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My Friend’s Suicide and My Faith

(Isaiah 53:6, John 10:11-16)

Mari Ikeda

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(Isaiah 53:6)
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

(John 10)
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. …14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father —and I lay down my life for the sheep. 

16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

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Summary

I lost a close friend to suicide when we were 16 years old. I painfully realized how insensitive and helpless I was, and at the same time I wondered if there was any way to prevent her from dying. Is there somewhere a solid basis for believing that there is still hope, even if we are exhausted of living? If I couldn’t find that, I didn’t know myself what I should aim to live for. And Jesus became the reason why I felt I was worth living for and the purpose of living.

For Discussion

Tell each other the story of how you each met Jesus.