Turning the Corner
Toni Babcock
A pastor I once knew told the story of a friend who took his life and no one saw it coming.
It’s the sad testimony of many who’ve lost someone they knew and loved, who’ve later said “I never saw it coming.”
It’s also a testament to how successful people are at shielding their pain from others — even when help is right around the corner.
As happened in this case, suicide seemed the only option.
Why was it so difficult for this man to choose a better way?
Why was it so difficult for this man to choose a better way?
The pastor felt he had painted himself into a corner — and that was the paralyzing problem.
The shame was too great.
For him there was only one way out.
Have you ever felt this way?
Have you ever felt this way?
Suicidal despair can happen to any one of us through a series of unfortunate choices, or failed attempts to be what we feel we ought to be, or by erecting constructs to protect ourselves from judgment until we begin to crack under the strain
— like when we engage in elaborate schemes to hide an addiction, or avoid emotional pain by becoming a workaholic, a socialite, or a person of fame.
But there is hope around the corner.
There’s a bridge to Jesus and real hope when we stop trying to be our own fixers and cast our broken selves on Him
There’s a bridge to Jesus and real hope when we stop trying to be our own fixers and cast our broken selves on Him
— when we stop yielding to the lies of the enemy. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He said
“All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them…” “A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance,” (John 10:8,10).
Toni M. Babcock is author of Reflections from the Heart. Contact
Toni M. Babcock is author of Reflections from the Heart. Contact
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