustrations. My best friend killed himself at age 22. It's been nearly 20 years since. I often wonder what kind of family he would have had. I think about all the good things which life has to offer that he forfeited by shooting himself. He had been drinking at the time and found his father's shotgun... not a good combination when your depressed to begin with. Just one more reason why I hate alcohol with all my heart. Alcohol kills! Alcohol is public enemy # 1 (download MP3). Life can be better friend, but the first step is to never give up on yourself! Trust me, time does heal ALL wounds. I know from experience. Country singer legend, Faron Young, killed himself with a gun at age 65. So sad. He had serious health problems and was suffering in much pain. I wonder if he died in the Lord with his sins forgiven (or went to Hell in his sins). I surely hope he was a born-again Christian. Ernest Hemingway also killed himself, a legendary writer and author. It is sad to hear of someone committing suicide. Sadly, many teenagers commit suicide. The teen years are extremely difficult on young people. They're caught in limbo between childhood and adulthood. It can be very painful as a teenage, I know because I was one once. I spent quite a few tearful nights thinking of an Italian girl that didn't want anything to do with me. She married someone else. It hurts to be in love with someone who doesn't love you in return. It was very painful. If you're at the end of your rope, then get a longer rope. If you've received the straw that breaks the camel's back, then get a stronger camel. Don't quit! Don't give up! You can make it! Suicide is a sin! No one should ever even talk about something so foolish as killing one's self. I hope these few words have encouraged you. I'll tell you, there have been times in my life where I just didn't want to live anymore. I just didn't want to deal with life anymore. I didn't want to face another day. I hated life and everything about it. People can be so cruel. One man wrote to me and said: People equal pain. He had been hurt by many people in his life. We are Living in Perilous Time Sadly, life today in America is about people hurting people. It's neighbor rising up against neighbor, calling the police and CPS on each other. It's tragic! It shouldn't be that way. As a Christian I refuse to live that way. I want to exemplify Jesus Christ in my life (Philippians 2:5). The jerko newsmedia has caused much of this feeding-frenzy by demonizing every American for their individual crimes; while totally ignoring the massive government crimes, including the theft of trillions-of-dollars, and the exploitation of our children as paid mercenaries in the military. Our children die, not theirs! At times in my life I just wanted to get as far away from everything as possible. I know what it's like to take prescription meds and try to sleep 15-hours a day to escape the pain of life. I know what it's like to not want to wake up ever again. I know the feeling of wanting to go into a coma and wake up a year later. This is no way to live. In fact, it's not living at all; but rather, enduring and surviving. My faith in God is the only thing that sustained my life during those times. I know what it's like to undergo 2 major surgeries with not even one friend nor family member by my side, nor waiting at home. I know the pain of loneliness. In April of 2010 I underwent a 2nd ACDF (Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion) surgery on my neck, a revision of the first surgery that wasn't done properly. As I was coming out of anesthesia, I felt excruciating toothache-like pain in my neck and the hard neck-brace was very tight around my neck. I felt overwhelmed with emotion and was alone in a side recovery room. When a nurse walked into the room I said, “I feel very lonely.” She replied, “Well I've never heard that one before,” and she carelessly walked out of the room. Tears ran down the sides of my head as I cried out to God in loneliness. I wished I had died in surgery. I was all alone, but faith in God saw me through. Listen to the precious words of Pastor Lee Roberson...
God saw me through and raised me up, just as only God can raise the dead. The Apostle Paul felt the same way in 2nd Corinthians 1:9, “But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead.” Many people have never truly suffered in life and cannot relate to what I am saying, but I've been there. I know what it's like to suffer physically and emotionally, to lose everything near and dear to me in life, and to wish I were dead. I know what it feels like when every minute seems like an hour, and every day seems like a month, and a month an eternity. But you know what, life goes on until the good Lord decides it is our appointed time to die (Hebrews 9:27). Let God control your life by praying about everything (Philippians 4:6) and searching the Scriptures for spiritual food and encouragement to keep going (John 5:39).
In Psalm 88:15, David said he wished he were dead from his youth. Psalm 88:15, “I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.” David said he had sorrow in his heart daily that wouldn't go away... Psalm 13:2, “How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?” Suffering is nothing new to the human race. Oh, listen friend, whoever you may be, God loves you. I hope you'll listen to the following sermon by Pastor Jeff Owens, called MY TEARS IN HIS BOTTLE (download MP3). God sees your every tear, and he is collecting them in Heaven. That is exactly what Psalm 56:8 teaches, “Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” That is God's way of saying to us, “I care and see your every tear that you cry, whether from physical pain or emotional.” 1st Peter 5:7 tells us that God cares, and that we should cast our cares, worries and frustrations upon Him. We should pray about everything, to let God know that we need Him and cannot make it alone (Philippians 4:6; Proverb 3:5-7).
Perhaps you have never received Jesus Christ and would like to become a born-again believer. If you like to be saved now, Click Here. John 1:12, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” If you are considering suicide If a friend or loved one has committed suicide If you know someone who is considering suicide Ernest Hemingway, Father, Sister, Brother & Granddaughter All Commit Suicide
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