Silas
Beloved of All
Thank you for bringing your friend to the Lord in prayer and for caring enough to stand with her in this very painful season. The weight she is carrying is real. Repeated rejection, the fear of losing her home, and the sense that no door is opening can quickly bring a person to a place of deep discouragement and even to thoughts of ending her life. God sees her pain and He hears your prayers for her.
Hopelessness is at the heart of that kind of depression. When a person feels there is no way out and nothing can be done, despair settles in. Fear has a way of making everything look even larger and darker than it is, and despair often comes from seeing only part of the story, only what is in front of us right now, without seeing what God is doing beyond what we can see. In that place a person may pull away, not want comfort, or speak as if everything is already lost.
Scripture shows a different way out of that pit. One prophet, after describing himself as a man who had seen affliction and felt as if God had forgotten him, said that he found hope again when he deliberately brought something else to mind. He recalled that the Lord's mercies never end, that His compassions never fail, and that they are new every morning, and that God is faithful. We can think ourselves deeper into despair by keeping our minds fixed on ourselves and our problems, or we can find hope again by fixing our minds on the Lord, on His character and His promises. Turning the heart toward Him is often the beginning of lifting out of discouragement.
The Bible also shows that we often come to the end of our own strength before we learn to look to God for deliverance. The apostle Paul cried out, O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me, and then answered his own cry, that deliverance comes through Jesus Christ. When we have exhausted our own efforts to save ourselves, we are ready to receive the victory that God alone can give through His Spirit at work within us. That victory is not something we earn by trying harder, it is something God gives as we trust in Christ and depend on Him. It keeps us from boasting in ourselves and allows us to give all glory to God who causes us to triumph through Jesus.
Apart from God, life lived only on the level of circumstances, success, and material security will always leave a person vulnerable to despair, because those things are uncertain. The search for meaning apart from Him ends in emptiness. But life with Christ is different. He offers a hope that is not based on the next job letter or the next paycheck, but on His unchanging love and His presence with us. When we remember that God is for us, that He knows the whole story from beginning to end, and that He is at work even when we cannot see it, we can move from anxiety and despair to confidence in Him.
Please stay close to your friend in these days. Let her know she is not alone and that you take her words about suicide seriously and with love. Listen without trying to fix everything, and gently encourage her not to stay alone. Help her to reach out right away to a trusted pastor, counselor, or medical professional, and to a family member or close friend who can be with her. If she is in immediate danger, stay with her and help her get emergency help, or contact a crisis helpline in your area. In the United States that can be ###, and in other places your local emergency services or helpline can help. Continue to point her, in love and patience, to the Lord and to the practical help He provides through His people.
Let us pray for her together. Father, we lift up this dear woman to You. You see her discouragement, her financial fear, and the pain of each rejection. You know the thoughts that tell her there is no hope. Lord, we ask You to surround her with Your presence and remind her that Your mercies are new every morning and Your faithfulness is great. Deliver her from despair and from the desire to harm herself. Lift her eyes to Jesus Christ, her only hope and deliverer, and give her strength through Your Spirit. Provide for her needs, open the right door for work in Your timing, and place people around her who will walk with her, listen to her, and help her get the care she needs. Give her friend wisdom, love, and perseverance as he supports her. We ask this in the name of Jesus, who is our hope and our life. Amen.
Hopelessness is at the heart of that kind of depression. When a person feels there is no way out and nothing can be done, despair settles in. Fear has a way of making everything look even larger and darker than it is, and despair often comes from seeing only part of the story, only what is in front of us right now, without seeing what God is doing beyond what we can see. In that place a person may pull away, not want comfort, or speak as if everything is already lost.
Scripture shows a different way out of that pit. One prophet, after describing himself as a man who had seen affliction and felt as if God had forgotten him, said that he found hope again when he deliberately brought something else to mind. He recalled that the Lord's mercies never end, that His compassions never fail, and that they are new every morning, and that God is faithful. We can think ourselves deeper into despair by keeping our minds fixed on ourselves and our problems, or we can find hope again by fixing our minds on the Lord, on His character and His promises. Turning the heart toward Him is often the beginning of lifting out of discouragement.
The Bible also shows that we often come to the end of our own strength before we learn to look to God for deliverance. The apostle Paul cried out, O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me, and then answered his own cry, that deliverance comes through Jesus Christ. When we have exhausted our own efforts to save ourselves, we are ready to receive the victory that God alone can give through His Spirit at work within us. That victory is not something we earn by trying harder, it is something God gives as we trust in Christ and depend on Him. It keeps us from boasting in ourselves and allows us to give all glory to God who causes us to triumph through Jesus.
Apart from God, life lived only on the level of circumstances, success, and material security will always leave a person vulnerable to despair, because those things are uncertain. The search for meaning apart from Him ends in emptiness. But life with Christ is different. He offers a hope that is not based on the next job letter or the next paycheck, but on His unchanging love and His presence with us. When we remember that God is for us, that He knows the whole story from beginning to end, and that He is at work even when we cannot see it, we can move from anxiety and despair to confidence in Him.
Please stay close to your friend in these days. Let her know she is not alone and that you take her words about suicide seriously and with love. Listen without trying to fix everything, and gently encourage her not to stay alone. Help her to reach out right away to a trusted pastor, counselor, or medical professional, and to a family member or close friend who can be with her. If she is in immediate danger, stay with her and help her get emergency help, or contact a crisis helpline in your area. In the United States that can be ###, and in other places your local emergency services or helpline can help. Continue to point her, in love and patience, to the Lord and to the practical help He provides through His people.
Let us pray for her together. Father, we lift up this dear woman to You. You see her discouragement, her financial fear, and the pain of each rejection. You know the thoughts that tell her there is no hope. Lord, we ask You to surround her with Your presence and remind her that Your mercies are new every morning and Your faithfulness is great. Deliver her from despair and from the desire to harm herself. Lift her eyes to Jesus Christ, her only hope and deliverer, and give her strength through Your Spirit. Provide for her needs, open the right door for work in Your timing, and place people around her who will walk with her, listen to her, and help her get the care she needs. Give her friend wisdom, love, and perseverance as he supports her. We ask this in the name of Jesus, who is our hope and our life. Amen.
