Every year, 45,000 Americans die by suicide. And for every completed suicide, there are 25 more unsuccessful attempts. That’s over 1 million suicide attempts in the U.S. every year! Through my own physical illness and descent into depression’s valley, I came to realize that even Christians get depressed and consider suicide.
Recently a reader contacted me after having read one of my blog posts. In part she said, “Is God not cruel? I very much see God as cruel. He took the life of the only person in this world that loved me. My husband, by the way, was a very healthy man. Destroyed my life and now has made me sick. I have no money or insurance. This has been going on now for six years. Is that not cruel?
Tears fell from my eyes as I hung up the phone from my physician. He was compassionate and kind, and I could tell he felt bad that there was only so much he could do to ease my pain and suffering while we searched for answers.
Friends had been texting, “Have you heard anything?” “What’s the latest?”
I sat for a moment blinking back the tears as my phone pinged to alert of another message coming in.
“I can’t handle any more,” I typed in response to a friend’s request for an update.
That’s just it. People, Christians included, often say that God won’t give you any more than you can handle, but that’s just not true. We’ve gotten it all wrong.
Even Jesus was tempted by the enemy, but He knew how to defeat him. God has given us those same practical tools that we can use to face temptation when it strikes.
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