Question

[nebula]

Satan wants you dead . . . not Jesus.

I recall as a young girl crying to the Lord in my pain and contemplating killing myself. But each time the Lord would show me a vision (it was more like a daydream , but the image was still clear) - I would see Jesus crying and asking me, "Why did you have to do that?"

The thought of my killing myself breaking the Lord's heart changed my perspective, if ever so slightly. How could I hurt the Lord like that?

Imagine me not being here, angelique, because I managed to kill myself as a pre-teen. . . or a teenager . . . or a young adult.

The Lord loves you the same, angelique. He wants to walk with you through this pain and draw you closer to Him as you learn to cling to Him. That is how He uses pain. I know you would rather be pain free - we all would. But I know now what I would be like today if it wasn't for the pain I went through (all brain, no heart - it's only because of my having faced pain that I could develop compassion), and I would not have the kind of relationship with the Lord that I do.

You've had your soul ripped from you from the abuse you went through. The restoration of your soul takes time. But like the land that had been devastated, the regrowth can be beautiful - especially with a skilled landscaper lovingly reshaping the surface and carefully planting gardens and pools and walkways and trees and birdbaths and the whole works. This is what the Lord plans on doing with you.

You are special, angelique! And the Church needs people like you. You may not see yourself as having much to offer, but I can see great potential. Consider: with all the Christian ministries being sent out to other nations or the inner city or the homeless or the youth . . . how many are being sent to Wiccans, Neo-Pagans, and this whole crowd? Not a lot. Having been there, you can do much - either reaching them yourself or training others in how to minister to them. This harvest field (as we cal it) is great and in much need of laborers. Likewise, with all the deadness of religion in the Church, people like you can help shake us old-time religioners up. Imagine the Holy Spirit falling on believers who have become dead in their religion and seeing them come to life and love!

Would you like to be a vessel in the Lord's hand to do this?

God loves you, whether you like it or not! His desire is life, life for you, and His life in you.

Killing yourself - that's what the Enemy wants, that's what those curses being sent against you want. But you have the promise of Jesus, "In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

Blessings, peace and love!

[Guest]

[EricH]

The Bible does not single out suicide and describe it as a sin that will automatically send a believer to Hell. Since the Bible does not say this, I think the safe assumption is that suicide does not mean that a bliever in Christ will go to hell

[glorywatch]

I believe they go to heaven as well. Shiloh stated it very well. If dying with unconfessed sin sent us to hell then we probably would all go.

[nebula]

Careful though, folks.

There are many people who are tempted towards suicide that manage not to solely because they fear it will lead them to Hell. (I as a believer struggled with suicide for over two decades.)

If all you say is, "No, you won't go to Hell," you might as well be handing them permission to take their life.

Please weigh your words ver, very carefully.

[Guest shiloh357]

Careful though, folks.

There are many people who are tempted towards suicide that manage not to solely because they fear it will lead them to Hell. (I as a believer struggled with suicide for over two decades.)

If all you say is, "No, you won't go to Hell," you might as well be handing them permission to take their life.

Please weigh your words ver, very carefully.

Very good point. I had not thought of it like that.

[EricH]

I agree. I had not considered that as well. But we also don't want to add to what scipture says to try and disuade people. There are plenty of reasons suicide is a terrible decision to make. The damage it does to your self, your family, the life you will miss and the opportunity to serve God that will be lost. God is bigger than any problems we have. Run to Him. He is the answer, not sucide.

[nebula]

Hey guys, you don't need to defend your theological positions on this. There are just some things, though, that don't need a theological answer.

It's like how Jesus answered Martha and Mary concerning their brother's death. To Martha, He gave a revelation of Himself. To Mary, He just cried with her. These were the answers they respectively needed.

Edited July 29, 2008 by nebula

[glorywatch]

Nebula, you raise a good point, but it makes me think of Roman's 6:1 where the question was asked, "Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?" Even though we know God forgives sin, that doesn't mean we should give him that much more to forgive. That is deciding to take advantage of God and really shows that a person doesn't understand the seriousness of sin. NO way is it ok to take a life even if it is your own, because the Bible says that we are not our own that we were bought with a price. The availability of God's merc is not an excuse for careless living and deliberate sin, which suicide falls into the category of. Bottom line, we may all be wrong in our thoughts about suicide but God saves those HE chooses to save.

As the parent of a suicide victim I can only say that I put my trust in God and don't question the outcome. Life is about choices and we all make them, good or bad and they all have consequences....some good and some bad. If we keep our eyes on Jesus then we will be ok. We start sinking like Peter when we take our eyes of Christ.

[EricH]

Hey guys, you don't need to defend your theological positions on this. There are just some things, though, that don't need a theological answer.

It's like how Jesus answered Martha and Mary concerning their brother's death. To Martha, He gave a revelation of Himself. To Mary, He just cried with her. These were the answers they respectively needed.

It depends on how you define theology. Everything we do (including your statement above) is conditioned by what we believe about God. But I agree with you. Sometimes people are not looking for a general theological truth. they are sking a question from a personal perspective.