Is there Light at the End of the Tunnel?

I have been blogging about suicide in the last two of my blogs. I am still on it! People who have read the blogs told me that it is not enough just to declare that suicide is wrong in the eyes of our Creator God, but you have also to give them some hope that will prevent them from committing suicide. So the question is where is the hope? What would prevent such people from taking that last desperate step to kill themselves? 

Every day, news papers bring in fresh news of some body who had committed suicide. A few days ago, a young teacher committed suicide because a stalker was threatening her that she should marry him. Another young girl, misplaced the offer letter from IBM for a job for her and fearing that she had lost that offer, she went and hanged herself. A boy who expected to pass in first class saw his number among the failed candidates and killed himself, when a right gleaning for the results showed that he had indeed passed in first class. Another young girl hanged herself and died, because she was upset with her mother, who refused to give her permission to go and see a movie with her friends. 

Are these serious enough reasons to commit suicide? The reasons are so flimsy and yet people, especially the young boys and girls go and kill themselves. Bangalore is seen as not only the IT (Information Technology) capital of India, but also the suicide capital of India. The pressures to perform on the young recruits are quite immense. They think they have escaped all these pressures and unhappy events by taking their own loves, but this leaves a gory blood trail in the hearts of those left behind; parents suffer; siblings and friends and family suffer for years together after such incidents. Even the farmers, who kill themselves due to unpaid loans and heavy interests are not solving any problems by their death. The debt only passes on to the next person, the elder son or the wife or the mother, as the case may be. So what makes these people so fragile in side? Are they so sensitive by nature and birth that they resort to these extreme measures, without really thinking of the consequences? Is there really no hope at all for them? Is there no light at the end of the tunnel? 

I would prescribe the only medicine that I know of to save me from such depression or fragile feelings that could push one over the wall. God. That to me would be Jesus Christ, who touched me in the midst of my sufferings and emotional turmoils in my forties. The same medicine only I will recommend to any of those who suffer from life's vicissitudes. One may ask, if there is a God who is helpful, where is He when we suffer these untold agonies? Without going into the theology of this question, I would only say that He is very much there, only we do not realize it. 

A real story I read narrated by Ravi Zacharias in one of his books depicts the picture of three Jewish men hanged by the Germans in a concentration camp, during World War II. All the other Jewish prisoners were forced to watch the hanging. Two men of the age group of 40, died immediately, but the third one, a young boy of adolescent age, struggled at the noose for quite some time before he died. Watching this heart-wrenching scene, one of the Jewish men said to his neighbor, "Where is God?" The other person, his neighbor, heard the voice of God Himself, from deep within him, saying, "I am there, very much, hanging with that boy." That is the love of God; He suffers with us, agonizes with us and is ever willing to embrace us with His outstretched arms to hold us, comfort us and deliver us from the difficult circumstance. But unfortunately we do not turn to God at such dire circumstances; we decide that there is no hope, no future and tend to find our own remedy, in some cases suicide, that we think will put an end to all misery. It does not.

Parents need to be very sensitive to youngsters and take the clues thrown by the teenagers and young adults seriously and talk the matters over with them. People in such volatile moods must seek a well-wisher or a friend, go and talk the matter over with them. I remember a friend of mine, who lost her husband suddenly was so threatened by her suicidal tendencies, she used to take her car and come running to me for talking it through and find release for her bottled up sorrows. One can approach a professional counselor to treat depression or any long term struggles. 

Best of all is Jesus Christ, who said as quoted in Matthew 11:28-30,

"Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and My burden is light."

He also said in another place, John 16:33, 

"In the world you will have tribulations; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world"

Build you life on this rock, Jesus, and you will be able to withstand the storms of life, or else one collapses like a house built on sand. Make Jesus the anchor of life and experience the peace that passes understanding and the calm amidst storms that will be yours. That is the only hope I know of which I can leave with you. Yes, there is light at the end of the tunnel and no one need despair of life and its ups and downs. There is an anchor which will stabilize you; go and embrace it.