you have been given this life to live it

A couple days ago I got a notification on my phone about a prayer request for someone who had committed suicide. I don't know the person, and I'm not going to give all the details, but I will say the girl that committed suicide was thirteen. Her parents were getting a divorce, and her brother had committed suicide in October.

I can't imagine how her parents are feeling right now, and how her friend is feeling.

I apologize in advance if this blog post makes you cry. Suicide is a sad topic, and it is something that happens. People do kill themselves. Sometimes we wonder why they do it, and what made them do it. When you think about it, you might not always understand what someone has been going through, or what they were thinking that led to the decision to end their life.

She was thirteen! THIRTEEN! That's what keeps making me so sad. According to the girl who was her friend, she was Christian, and spent her last days feeling discouraged and like the world wasn't how she wanted it to be. She wanted to be with God.

How could someone so young even think about wanting to end their life?

A lot of times, things don't make sense. You see something that happened in the world you didn't expect, or like this situation, you see someone who loved the Lord, and still killed herself.

Even though I don't think I'll ever be able to wrap my head around how this could have happened, I want to encourage you with the Lord's truth.

Psalm 34:17-20, "When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken."

Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."

Romans 8:38-39, "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."

This blog post would probably be way too long if I inserted all the Bible verses I found. If you need more encouragement, keep reading, and also read some more Bible verses here: https://www.openbible.info/topics/suicide

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At the beginning of 2019, I wrote in my journal about someone who had killed himself that went to my old school. I just re-read what I wrote for the first time in who knows how long. I want to share just a little from what I wrote.

"Suicide is death. It means someone is so fed up with the world that they are just read to go...Have you ever heard about someone who committed suicide? Have you ever thought, 'How can they feel so like that that they want to kill themselves? Did they know God?' etc..."

Another thing I wrote in that entry was the question, "If I knew ______ could I have stopped _______, If I knew _________ could I have helped _________?"

When you learn about suicide you can't help but feel sad. It's sad thing, but then you might also feel like you want to figure out how to help that person, or their family. I've thought about this a lot before. I've thought a lot about if I knew someone wanted to commit suicide, could I help them? Could I stop them? Or if I didn't know them, and knew they were dead, I would wonder how I could have helped them if I had known them. I wish I would have known them so I could have stopped them.

I know pretty much everyone who will probably click on this post, and be reading it, so I don't think anyone reading this wants to commit suicide, or has thought of it. I don't know, but if you are, have, or ever think about commit suicide, please don't! Lay out all of your troubles and problems to God. Go to a trusted friend or adult. Go to a suicide hotline. Come to me for goodness sake! I'm not God, but I'm always here for anyone who needs encouragement, in any circumstance.

I don't like suicide. I wish it wasn't a thing. I don't know how it is a thing in the first place. Like, who invented the name? Who decided to call it 'suicide?'

You are beautiful, lovely, worthy, made in His image, and I don't want you to ever think about killing yourself. I want you to know that God loves you so much, and He will always be there for you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. We all need encouragement at times, and we all need reminders that we are loved.

If you know anyone or are someone who has had thoughts of committing suicide, please help put a stop to those thoughts. I love you, I'm so thankful for you, and I'm praying for each and every one of you. I'm praying for everyone reading this, and everyone not reading this. You are loved, and you have a purpose here on Earth. Never forget that.

Thank you so much for reading this blog post! I'm going to end it off with a Bible verse. Please be encouraged today through whatever your going through in life! ~Ella

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live."

-Deuteronomy 30:19