3. Suicide and Self-Harm - Your Life is Still Worth Living

Your life is still worth living: This pain won't last forever

It's OK to be at rock bottom. But don't give in to the lies. Your life isn't over. God has great things planned for you.

The most insidious thing about depression and hopelessness is the way they lie to you and then take away your means to prove them wrong. Depression breaks into your brain, rewires all the logic signals to send only static, and then whispers: "You're a failure, a burden. Give up. No one would miss you." And even though you'd usually know that those are lies, the logic sensors are on static, and little by little, you start to think depression's voice is the only one out there. But it's not. You are amazing. Even though you can't see it right now.

It's OK that you can't hear the deafening sound of how much your friends and family love you. That's depression's problem, not yours. It's not your fault that you can't see how many great things God has in store for you. Depression is hiding those possibilities. But just because you can't see the good things doesn't mean they're gone. Hopeful things are all around you just outside your field of view. Believe in them. Have faith in what you can't see. And then fight for the life that you'll find on the other side of this darkness. Go to treatment for depression. Reach out to your friends. There's too much beauty that you'd miss if your life ended now. You are valuable; you are loved; you are the one and only child of God who can fulfill his beautiful purpose for you. This isn't the end.

When Joseph's brothers threw him into an empty well, he hit literal rock bottom. He was stuck in the dark, surrounded by stone walls, and with people who wanted to kill him waiting at the top. He had every right to feel like his life was over, but he kept on living. Three more times, it looked like his life was over. He lost his freedom and was sent to a foreign country as a slave. He started to build the best life he could in his new country, but then he was framed for a crime and sent to jail. He won over the King's chief butler and got a promise that the King would hear his story, but the butler broke his word. Finally, Joseph realized that, for the fourth time in his life, he was trapped with no options and no way out. It was a time when most people would feel like giving up.

But Joseph kept on living. He couldn't see any way things could get better, and he didn't know how long he could hang on in a tiny jail for temporary prisoners. But he believed that there was a way out even though he could see it. And there was. In one night, through miracles Joseph had only ever dreamed about, he was pardoned, set free, and promoted to royalty. And because of Joseph's position of power, the children of Israel survived a terrible famine.

Because Joseph chose to live, the Israelites, God's chosen people, were saved from extinction. Think of the stories in the Bible –the blessings, the struggles, and the salvation that came to God's people through history. Most of those incredible adventures happened because one young man believed in something he couldn't see. Joseph's life meant more than he ever could have known.

Life is a gift. And even if you can't see the good right now, it's out there. You might be at rock bottom, but you can find your way back into the light. Reach out for treatment. Take it one step at a time. Fight for your life, and live to see the blessings God has for you. You're never alone.