Ron Hutchcraft with Ron Hutchcraft Ministries says, “It’s pretty staggering [because] all of the sudden your nightly news programs, the lead story wasn’t North Korea. The lead story was not the White House. The lead story was suicide.”

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide rates in the US went up by 25 percent from 1999-2016. Half the states even saw suicide rates increase over 30 percent.

A suicide epidemic in the United States is growing like a thick, dark cloud snuffing out the light of hope in the hearts of men and women, girls and boys, from every walk of life.

If this is your struggle, Hutchcraft has a deeply important message for you: “I wanted people to know why leaving is not the best option — living is the best option — and why you would choose living when you feel like leaving.”

You Hold Deep Value

“First of all, you need to consider your value,” Hutchcraft implores. “You are made in God’s image, God’s workmanship, God’s treasure, He says. You are not a paper plate that you discard. You are fine china — too valuable to throw away because of who made you.

“Your value is demonstrated [and] proven by the fact that God’s Son, Jesus thought you were worth dying for. You just don’t throw away something with that kind of value.”

An oft-quoted verse from the Bible illustrates God’s deep, abiding, raw love for you. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

If you insert your own name in place of “the world”, it makes this verse even more personal. “For God so loved [Your Name]….” You have inherent, priceless worth in God’s eyes and are loved more than you can possibly know.

Because of this, Hutchcraft says, “I know that Jesus loves you more than anybody could in ways you never dreamed, that Jesus can heal you at a level where no one else can heal you because He can go places in your heart no one else can go, and He can carry you when you can’t walk another step.”

You Have Dear Treasures

Another thing Hutchcraft encourages is to remember the beloved treasures in your life.

“I consider your treasures to be not the stuff you own but the people you love and the people who love you. I have actually heard people say, ‘They’ll be better off without me. I’m such a burden.’

“I have never known any loved one — I have hugged and held so many loved ones of people who did end their own life — and I have never known one who is better off because their loved one died that way.”

God Has Your Tomorrows

“God has tomorrows for you that you have not seen…. I have been on an airplane with a lot of turbulence that lasted for quite awhile and it was a little scary. People would react — some screamed, some were frightened, some grabbed somebody, some prayed, but nobody jumped out of the plane. And the reason they didn’t jump out of the plane is because they knew it was temporary and even though it shook us up, it was not the whole story. It was not the whole flight. We would come through that,” Hutchcraft shares.

“The fact is, the Bible tells us that our time is just part of a big thing called eternity where we’re going to be forever. At worst, this is temporary. So don’t throw away all your tomorrows. Don’t trash something of such great value. Don’t trash the people you love. Don’t trash the future, the tomorrows that God has planned for you.

“It’s always better to choose living [rather] than leaving.”

Jesus Feels Your Pain

The poignant chorus from Tenth Avenue North’s song “Hold My Heart” goes like this:

One tear in the dropping rain

One voice in a sea of pain

Could the Maker of the stars

Hear the sound of my breaking heart?

One life is all I am

Right now I can barely stand

If You’re everything You say You are

Would You come close and hold my heart?

This song speaks to the truth that Hutchcraft echoes: Jesus knows your pain. Let Him hold you.

“I think the most important hotline is to reach out to the one who has grieved more deeply than any human ever grieved: Jesus. He carried all of the sin and depression and despair and brokenness — not only all of yours but all of the world…. He carried all of that in His soul when He died on the cross, so much so that the Bible calls Him a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief,” says Hutchcraft.

“Therefore, [Jesus] is uniquely qualified to hear the cry of your heart and go where no one else can go and begin to heal the pain, to love you where you have not been loved, to give you a love that no human could have given you at best, [and] to give you a reason to live and a purpose to live for.”

If You Have Lost Someone…

Maybe your story is marked by the severe pain of losing a loved one to suicide. If so, Hutchcraft reflects, “I would say to someone who has experienced this horrible loss, it is terrible to lose someone you love. It is maybe, if possible, more terrible to lose someone you love who is young. Number three, it is really perhaps the worst to lose someone when they chose it themselves. It is a deep, deep, deep grieving.

“I was able to assure people through my own experience, not so much with suicide, but with grief and the broken heart of losing in a moment my lifetime love, my very best friend. Two years ago, my wife [who] I did my whole life with, suddenly my life [would] be without her.”

