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How much can we handle?

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Daily Miracle

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If God doesn't give us more than we can handle, why are there so many suicides? Granted, there are probably more non-Christians committing or attempting suicide, but there are still Christians involved in these acts.

Is it that they only "think" they can't handle life anymore, and they are forgetting that God won't give them more than they can handle? I know someone that is a non-believer, and I love her like a sister, but she "hates people" in general. She thinks the world is against her and that all people that don't share her views are evil, she takes refuge in animal rescue because she thinks animals are the only things that appreciate her.

She is very much against Christianity, so I'm tip-toeing around her. Since I'm new to all of this, I don't want to offend her and scare her off...but I need to understand the issue of God and suicide so I can gradually change her views. Part of the problem is she thinks Christians are hypocrites, and I can appreciate her stand on this because I was in her shoes not too long ago. Now that I see we are all in different levels of our faith, and we all work with different struggles, I'm hoping "good" radiates off of me so she can see there's really a new world when you take God into your heart.

This is a person that is generally a good person, but she's so angry at everything that doesn't go her way. For now, I need to know more about why it's better to go on rather than contemplate suicide.
 

JesusInMyHeart

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Trusting God is about believing and relying upon God's promised provision and power when one's life becomes uncomfortable and less secure. Trusting God is about believing that, somehow, the Savior will enable us to prevail when the complexities and demands of our daily living become overwhelming and threatening. Trusting God demands conviction and courage.

One of the reasons some find it difficult to trust the Lord is because on some deep level they wrestle with the fact that God so often allows struggle and hardship into our lives, in the first place. If God is all God is said to be, then why does God allow some of the worst things to happen to some of the best people? If God is all-loving and if God truly cares, then why is there so much sickness and suffering in our world today? Why is there so much strife and dying in our nation and throughout every human society? If God is all God is said to be, many are still wondering and asking, then why must we have to contend with so much pain? Another reason for distrust rests in our human tendency to more often rely upon ourselves.

God in Christ and now through the Spirit is always with us, always willing and able to save. Yet instead of turning to and relying upon the only One who was able to make a real difference in their situation, those disciples of old, first, turned to their own acquired knowledge and skills in their effort to survive.

Real and genuine and life-saving trust in God requires that we turn ourselves and our circumstances over to the Savior, that we trust God to do what we cannot accomplish, but what God most certainly can.

Yes, in this life there will be troubles, challenges and some measure of hardship for each of us to face. Yet, we ought not to forget that the God we claim to serve still has a way of settling, with God's presence and sometimes with but a word, the restless anxieties within our minds and hearts. Yes, some of what we have to, and shall again have to endure in this life will shake us to our very core. Yet, we should never forget our Savior or fail to turn to Jesus for all that we need.

Sometimes it will seem as if we are losing, or perhaps have already lost the battle. But the promise already given and the promise already proven, time and again, is that the One who both loves us and knows exactly what we are going through will never leave, nor forsake, nor allow us to be utterly destroyed by the struggle!

Even before the storms of our lives strike, God in Christ and through the Spirit is with us. When our circumstance become threatening and swell beyond all control, our Savior is still able to see us through, to make our way through, and lead us safely to the other shore. However desperate and hopeless our situations may sometimes appear, the One whose only desire and purpose is to save is, in the end, always trustworthy! We can, even when we don't know why or how we can trust God to do for us what only the Lord can.

Trusting in God means believing that the Savior is yet working in and on your behalf; it means knowing that somehow the Lord will bring you through. And there is a calmness, there is confidence and renewed hope that comes with this kind of faith.
 
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Daily Miracle

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I have guilt to overcome, because as a Christian, I know I should tell her to stop putting God down, and stop saying such horrible things about God...but I know if I do, I'll send her running. While I don't tell her to stop, I say things like, "now I don't believe that's true." The last thing I want her to do is get a bad taste in her mouth by thinking I'm judging her like everyone else does. This is a woman that is full of tattoos, has a potty mouth that would put a sailor to shame, and looks like a cheap hooker...but she's married, doesn't drink, doesn't do drugs, is generous to her friends, completely and bluntly honest, etc. If "you can't judge a book by it's cover" ever applied to anyone, it's her!

The only reason she doesn't believe in God is because she blames everything bad on Him. I have to keep reminding her there's a lot of good around us, but we have to SEE it to appreciate it.

Can someone that doesn't accept God be prayed for, or does God only bless those that accept Him? I know God can help her, but I'm having a very hard time figuring out how to teach her more about Him so she wants to see how things can be much better for her.
 
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Jack_Racz

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Always pray for those that have yet to find their way to the Lord. And stand up for what you believe, ask her why she puts the Lord down, then talk to her and show why He is sooo awesome.
 
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JesusInMyHeart

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In spite of the insults, you are to be wise.

Be patient - you are to bare with the unbeliever.

Know when not to speak. It is so often the best thing to simply listen to a person and wait for a better opportunity.

Part of having answers means being wise. Proverbs, as well as the rest of Scripture, is the only source of true wisdom. With wisdom you will be properly be able to answer in God's right timing.

And don't forget, in your wisdom and grace toward them, pray for this person:

They need to be granted the faith that God gives (John 6:28ff)
They need to be granted the repentance that God gives (2 Tim. 2:25).
They need to be granted the belief that God gives (Phil. 1:29).
You can make a difference in your prayers (James 5:16).

We are to pray. Like Paul, we are to pray without ceasing. Like Jesus, we are to pray, with compassion in our hearts. Like Moses, we are to stand before God, knowing that He is powerful to accomplish all that we ask for. God is able to accomplish much more than all we can ever say or think.

In prayer for this person, pray for God to forgive her sins. Pray for God to open her heart. Pray for God to save her so that she will get to know His love. Pray for God's words to come out of her mouth. Pray for God's help in every way for this person. Continue in prayer daily for this person. All is in God's timing. Let God work within her whole being.

She has lots of goodness within her already. She has a generous heart. Lift it all to God in prayer.
 
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Daily Miracle

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I feel more inspired already, thank you.

I know she has the door shut on this topic to anyone but me. Even though she's only humoring me because she's my best friend, knowing the door is open a little makes me feel like it's my responsibility to share God with her in a loving way that she can accept.

Thank you for all your help. I will have more strength in my prayers for her now that I know they can help.
 
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thereselittleflower

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Prayer is the key . . .. it is not your mere words that will convince her, but your life, your love, your kndness . .

Prayer provides a conduit of God's Grace to her soul, to remove what hinders and blinds . . .

Right now she can hardly pray for herself, so other's prayers for her do for her what she cannot do for herself . .

It is not so much important that you know exactly how to answer her questions, to know how to give an answer that will remove her doubt . .

It is more important for you to BE Jesus to her . . .


Jesus didn't say we wouldn't be given more than we could bear in and of our own strength, but we could bear it with His help . .

But we have free will, and He will not make us accept His help . .. some people simply give up . . . . Does that mean that God was not extending His hand towards them to help them?


There is some hurt deep inside your firend . . pray for God to bring her healing and to show Himself to her . .


Peace in Him!
 
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