"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
After returning from the Dominican Republic my close friends and I felt led to start a Bible study in which we could continue to grow in our faith together and learn more about whom Jesus is and what God has in store for our lives. This past Saturday we started a book called, The Lies Young Women Believe. We are not too far into the book yet, but my eyes have already been opened to the evil seeds and lies Satan has planted in my life in order to throw me off the path of righteousness.
By definition, a lie is a false statement with deliberate intent to deceive. A lie is an impostor of the truth and uneasily detected because they are so well camouflaged by the deceiver. In Genesis, Satan targeted Eve with his lies. He wanted for her to turn her back on God, to reject His truth and to believe his carefully crafted lies, and she did. Unfortunately, those happen to be Satan’s exact intentions for each and every person who is striving towards the abundant life.
My sophomore year of high school, there was a boy in my grade who believed those lies to the full extent to which the deceiver intended. Unfortunately, he took his own life. This left his close friends, my class and my school in shambles. Two years later, most of us thought the terror was over, only to wake up one morning to another suicide in our community. As well as this suicide, there have also been many attempted suicides recently by children as young as 13. Thirteen years old. Current statistics say that suicide the third leading cause of death for those aged 15 to 24.
I come to you with a heavy heart and request for prayer. For the teenagers who did not give themselves a chance to see what a beautiful life God had for them, who submitted to Satan’s lies and felt so hopeless they saw death as the only option. My heart breaks over and over again for the victims, and their families and friends and loved ones. As much as my heart breaks, I know that God’s breaks even more.
Back to Bible study on Saturday, we talked about the recent suicides in our community and prayed for peace and restoration for those around us that are suffering. Please join us in praying for the students, families, teachers and members of the Pine-Richland community in your prayers, as suicide seems to be spreading like a contagious disease. Pray for the deceived that God will overcome the lies and burdens they are carrying and His light will shine and they will be encompassed by His unfathomable love. Pray for the teachers who interact and connect with students every day, give them courage to reach out to the students. Pray for administration as they deal with the aftermath of these horrific events. Pray for the parents, brothers and sisters, and friends and the people who are suffering from the loss of a loved one to such a tragic death.
I pray that God uses my friends and I to be the light in a dark place. I believe in hope. I believe in coming together to support those around us who are suffering under the weight of Satan lies. I pray for the strength and courage to live a righteous life as I walk the halls of my high school.
"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light." Ephesians 5:8
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