Hope

hope

 

noun

1.

the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best: to give up hope.

It is my opinion that hope is one of the main things that drive us in this life. The Bible talks about the hope of becoming like Christ and the hope of His return. We live in a constant state of hoping that things will turn out for the best and that Christ will return and make everything right. Therefore it is one of the saddest occurrences I know of when someone chooses to give up hope and end everything by their own hand. Having been through the experience of losing someone in this way I know that it is so hard for those left behind to understand. Why was the love they had not good enough? Why did they not just talk to someone? What made it seem like nothing could get better, that death was the only way out? 

The reason this is on my mind is because one of the students on the reservation I lived at this summer killed himself last night. His girlfriend is one of "my" girls from my time there and she is expecting a baby in a few months. He had recently gotten his GED, was working at the t-shirt printing company of the ministry and had been coming to the weekly youth group. But something drove him to give up hope, to leave everything behind. 

This young man was also the cousin of another one of my girls. This past weekend her other cousin died in the hospital from excessive drinking and her uncle also killed himself. They simply gave up hope, or never found it in the One thing that would satisfy, the One thing that would give them something to live for. 

My heart is entirely saddened for the many who knew and loved this young man.  I know the pervading sadness that makes everything ache when someone has been lost and it is too late to try and catch them. 

So what will we do? Will we sit here, hear this news, and simply feel sad yet continue with our lives? No, I don't think that is the path to take. I believe that we should take this moment to make a decision, to make a choice to be intercessors. There is power in prayer and I believe that if we all make a conscience decision to pray every day for the Native reservations in America, though it could take the rest of our lives, change will happen. Satan has a grip on these lands and we must intercede for our brothers and sisters, we must renounce the power of Satan and proclaim the sovereignty of Christ. No eighteen year old should have to deal with this much death and despair in a lifetime, let alone one weekend. So please, join with me in prayer for these people, for my students, and for every teenager out there who is dealing with the same sadness. We have a choice, to sit back and be glad that we did not grow up in a place like the reservation, or to take five minutes out of every day to pray for healing and reconciliation in a place where hopelessness seems the best option and death seems to be the only way out. What a lie that is to be fed, and what truth the love of Christ can bring. 

Will you join me?