Churchill realized that both success and failure are not important.  It’s how we deal with those things with courage.  So often, we don’t know what’s going on in someone’s mind.  I strongly believe part of the problem is the isolation we’ve created through technology.

Our emotions are exhibited by silly emojis, but do they really say how we feel?  Even in face to face contact, we tend to hide our feelings behind a mask.  We revert to putting on our “happy” face, without revealing the deep, dark, secrets which eat away at us.  We don’t want to bring others down with us, so we subdue our inner self and hide in a make believe world.

Soon that world bubbles to the surface and we’re stunned when someone takes their own life. In the past week, we’ve lost two celebrities to suicide.  Both of these people were seen as happy with their lives. They’d achieved success and were living the good life.  At least that was the picture they’d painted of their existence.

What leads someone to feel so hopeless – so helpless – to take their own life?  I admit, I’ve felt the world would be a better place if I weren’t in it.  When we’re at the lowest point in our lives, suicide might seem like the only solution.

Life is a gift.  It comes packaged in the form of a tiny body, with ten fingers and ten toes.  It’s ruddy appearance isn’t so great to begin with, but when it gets cleaned up and tucked into the waiting arms of its mom, it becomes beautiful.  As that life progresses, it takes different twists and turns. This has an impact on future development. When reaches the end, it comes so naturally – the end which God intended for it.  All the stuff in the middle is up to us – making smart choices, forming solid relationships, finding something to lean on when things aren’t going well and establishing an existence of success with failures along the way.

We have no control over our birth or death.  There’s a reason for that.  God has already mapped out our lives.  He wants us to succeed and be happy.  He has a special place in His heart for each of us, yet He’s given us free will to follow our own path.  His love for His creation will never die.  He proved that by providing for our most important need – our salvation!