It was reported this week that there is a suicide crisis in the U.S. military.
There’ve been 30,177 suicides among active duty personnel and veterans since September 11, 2001.
During that same time, 7,057 U.S. service members were killed in war operations.
Over 400% more soldiers died by their own hand than by the enemy.
Suicide is a crisis in the military.
Suicide Is Neither Stoic nor Heroic
Socrates took his own life after expounding on the soul’s immortality to his disciples. He then drank poisonous hemlock.
Cato committed suicide instead of serving under the tyranny of Julius Caesar.
Antony and Cleopatra, losing the battle against Octavianus (Augustus Caesar), chose willing death; Antony by the sword, and Cleopatra by an asp.
Reading about these ancient suicides, some may wrongly conclude that suicide can be either stoic in spirit or heroic in courage.
Suicide is neither stoic nor heroic.
Jesus tells us death is an enemy. It is an enemy that the Author of Life came to conquer.
Death is something to be fought against, avoid, and trust the One who holds “the keys of life and death” to open the door of death is opened in His time, not ours.
So why do some choose to open the door of death themselves?
No Sense of Divine Purpose
We all know loved ones or friends who have taken their lives.
We’re neither judging nor condemning those we love. That’s God’s business, not ours.
But if we’re to help someone before a suicide decision is made, we need some answers.
We need an antidote.
The one who ends life prematurely lacks a sense of God’s purpose.
For example, if one’s sole purpose for living is to accomplish human goals, it may seem wise to end one’s life when those goals are unattainable.
However, if someone has a Divine purpose for their lives, they’ll wait until the One who gives that purpose determines to open the door of death.
So what is the Divine purpose?
That’s your purpose. That’s my purpose.
In a dark, diseased, and dying world, the Spirit of God chooses to reside in the heart of sinners like us to express the Life of God through us.
A description of what God’s Life looks like is in Galatians 5:22-23
Love
Joy
Peace
Forbearance
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-control
Divine Purpose and God’s Presence In You
The above fruit (singular) of the Spirit is not a code of conduct; it’s characteristic of union with God.
Nurses who see you dying of cancer and displaying this Life; those nurses see God in you and desire Him.
Family members who watch you experience horrific worldly circumstances and display this Life; those family members see God in you and desire Him.
Co-workers who see you passed over for a promotion and observe you display this Life; those co-workers see God in you and desire Him.
Acquaintances on social media who see you respond to criticism and unkindness toward you with this Life; those acquaintances see God in you and desire Him.
That’s your purpose. That’s my purpose.
The Life of God in the Soul of Man.
If you feel it is impossible to fulfill God’s purpose for you, maybe because you have never understood the power of union with Christ, I encourage you to read the book that changed George Whitfield’s life after he read it.
The book is called The Life of God in the Soul of Man. It is available in PDF form.
It was written 400 years ago by a man named Henry Scougal. He wrote it to help explain what Christianity is to a friend.
The Life of God in the Soul of Man is the only effective antidote against suicide.
_________
Wade Burleson writes and podcasts daily at wadeburleson.substack.com. Sign up for free.
Wade,
Every time I phone the Veterans Administration in Bonham, Texas, to get an appointment, I get a recording asking if I’m thinking about suicide for me to punch a certain number, and if not for me to punch another number.
There’s a parable in Mathew 13:24-26 where an enemy has planted weeds in a field of wheat. This parable can apply in church if a person goes to sleep or starts thinking about something else; the weeds have taken over.
Wade,
Google states 58,220 American soldiers were killed in the Vietnam war. But they did not return as heroes. A man in our church was advised by the military when he returned not to wear his uniform.
Wade,
I hit another wall and realized I was in a large dark closet. I felt my way to the door, but wouldn’t open it because he would see me! FOOL, he was looking at you when you went in here. He’s ether laying on the floor; laughing, or he’s run for security.
