What would happen if we claim we believe in Jesus and then commit suicide.

When did the idea start that someone who ended their life would go to hell,

no matter what faith the person professed before,

yes this certainly causes a lot of grief.

What if someone has spoken strongly and often about love for Jesus,

They share with others God’s good news,

They live a kind and open life.

But then as the years collapse in life has become very hard.

At the end, there was a harsh note filled with despair and pain and they end their physical life.

So, what happened to this “formerly” strong believer?

No! Not Straight to hell?

No! We can’t find that in Scripture.

Jesus holds on to His people even when they can no longer hold on to Him.

“Neither death nor life” will be able to separate us from Him.

We need to be honest.

Believers can go through unbelieving times.

Times filled with such heart pain that an end seems better than another day.

I wish that were not true.

I wish every believer would be able to look with joy and hope to the Lord’s face

every moment of every day.

I wish I could.

But sometimes the pain is so strong that it’s all you can think about is the pain.

Do you make good decisions when you are in pain?

Do you “keep your hopes up,” as they say?

Or are you like the rest of us, doing stupid things just to get it to stop—

or even for a few moments of some better feeling?

We all make bad decisions.

Another cookie, another online purchase, another drink—

these are small things that can appear to offer relief.

But often the relief ends up burying us in deeper pain.

Sometimes it looks so hopeless as if a mountain of pain caved in on top of us.

We may do something we will regret for the rest of our life

It would feel good for a while,

It take our mind and heart away from the pain that won’t stop,

even though we know it won’t be good in the long run.

What about spending and spending. Buying one crazy thing after another.

Johnny Cash was the one who sang, “I hurt myself today,”

When I first heard the song. “I hurt myself today, to see if I still feel.”

(I don’t think I have ever heard the Nine Inch Nails version.)

Some give up by having an affair,

Some give up by cutting themselves off from others,

Some give up by spending money they don’t have—these are ways of hurting ourselves.

(we know it will hurt us),

for some weird impossible feeling to affirm that we can still feel.

We do stupid acts with lasting consequences,

but the things we do is often from becoming numb from so much pain.

The folks who claim to know say statistics claim

that 10 million Americans seriously considered suicide in the past year.

About a third of them made a plan.

You might be one of them.

Or maybe you were a few years ago.

Yes, it would have been stupid, especially as we look back from today.

Today, for some, that pain is a memory.

A new life has begun.

There was hope, but you couldn’t see it.

Some will actually do it.

They will hurt themselves to a point from which there is no return.

Even the fear of hell will not stop them, because the pain is already hell.

And, like many other bad decisions, there is no turning back.

Once you have had the affair, you can’t undo it.

And you may call for help and be saved in time from your suicide attempt,

or you might not be able to. Some decisions are like that.

Please, there is hope.

Find some help if you are going through this kind of pain.

There are other ways to end it. There really are.

Cry out to Jesus, He loves you.

Find your way back to Him.

Find someone who can help you find your way back.

Don’t take your own life. There are many who care.

They may not realize how much you hurt.

And, if you have had these thoughts, don’t think about them as sin,

think of them as desperation.

Severe heart pain is also real.

Pain so great that you long for a way out, no matter what options are offered.

If you have had such thoughts, don’t feel guilty.

If you are having these thoughts now, you are not evil.

But you are hurting at a level that may be out of control.

Please stop everything and find help. Please.

There are so many people that can help.

Get away from the people Who hurt you.

Get around a supportive surrounding.

Let Jesus hold us together in our pain and heart aches.

Adapted from Dave Orisson