I have heard it argued that God will not put more on us than we can bear. That might well be so, but Satan will. Satan will make a person’s life so miserable that he or she will turn to alcohol or drugs to numb the pain. Satan will make life so miserable and depressing that some despondent humans see death as a welcome release and the only reasonable solution to their problems.
That is what a suicide’s life has become – an intolerable existence. With the firing of the weapon, with the plunging from the cliff or tall building, with the dive into the waters, the suicide is saying most graphically “I absolutely cannot go on. I cannot walk another step. I cannot endure another minute. I cannot bear another hurt.” Does God have any understanding or any compassion at all in such grossly serious matters, after all the Psalmist does say, “He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust”? (See Psalm 103:14). Surely God knows the human mind and will can only endure so much. Although scripture does say, “He will not lay upon man more than right that he should enter into judgment with God,” is it possible Satan could well do this without God ever entering the picture? (See Job 34:23).
In I John, chapter 5, verse 19, we are told that “the whole world is under the control of the evil one (Satan).” And, again, in Revelation 12:9, we are told that Satan deceives the whole world! What hope does a young boy or girl, who commits suicide, have against such an opponent? For that matter, what hope does anyone have, young or old, against such a formidable, super-human foe? Let it be understood, without God’s supernatural intervention, mankind is without hope. (See Ephesians 2:11-12).
Does a suicide deserve punishment or compassion? The apostle Paul wrote, “No man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it” (See Ephesians 5:29). He, of course, meant no one in his right mind, no one thinking correctly, harms or destroys himself. But when the mind becomes unbalanced by pain, be it physical or psychological pain, judgment is seriously impaired or erased altogether. Scripture says, “To him who knows to do right, and does it not, to him it is sin” (See James 4:17). But the suicide may well have lost that capacity.
Ernest Hemingway, a suicide, wrote: “There is no lonelier man in death, except the suicide.” The suicide is alone, bereft of companionship and with no one to help, no one to say, “Stop!” “A lot of you cared, just not enough,” wrote a suicide moments before ending it all.
Suicide has been described as a reverse nightmare. When one wakes up from a nightmare they are so relieved. It’s over! The potential suicide wakes up into a nightmare! The invisible agony of the suicide has reached an unendurable level. Few commit suicide because they want to die. They just want the nightmare to end, the pain to stop, the horror to go away.
Someone wrote, “There comes a time when you look into the mirror and you realize that what you see is all you will ever be, and then you accept it or you kill yourself.” A suicide is under attack by his, or her, own mind! How does one deal with that?
The suicide is looked upon as someone who simply gave up, someone who didn’t fight hard enough or long enough. But most suicides are simply defeated by the long, hard struggle to stay alive. Suicide is man’s way of telling God, “You can’t fire me. I quit! You’ll find that your world is better off without me in it.” The suicide finds their life a pure torture and their body a cage from which there is no escape other than death.
As soon as I awakened early this morning, the Spirit whispered to my mind, “Write, write, WRITE!” One of my most visited posts on my website is this post wherein I write about suicides.
I have found that the mind that is surrendered fully to God’s control is the mind with which the Creator can communicate. Now when the Spirit speaks, I listen, and I listen carefully.
“I have fought against it, but I cannot fight any longer.” That was the note left by a suicide. Here’s another: “All will and determination to fight has left me….l have reached the end of the trail. I feel justified in terminating a life which no longer holds any hope.” I assure you, God understands the suicide’s dilemma and is not angered in the least by their situation or even by their choice to put an end to their own life. Continued in Part 2.
Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley