I read the newspaper or even news on the internet, I found it was kinda easy to find news about suicidal. It's so sad. My question is : why. Why people lose their purpose? Why people lose their determination? Why people lose their hope? In the U.S. , young people from age 19 to 24 , the rate to commit suicide is 12.7% out of 100,000 people. Which means 12,700 young people gone from this world per year because they kill themselves. Hard, cold, sad fact.
A Glimpse of Hope
Hope, simple yet powerful word. Talk about hope then let God be your master of hope.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)
God plans is bigger than yours. That's why you failed. That's why you stumbled. That's why you feel pain. That's why you feel hurt. That's why sometimes your plan didn't work. We are planning something that we thought it's going to make us happy, but it isn't God's plan, it is your plan. God only has one plan which is to prosper you and not to harm you! To give you hope and future! And that's it that. He doesn't sit down in heaven and talk with His angels, "Hmmm Martin did it again. He commits the same sin , day in , day out. Ok, let's leave him be. I failed. He's a stubborn guy."
Friends let me tell you today, God will stick with His plan to make you happy! God will do whatever it takes to push you to the happy ending He already prepares for you!
"But Martin, how come God wants me to be happy when my parents are sick, my business goes bankrupt, I'm out of job, my kids don't want to speak with me no more, my wife cheated behind my back, how come there is still hope?"
What is your image of God?
Maybe people around you do care about your past, but God doesn't. Have you ever heard the name of Saint Afra? A martyr and a saint. Do you know what she used to be in the past? A prostitute! Yes she was. And yet God still loves her.
People will ask you about your past, about what you've done, they maybe will judge from your mistakes. I believe God is a happy God. He doesn't care about your past. What you used to be. He only cares about who you are going to be. That's because I believe He is a loving father who will run to hug you when you come back home. A father who will throw a party to celebrate that you have come back home. He will sing a song for you. He will play a guitar for you and even He will dance with you to celebrate!
But some people put the same image of their unloving parents and plot it into God's image, who likes to hit them. They put their ignorant friends image into God's image, who don't even care about you at all. Hope comes from the image you form. How come you can hang your hope if you think and see that God is an angry God? It's impossible. You have to change your image of God first.
Are you trying to breathe under water?
Imagine one day you are in the middle of swimming pool, 2 meters deep. You are not swimming, you are drowning! You move your hands and legs randomly. It doesn't help. You feel that the water starts to fill your mouth and the water starts to feel like it sucks you down.
Problems are like water. It drowns you. Some people will think "That's it that..my life has ended.. I can't swim..I'm dead.."
Friends, when you are under water, you will see the sky is blurry. You feel that you can't breathe, but that's because you are still under water! You can't see well, you can't speak well, you can't move freely or jump, that's because you are still under water! You feel there is no hope.. Your problems are bigger than you.. Everything falls into pieces.. Everything goes wrong.. That's because you are still 'under water'! But help is coming!
God is your life guard. He watches you all the time. When you are drowning , He knows it. He runs and dives straight into the water, its us who like to do the unbelievable.. Instead of letting God helps us, we are trying to breathe under water! Some people feel comfort to be under water and start to breathe! Of course it hurts.. of course you can't hold on.. We are not fish, we are humans.. God designed us to live here, above the water, on the ground. Where you can see the sky is clear, where you can breathe easily, you can jump and move freely! God's plan is for us to be happy.. That's why real happiness is only come from God. People can give you pleasure, but when it comes to happiness, rely on God.
Diamond in the making
God wants you to be a diamond. To make one isn't easy. It has to go through a cutting process. Cut is soft word. It has to be sawed to become one!
Coal and diamond are made from the same basic material, but diamonds are being sawed, the pressure is high. It is because diamond is so strong and unbreakable. Hardness, from scale 1 to 10 , diamond is at 10.
Are you a coal or are you a diamond? God wants you to be a diamond. The question is, do you want to become one? If the answer is yes , then be glad if you are under pressure now. That is a sign from God that you are going through the cutting process and your time to shine is coming.
Right now, maybe your family is falling apart. Your father always gets angry , your mother doesn't care about you, your brother is making a mess and dragging you into trouble. You even barely talk with each other anymore.
Maybe you failed to build a relationship. Someone special left you, just like that. Someone you love and trust, left you without saying a word or feel sorry at all. You feel down. Your heart is shattered into pieces. You feel disappointed.
Some of you feel tired and sick with your jobs. You give your heart and soul for your jobs, but your boss doesn't even say a thing when you were right, when you were wrong, hell broken lose. You just feel fed up and want to go out.
Friends, there is hope. Don't give up, because God will never give up on you. You are under water now, but help is coming and your time to live above water and breathe fresh air is about to come. Don't stop believing, because God is believe in your future, He doesn't care about your past! You feel the pressure is high. The pain is unbearable. That's because you are a diamond! You are God's diamond! You are worthed in His eyes. He loves you so much and sacrifices His own son to save us. Put your hope in Him. Feel His love today. See that hope today.
-M-
