Most everyone either knows someone or knows of someone who has been affected by suicide. You may have even struggled with this. It has hit people hard and caused a vacuum in their life, with pain and loss. I want to talk about it. If it’s so much better for the child of God to be “out of here,” then why not just leave early? Why not just quit? Why not just go? Well, there are several reasons why you should not quit and “end it all.” I want to give you 3 huge reasons why you should not take your own life.
REASON #1: THE ENEMY IS LYING TO YOU ABOUT THE HOPELESSNESS OF YOUR SITUATION.
It’s very disturbing to read that the third leading cause of death for young people between age 15 and 24 is suicide. It doesn’t have to be like this. It’s very sad. Why does a person take his or her own life, and what happens when they do?
Again and again, it is connected to despair, depression, hopelessness, and pain. People have come to believe, “It will never get any better. There’s no hope and no reason for me to stay.” Or folks come to believe, “I’m hurting and just want it to stop.” Or they view it as a way of escape. But what happens when you die or end your own life? Is that really the end? No. If you take your own life, you’re going to come out of your body and get a close-up look at what you’ve just done.
One lady described it, and this is very rare to hear, but she became so despondent that she attempted to take her own life and had died. Instantly, as she exited her body, she regretted it. Thank God one of her friends came in and found her, lifted her up, used life-saving techniques, and she was revived. She was so thankful. You could hear it in her voice and see it in her eyes. This lady has helped many people not to commit suicide. Pain get in pain and the enemy of our souls is a liar and he is cruel.
I remember being 16, and what it’s like to experience your first heartbreak. It’s awful. You’ve never experienced anything like that before: you fall in love—at least what you know about falling in love—then somebody doesn’t return your affection or feelings, or they decide they found a better deal somewhere else, so they just drop you like last week’s trash. It hurts. It’s a hurt that you’ve never experienced before, and at that point of vulnerability, the devil will come and say, “This is an unbearable pain. Nobody has ever hurt like you’re hurting.” That’s a lie. Pretty much everyone has experienced this kind of thing.
The Bible says, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man” (1 Corinthians 10:13, KJV). Everything you’re experiencing has been experienced by people all over the world. But the devil is very tricky, and if you’ll listen to him, he is trying to convince you, “This pain is an unbearable pain. What you’re dealing with is hopeless. Nobody knows, nobody can relate, and there’s no point in going on.” Sometimes in these moments of weakness and desperation, a person does something they can’t take back.
Now what I want you to see in the Word, as we progress, is that if people would just give God some time, they could see miracles. If you have been around a little while like I have been, and if you’ve made it past age 10, 11, 12, 13, and you’ve made it through some things, you have a different perspective now. We now know that even though it hurts so bad, it isn’t the end of the world. Just give God some time, and, like I say, “Go have an ice cream and take a nap.” If you’ll just give God some time, you can see miracles.
Say this out loud: Things can change very quickly.
I believe that lives will be spared and lengthened, and that these words will find people’s hearts. The devil’s devices will be revealed, and people will see what’s going on—and they won’t yield to suicide.
In Acts 16:26-34, KJV, Paul and Silas had been beaten and imprisoned. Even though they weren’t physically feeling wonderful, the Bible says they prayed and sang praises to God, in the dark, smelly, dungeon. If things are bad, do you have to get depressed and get down? You can be strong and praise God in the midst of the worst stuff, can’t you? They were doing it.
As they were praising God, it says, “Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bands were loosed.” Now that’s a very specific type of earthquake. Verse 27 says, “And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors are open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.” Was he right? No. I wonder how many other people have made assumptions and killed themselves, when it wasn’t even true.
Did you know that Job contemplated suicide at one point—if you want to call it that? In the third chapter of Job, he kept saying, “Why? Why did this happen? Why didn’t this happen? Why?” He kept saying, “Why? Why?”
You have to watch out for that. When you start thinking it and verbalizing it, that’s an indicator that you’re listening to the devil, and you’re going down a wrong, dark path. If you keep talking about what you don’t have, and what hasn’t happened, and what you can’t do, and what they didn’t do, that’s negative, and there’s death in it. You get to the point where you’re not thankful for all the things you do have and for everything that God has done for you and is doing for you. You get to the place where you can’t see anything but death and dark and problems, and that’s when the enemy will suggest, “That’s the only way out. It’s too bad, and it will never be any better. There will never be any hope. You can never get back to as good as what it used to be.” What did we say? Give God some time. Give Him some time to help you. Don’t take it out of His hands.
The keeper of the prison was ready to kill himself. This was the equivalent to taking a pistol and putting it to your head. They didn’t have pistols; they had swords. So, he has this sword up against his chest, or his body, and he is about to gut himself. He’s about to kill himself—to cut his throat or whatever with the blade—and in verse 28, it says, “Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm…!”
Is there a word in the Bible for those contemplating suicide? Is there a word for those who think it’s helpless and hopeless, and nothing can be done, and it’s the only way out? The Lord says, “Do yourself no harm.” Don’t hurt yourself. Did God say, “Don’t hurt yourself”? He said it through Paul. He said it by the Holy Spirit and had it recorded in the Word for all generations. Don’t hurt yourself. Do you think that would include doing things like cutting yourself, abusing yourself, and doing things that you know are destroying parts of your body?
Say this out loud: Don’t hurt yourself.
