Why did you do it?

A few months ago there was a suicide near our home; a young lady jumped from a multi-story building. Her boyfriend quickly rushed to the scene and was overhead shouting “Why did you do it?” a common question to raise following such an incident. The young lady, crushed by the fall, groaned and breathed her last as the paramedics arrived.

It’s not an easy world to live in these days; suicide is one of the leading causes of death in young people and when we look at our world it is not too surprising is it. We have never been more connected to the world or more isolated from each other; never more separated from our true identity as children of God. Being driven to despair may not be a long journey.

The mind and heart can be fragile and we are subjected to a very high degree of trauma every day through news from around the globe as it happens; through pressures in life from every side; and that’s before we factor in the malevolent supernatural beings whose plan is our annihilation. So, quite a lot to contend with on a regular monday morning.

Other pressures are more specific and personal to our lives that can drive people to despair. As Christians we have a way to deal with these things from deliverance prayer, where there is demonic oppression, to counselling and healing prayer. And I believe the key to prevention of suicides; is prayer for one another; especially from or for your loved ones as the primary means of intervention; other things can also be helpful of course, but only God can make the difference in our lives; only He can deal with our invisible wounds. Like in Isaiah where it says about Jesus ‘The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners’ And He will do it if we call on Him.

God is faithful

A lady sat at the back of a church weeping; not entirely sure if she was praying, grieving, or worrying. The day before her husband had thrown himself off a bridge over a river and had died from his injuries.

She had prayed for him their whole married life. He was a mean drunk, a womaniser, gambler, but somehow she still loved him, saw the good in him and had kept up her prayers for him for decades, despite seeing no sign or apparent change in him. Now it seemed too late, had her prayers been in vain ?

Even though it was still early morning, the church started to fill up and a long line of penitents formed a queue along the aisle outside the confessional box.

A few moments later the Parish Priest came out of the confessional and walked down the isle towards her, stopping at her row. He sat down next to her. (She had never met him before). After a few seconds he said “He turned to God in his heart, just before his face hit the water, your prayer was answered”

He walked back up the aisle to continue his daily 18 hour stint in the confessional. (He was the Cure of Ars). 

Her sorrow turned to joy, God had saved her husband after all. God’s mercy had pursued him to the very end. 

There is no such thing as a lost cause this side of death.