By Lisa Copen
[Click here for printable copy of all 3 Parts of this article]
Heaven. The pain will subside. The joy will abound. We will know the presence of God’s glory unlike we can even imagine. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?
Even the apostle Paul said, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). He too was eager to see an end to his suffering here on earth and spend eternity with God.
The topic that I am confronting here, however, is not the blessed event of entering His gates at His moment of appointment, but the word that Christian leaders are hesitant to confront–suicide.
More frequently than I would like I hear from a people who are seriously questioning why God would want them to remain here on earth one more day. And for each person that contacts me, I wonder how many others are suffering silently.
How can God expect us to continue to endure a future that seems to hold nothing but disappointments, sorrow, and physical pain?
We search for an answer. . .
Why is God allowing this to happen and why shouldn’t those with chronic illness just end it all and experience heaven a bit early?
I have found that most people don’t really want to end their lives. They just want to stop. . . the. . . pain. . .
They are beginning to feel like they are losing their mind over the amount of pain. They begin to believe that their loved ones would be better off without them. They know their death would cause emotional pain to their loved ones, but eventually they would heal.
Can we truly believe that God is still in control?
Mark Littleton, author of The Storm Within shares:
“What is real faith in God but continuing to believe in the face of everything in life gone wrong? What is true belief and trust in Christ, but trusting Him and believing His Word even when nothing has worked out? It is easy to believe in Him when things are going well, but under such circumstances it is hard to see if the faith is real.”
I can easily give logical thought-provoking, “spiritual” explanations such as the above, but answers that address the aches of the heart are more difficult. It is the eternal question of mankind: If God is so good, why does He allow me to hurt so bad? Why do bad things happen to good people?
From nearly the beginning of time, Job confronted the emotional turmoils of tragedies and physical pain, despite being a righteous man in the eyes of God.
But let’s address one small portion of this topic. Whether you have seriously considered suicide or have entertained the idea of how to end your pain, I have two points that I wish to share with you.
1. Do not lose hope.
2. Consider the possibility that your presence here on earth is necessary for God’s work to be done in the lives of others
So lets dive in.
[1]. Do not lose hope.
Do not be tempted by that which Satan is throwing in your face as an easy answer to end your pain. Satan knows first hand that physical pain is one of the greatest afflictions in which to persuade you to turn away from God, and from what God desires in your life.
Take Job, for instance: Satan took Job’s children, his assets, his animals, everything–and the honorable Job responded by worshipping God. So what did Satan do next, that he knew would be the last straw for Job? “Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head,” (Job 2:7).
Job was so depressed his first response was to take a piece of (unclean) broken pottery and scrape himself with it as he sat among the ashes. (v. 8). Job’s sounding pretty depressed at this point, isn’t he? One could even say that he is feeling a bit apathetic about whether he lives or dies, since he is scraping himself with pottery that could likely causing an infection.
If one of the most righteous men in God’s eyes is tempted to want to die because of physical pain, acknowledge that your feelings also need validated! Although God grieves your emotional pain, it exists. You are not “less of a Christian” or a hypocrite if you have feelings of hopelessness. You are human. . . and humans were designed by God to need God.
You are simply being tempted, as was Jesus.
“While we may feel separated from [God], it is just that: a feeling. A persistent perception of desolation does not mean he has deserted us. But it can feel that way, and intensely so,” (Littleton, The Storm Within, p. 26).
Jesus spent forty days in the desert where He was led by the Spirit, into the desert to be tempted by the devil. [Matthew 4:1; Luke 4:2 emphasizes that he was tempted all forty days.]
What!? God led Him into the desert in order to be tempted by Satan? Yes. But note that during this entire time “angels attended Him” (Mark 1:13).
Just as with Job and Jesus, although you may be tempted, God has provided the power to overcome the temptation; “No temptation [will] seize you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 1:13).
Join me tomorrow for Part 2 of this article.
Lisa Copen is the author of ‘Why Can’t I Make People Understand: Discovering the Validation Those With Chronic Illness Seek and Why and the founder of Rest Ministries. She has lived with rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia since 1993.
This christian ministry is for those suffering from depression. Please check it out and read her book. It is very good, http://www.reachingyouministries.com/ Depression can be so hard to deal with. There is so much stigma attached to mental illness, I have had sucidal depression. I know what it is like and I also know how hard recovery is. But my experiences have given me a passion for those with mental illness Christian or not and have given me a closer relationship with God. Please know there is hope and help.
Bless you for bringing up this subject! I have lived with my chronic illnesses for 25 yrs. It wasn’t until this winter following yet another bout of pneumonia that I started thinking about wanting to find a way out of the sheer drugery of years of pain, fatigue and battles with doctors and the challenges of life.
I was surprised how this passed once my GP put me on a bunch of vitamins and I started to regain some stamina. But it scared me to know that my normally spunky self could end up so deep in the pit!
Hope is an essential yet sometime elusive element of successfully living with chronic illness. Our faith helps nurture our hope but I learned I must be alert to its welfare at all times.
Thank you for your sacrificial efforts in helping us tend to HOPE.
Hi Lisa: Thanks so much for writing this article! I am glad to hear someone like yourself finally addressing this issue. Suicide is a topic that definitely needs to be addressed among the chronic illness community. I plan to share this article with some of my sick friends. Your ministry and on-line devotionals written by people with chronic illnesses and pain have encouraged me so much and helped me through many a depressing day living with CFIDS/FM. Thanks for everything you do for Rest Ministries!
You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers! I hope you and your mom had a wonderful trip and a refreshing time away at the women’s conference. I also pray that your muscle spasms and foot heal soon. God bless you!
Dear Lisa,
I never write a post. I do read your devotionals quite a bit when I can. I just sit on the sidelines and admire you so much, the strength and courage God gives you. You give us all so much with your website and devote so much time, energy and love for all of us. I just wanted you to know that I so so appreciate what you do.
I just read this post on suicide and thinking about speeding up going to heaven. I must admit I am there as of late. Have been sick for so many years and am so so tired. I have been in so much pain with my spastic colon and Ibs and none of these doctors know what to do except throw pills at me and order tests. The last antibiotic turned out to be very bad as I was allergic to it, so here I am, right back where I started except for dealing with all the horrific side effects it gave me.
My family is such a mess. I am wondering why I am a mother and grandmother at this point, let alone why I am on this earth. You are so right, I really don’t want to die yet but just want the pain to go away, both physical and emotional. No one seems to understand chronic pain; I have to put a smile on my face when I go to church and I am tired of that too. That’s the only place I go not, church and the grocery store. That is my life.
I know I will be sorry when I send this, but I am sending it anyways. I feel so alone and life is so just not worth much anymore to me without my health and my family. My one blessing is my husband and my sweet little dog. Thank God for them.
Thank you again and for all your readers who share such wonderful inspiring spiritual words. I am not one of them at this point. But I sure thank God for all of you.
Blessings,
Patty D.
It is never easy to accept and own the mistakes and saying sorry. The ego gets
hurt and people tend to think that after saying sorry the other partner will gain an
upper hand. Just by simply acknowledging the error or a mistake can resolve fifty
percent of the conflicts. Most of the people who have a stable and successful are
very up-front in their relationship and never hesitate to say sorry.