He said, “Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.” He was about to shove his sword inside his body when he heard, “We’re all here,” and he thinks, What? It was almost too late.
Satan is a liar. He’ll tell people, “Nobody cares about you.” That is a lie. “You’re not doing anybody any good; you’re just causing everybody problems. Everyone would be better off without you.” Lies. “You’re just a big mess up. You’ve never done anything right your whole life.” Lies.
Let’s analyze this statement: “You’ve never done anything right your whole life.” Maybe you sweetened the tea just right one time. Maybe you took the trash out exactly right. There is no way that you “never did anything right.” You trimmed your eyebrows perfectly. There has to be something you did right in your life.
Why am I saying that? Because the devil is such a liar, and when you get in this negative; “I’ve never done anything but mess up” thinking, it’s a lie. You know it’s a lie, so why are you repeating a lie? “Nobody cares about me.” You know that’s not true. They might not be happy with all of the things you’ve been doing, but it doesn’t mean they don’t love you.
Here’s the truth: You are a one-of-a-kind masterpiece, made in the image and likeness of God. The next time the devil says, “You’re not worth anything,” ask him, “Then how come Jesus paid so much to get me?” God is no fool. He doesn’t pay a billion dollars for a one dollar item. He wouldn’t do it. He paid the biggest price that’s ever been paid for anything in the universe for you and me. Don’t you believe the devil’s lies. Don’t you sit or lay in the bed and cry, feeling sorry for yourself. “Nobody cares. Nothing’s ever right, and I don’t have a future. Nothing’s ever going to happen for me.” How do you know? You’ve only been alive for a very short time.
So how much do you know about anything? Have some faith in your good God and give Him some time to show you something. Give Him some time to help you, get you out, and show you what He can do.
Look at the prison guard’s situation. The guy has the sword up against his chest or his throat, whatever it was, and he’s just about to ram it, thinking, There’s no hope. They’ll execute me in the morning anyway, so there’s no reason for me to stay around here. Everybody’s gone. I’m dead anyway. I’m a dead man. Isn’t that how the devil talks? “You’re a dead man anyway, dead to everybody.” No. When you hear that negative talk, it’s the devil. Don’t believe it, don’t listen to it, and don’t yield to it.
What did Paul do? He said, “Don’t do yourself any harm; we’re all here.” The guard replied, “You are?” and threw the sword down. “You’re here?” It was pitch dark in there. Verses 29-30 say, “Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” What if he had just been two seconds quicker on plunging that sword into his chest?
Verse 31 continues, “They said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” What if he had plunged the sword? What about his family? “They spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house” (Acts 16:31-34).
A couple of hours earlier, he essentially had the pistol to his head with the hammer cocked. Just a few hours later, he was sitting there laughing with the man of God, with all of his family saved and loving God and free. Look at what he would have missed if he had taken his life in that moment of desperation, if he had believed lies that the prisoners were all gone, that there was no hope, and that he would be executed anyway.
Can you see what’s going on? The devil is so subtle and so deceptive. He is such a liar. What do we have to do in these situations when it looks hopeless, and the pain seems unbearable? Give God some time.
Psalm 91:14-16 in the God’s Word translation says, “Because you love me, I will rescue you.” Do you believe that you can count on the Lord when He said, “I will rescue you”? He said, “I will protect you because you know my name. When you call to me, I will answer you. I will be with you when you are in trouble. I will save you and honor you. I will satisfy you with a long life. I will show you how I will save you” (verses 14-16, GW). He’s not going to leave us and forsake us. If you’ll just give Him some time, do you believe He will do this? “I’ll be with you. I’ll rescue you. I’ll help you. I’ll protect you. Let me show you how I can save you. Give Me an opportunity. Give Me some time. Let me show you.” Glory to God.
Why shouldn’t you just check out and take your own life? Because it’s never how it seems and feels. It’s never as bad as the devil makes it out to be. He is lying to you, trying to deceive you in order to destroy you. But it’s not the end. It’s not hopeless.
Here’s something else you need to know. In Acts 20:22-24, KJV, Paul said by the Spirit, “And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: Save that the Holy Spirit witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me there.” (KJV)
Did Paul have some challenges in his life? Did he have what you might call some “low points,” when he was really tried and tested? Yes, Paul had his moments—moments when he despaired of life—but he made it through, and we’re going to see how he did. He said on this occasion, “I know bonds and afflictions are waiting on me there.” The Spirit of God had shown him. But did Paul say, “Well, my free life is behind me, my best days are behind me, and all I have to look forward to is beatings and jail. To depart and be with Christ is far better than being here.” No. What did Paul say? “But none of these things move me.” You ought to put that phrase in your arsenal. When you feel your lowest and your most stressed, what do you say? “None of these things move me.”
The devil is trying to move you to despondency, despair, hopelessness, and helplessness, and to make you think you are an utter victim. But he’s wrong. You’re a victor. You’re an overcomer.
You’re more than a conqueror. You have victory over death itself. In verse 24, Paul says, “None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself.” I’m not desperately clinging on to these few days in this life; this is not all there is. “So that I might finish my course with joy,” not a last gasp of desperation. “Finish it with joy” because the joy of the Lord is your strength, “and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.”
In my next blog, we’ll look at the second reason to “Do Thyself No Harm.” God bless you, my friend.
