One time during our economics
class, our instructor began telling the story of his life. One part of it was
the death of her sister—on the dawn of that unfaithful day, she chose to cut
off her life and escape from the huge wall of problems facing her.
The story of her sister was in fact
just one of the million worldwide suicide incidents that happen each year. Most
of these cases are triggered by severe depression, condemnation, issues of
existence, and of course, hopelessness. And believe it or not, these feelings
happen to us most of the time. There are points in our life when it seems like
there’s no way out; when everything seems to fall out of control; when the
weight is too heavy and you chose to say “Alright, I give up!”
One
biblical scene helped me contemplate about how to deal with dead ends in a
Christian perspective—Moses and Israelites crossing the Red Sea. When the
Israelites thought they were completely free from the slavery of the Egyptian
Pharaoh, God made a slight twist! “The
Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh King of Egypt, so then he pursued the
Israelites, who were marching out boldly. (Exodus 14:8) Then there came the
great chase, until Moses and his people were unable to advance because the wide
expanse of the Red Sea loomed in front of them. Guess what? The Israelites
started to feel hopeless and began grumbling at Moses and God. (v. 11-14)
