I think most people would agree that life is difficult. When I consider this question for myself though. I often think I fail to even begin to understand how difficult life can be for people who have no hope. You see since I was small I have had a relationship with Jesus Christ.
My life has been so blessed because God has been an integral part of it since I was four years old. The bible, Christianity and faith have always been in my family and because of that I have never known anything but hope as a way of living.
Don’t get me wrong. My dad died when I was six so I didn’t have a Dad as I grew up but my mother was a phenomenon and, I had five older brothers and an older sister. I was loved and cared for and God was in the building.
What I’m saying is that I have known hardships in my life. God brought trials upon us as individuals and as a family. But God has always been there. He teamed me up with a fantastic woman who in the mold of my mother is an awesome mother. We have six great children who are bringing up their own beautiful children. I have much to thank God for and the most important thing in all of that is the hope that he brings to me every single day.
But in our little nation of Aotearoa there are many who have hit rock bottom and taken their own lives. People who have come to a point of worthlessness in their own eyes and are hopeless. Completely without hope. Hell bound and without understanding that they have been duped by the enemy. Satan. They kill themselves thinking that this will be the end of the nightmare. But alas, the nightmare is just begun. At best they have missed out on eternal life and at worst will be destroyed by eternal fire.
Standardised Rates of Suicide in New Zealand 2013
Notice that youth are heavily represented in the statistics shown above. 1. Both male and female in excess of 15 deaths per hundred thousand. Notice also that this death of 15+ deaths per hundred thousand is fairly constant through out the working life New Zealand citizens.
New Zealand Suicide Rate in Comparison to other Western Nations
New Zealand is well down the list for suicide when compared to other OECD nations. We seem to rank at around twentieth so approximately two thirds of the way down the list of OECD countries. Lower is worse as it indicates a higher value for deaths from suicide per hundred thousand citizens. In the 2016 -2017 year there were 606 deaths from suicide. 2.
Now I realise there are plenty of people with views on why suicide is and issue but to me there is one thing that could make a huge difference. You see when you become a Christian you become a member a network. A member of a spiritual family. You have a relationship with Jesus Christ. You begin a journey of understanding about the world from God’s point of view. You are with people who not only support you. They genuinely care and love you. You begin to understand that Jesus is with you every step of the way and you can depend on his power to carry you through situations when you are feeling weak and and that your life is meaningless and inconsequential. Know that God loves you as his child and the entire resources of heaven are at your disposal. All you have to do is ask him.
Just remember John 3:16 “God so loved you that he gave his only son, Jesus Christ, that if you will believe on him. You will have eternal life.”
Reference List
- Statistics New Zealand http://archive.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/snapshots-of-nz/nz-social-indicators/Home/Health/suicide.aspx
2. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/96217175/national-suicide-numbers-rise-three-years-in-a-row
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