He shares, “What has sustained me in the greatest heartbreak of my life has been that wonderful promise in Psalm 34:18 that says, ‘The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and…saves those who are crushed in spirit.’ Let Him be close. Let Him into the depths of your grief and let Him begin to restore those holes in your soul that are there.

“He will then begin to turn — through a process — the darkest, most hurting moments in your life into compassion for a world of hurting people. We are surrounded by hurting people who are covering a deeply wounded life and a deeply wounded heart and maybe even a desperate heart with a facade of smiles and maybe success. Somebody needs to be there for them.”

God’s Word affirms this in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 where the Apostle Paul writes: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

Hutchcraft says, “When you allow Jesus to begin to turn your hurt into hope for other people, it not only provides some healing for them. You become a channel for God’s love into their wounds.

“Through credentials you wish you never had, you become now strangely, painfully, expensively credentialled to be one of the agents of God’s comfort in a hurting world.”

If you want to learn more about Jesus’ love for you and how you can share His love with others, Ron Hutchcraft Ministries has several resources for you. Click here to visit the ministry’s website.

Uncommon circumstances, common struggles

Chip Ingram, Pastor of Venture Christian Church and Teaching Pastor of Living on the Edge, recently went to a conference to encourage and teach some of these persecuted pastors. One thing was instantly clear; while facing intense pressure and persecution, some of the biggest discouragements they faced were the same as those that plague their brothers and sisters halfway around the world.

Wayward children, struggling marriages, and inconsistent personal Scripture times topped the list of struggles. These pastors face hardships that have the potential to wreck their homes, joy, and peace. People want to take away their livelihood, food, and even lives. Yet, more than removing these struggles, persecuted pastors cry out for a vibrant prayer life. They want a faith that is strong enough to allow them to die for Jesus.

The reality of that kind of strength sunk in for Ingram when a persecuted pastor told him the story of a 17-year-old whose vibrant life with Christ made him willing to die rather than deny his Savior.

Following Christ even unto death

ISIS was sweeping through this particular area, killing non-Muslims. A Muslim family offered to take in their Christian neighbor’s 17-year-old son, give him a Muslim name, and say he was their child. This would save his life. His mother was grateful and excited and told her son about his opportunity to live.

But Ingram shares, “He says, ‘Well mom, I think the Bible is clear if I deny Jesus before men, he will deny me before the Father in heaven and I won’t do that.’

“And ISIS came through, and I’m sorry if this is a bit graphic, but they shot him in the head before his mother and his sister.

“And he [the pastor] said, it actually galvanized the Church and he said, ‘We in our country used to talk about the commitment are you willing to live for Christ?’ And he said, ‘Now it’s changed in our day. Now the question we ask is are you really willing to die for Christ?’ And a 17-year-old boy with great faith has kind of led the way.”

Helping those on the frontlines

In places where trusting Jesus could mean immediate death, those who stand strong encourage persecuted pastors, churches, and individuals. But they need more.

(Courtesy of Chris Yarzab on Flickr https://goo.gl/8mDt5z)

The frontlines are hard. Persecuted Christians are often short on resources, but facing constant attack. They need to be reminded that they are not alone in their fight.

To many in the US, the call is not to stand against great trials. Instead, we must support those under attack.

Ingram says, “Those of us that are the haves, the Bible is really, really clear. Those of us with time and energy and resources and money and, in some cases, knowledge and training– we have more than just a moral obligation, it’s a mandate from Jesus to help.”

As the body of Christ, we need to stand up and use the resources God has provided to further His word and support the Persecuted Church.

Ingram is using his platform as a teacher and pastor to help refuel persecuted pastors for battle, but the whole Church needs to be involved.

Get involved

Talk with your pastor today about how your church can help support persecuted believers around the world.

Pray that God would strengthen the faith, marriages, and families of persecuted pastors so they can continue to teach His truth to a desperate world.

Look for opportunities to share your resources and gifts with those currently on the frontlines.

Whatever you can do, do. In the body of Christ, each job is important, but what an extra joy it is to encourage those facing trials every day. As Ingram says, “I can’t believe I had the honor and privilege to get to serve them.”