Wade,
In 2006, my cousin, from Bonham, Texas; Gary Hicks, and his grown son, Jared, went on a mission trip to Colorado with a large group. Gary and Jared brought ‘gear’ for mountain climbing.
On the way back, Gary felt they should return to their ‘meeting town’ a shorter way, but it was a small mountain road with no guardrails. Everyone else went back the long way.
Going up a steep hill, they thought they saw a shaft of ‘smoke’ shoot up in the sky and disappear. They didn’t realize the ‘smoke’ was steam caused by hot metal that lasted a few seconds. If they’d been a minute earlier or later, they’d not seen it!
Curious; they stopped at the top and walked to the edge of an 80-foot cliff. They saw a van upside down in a river.
They got their ropes and repelled down the cliff. A family of four were trapped by seatbelts and trying to breathe in a foot of airspace.
The father who had gone to sleep driving was injured. Two young boys were in the back seat.
They got them to the road. The first car by was a paramedic on vacation who treated the father. The next, was a patrol car who called a helicopter that took them to a hospital. Gary and Jared were eating pizza when the others drove into town.
Wade,
Many years ago, my aunt was in an argument with her Church of Christ son-in-law. He told her since she was going to hell, she might as well commit adultery as it was a lot more fun. She said: “How would you know about that?” He left in a hurry.
Even though I’m 91, I still remember when I was 15 and a lot of us were swimming in the Red River. Our Dad had been in World War II and told us many war stories. He took on anyone in wrestling and never lost. He was strong as an ox and was our hero.
I crossed the river where it was fast, narrow, and deep. I swam with the current and it was easy. Dad decided to join me, but was downstream, and swam against the current. I was admiring how he could swim so long and hard until he shouted, “Help me!” (He was exhausted.)
I ran to where the current would take me to him, but he thought I was running away. “Please help me.”
The current took me to him. He put one hand on my shoulder and could have sunk me like a bug but didn’t put much pressure. He shouted, “Go to the bank!” (It was 70 feet upstream.) I yelled back, “I am”, and started on an angle to the bank a hundred yards downstream. I did the breaststroke, and he kept one hand on my shoulder.
He laid on the bank for a long time without talking. Finally, he said, “I wouldn’t have made it without you.”
Rex,
It is stories like this that lead me to believe (strongly), a book needs to be written about your life. Swimming the Red River? That’s not easy. 🙂
Wade, here’s another tall tale:
When Hez, and I were 15, we lived near Red River. We decided to teach our two 13-year-old cousins to swim; Frank Jenkins and James Hicks. James had two brothers that went with us. Claude Earl had been in the Navy, and David was 32, but couldn’t swim. Red River was high, so we found a creek and went upstream to find a shallow place. Hez was swimming about ten yards ahead of me. I was swimming under the others that were on a five-foot bank. At the bottom of the bank there was a three-foot ledge of dirt before it became deep water.
The two young ones were laughing and cutting up. Frank pushed James off the bank, but was grabbed and both fell close enough to grab me. Their heads were above water, but mine wasn’t. When I ran out of air, I went to the bottom and they let go of me.
I remembered Uncle Don saying, “Don’t let anybody drown.” I’d laughed but now I almost cried because I believed someone would drown. I came up to see Claude helping his brother, but Frank strangled him. Claude barely made it to the ledge.
James was trying to swim, but his head was under. I pulled his head up several times as I’d lose my grip on his short hair.
Wade,
Machine won’t let me tell the last half of the story.
Hez told Frank, “Don’t grab me and I’ll save you.” He was still talking when Frank sunk him. Strangled, Hez quit rescuing and went to the ledge.
While I was struggling with James, I saw Frank in the deep water and HALF HIS BODY WAS OUT OF THE WATER. He was yelling, “HELP, HELP, SOMEBODY SAVE DAVID!” I was dumfounded as I hadn’t seen what happened.
Wade,
I wish you would fire the machine!