Snapped! Facing Life's Breaking Points

 

 

I am by nature a curious person.  I can sit for a long time in an airport and just observe people.  I am intrigued by how people think, why we think the way we do,  and the results of our thinking.  Some call that analytical, but either term, that is me. So when things happen that makes no sense to me, it makes me THINK.

 

Along with this thinking issue, I also day dream and have conversations with people, when they are no where around.  I often have to remind myself that I am talking to myself and not to a person.  I have apologized to people, encouraged them, told them off and a lot more, all in the privacy of my own mind.   They used to say 'you are crazy if you talk to yourself', I have found you can remain sane if you have the right talk.

 

The other day I had a daydream/conversation with Cleveland Shooter.  It was reminiscent of conversations I have had with some of the 40 pen pals I visited when I worked in prison ministry years ago.  I was guarded but not scared as I spoke.   I imagined seeing him on the streets of Houston. In my mind, he entered a fast food joint and I followed him.  Here is my private account of how it went:  

 

 THE ENCOUNTER

 

"I approached him knowing he was the man.  I tried to be inconspicuous so no one else would panic and call the cops.  There was a  hat on and his head and his beard seemed a bit shorter, but I knew it was him.  I slid onto the bench in the back of the restaurant where he was about to eat his sandwich.  As I sat down I said. "Hey, how are you...do you mind if I sit here?" Without waiting for an answer, I put my purse down and sat. As he looked up at me, he also reached  towards his side pocket.  I was scared, but  acted like he expected me, I knew if there was a hint of recognition in my face, I would miss the opportunity I came for.   After I sat and began munching on my sandwich, he eased off his side.  For a moment, he didn't say anything and neither did I.  Eventually I looked at him and said  "Can I ask you a question?"  Staring at me from tired eyes, he nodded his head.   I continued.  "So, I know  who you are... that is not why I am here, I just have to ask you one simple question... what on earth did they do that caused you to snap?" 

 

 That is about where my story ends.  It has to, because I can't answer what I don't know.  Society and our news media will try, but the man who can answer is no longer here to give insight.  An innocent life is already lost, fear has had it's day, hurt has already grown, forgiveness already given, questions... never answered.   If this Daydream encounter actually  happened, I think there are a number of answers I could have heard.  Answers I hear everyday, things you probably hear every day too.  

 

BROKENNESS

 

 My finances are jacked up, my love life is over, SNAP! I have done something that is now exposed, I don't know what I am going to do about tomorrow, I am angry,  SNAP!  I have been a victim of abuse, verbal, physical, mental.  My heart hurts for losses I have experienced, SNAP! I was raised without one or both or my parents, I still have pain from an encounter years ago. SNAP!   I am just MAD today. This world has less to offer me, I don't trust people, someone I loved betrayed me, this keeps happening to me, What is wrong with me? with them? SNAP! I was laid off my job after working my butt off for an ungrateful employer, now  I'm facing homelessness. Too many people need me, I am spent. If one more person calls me for help,  SNAP!  This world has gotten more racist, full of fear and terrorism, I am angry, get them before they get me, SNAP!  God is not hearing my prayers, life holds nothing for me, so why should anyone else be happy?  SNAP!

 

 BREAKING POINTS

I really can't imagine what the answer would be that could justify killing or hurting someone.  In this same week I also heard the story of a young mother who filmed herself abusing her baby in his car seat.  She recorded it to send to his father- who she was mad at.  The cries of the baby was heart retching.  In another incident a young man threatening to kill his girlfriend's family because she wouldn't leave him alone.  This is normal news now.  Life seems to be getting harder, more people are reaching breaking points and they BREAK.  What is it that causes people to get to the point that they snap?  There are others who have endured similar situations, and they are still here; fighting to survive every day, trying to be their best even though things may be stack against them. There has to be an inward resolve that helps people keep trying without hurting others.  There is hope that can be given to someone who is near their breaking point.

 

NOTHING NEW

First of all, we have to understand that there is nothing new under the sun.  The bible tells us that there is also no temptation or trial that you go through that is uncommon.  Meaning, someone else is, or has dealt with what you are experiencing.   When we are in it, that seems impossible to believe because our trials are personal to us.  We feel it, it is not the plot to a movie or a good book, it is REAL.  We cry real tears, feel real anxiety, suffer real hurt or loss, and have real thoughts of ending it one way or the other.  

 

If you are hurting, there is help out there.  Someone has gone through what you are experiencing and help is near by.  There are organizations that specialize in hurting people, churches that have a hand out to hurting people.  God will not allow you to go through more than you can bear.  So as bad as it sounds, as bad as it feels, you can make it.  It does not mean that God is putting stuff on you to see if you can handle it, you have an enemy who is TRYING to break you.  If he succeeds, the world loses someone who can help others past their breaking point, someone who has yet to fulfill the very reason they were born. 

You owe yourself the chance to get help. Not every one can sit in a group to get help, but help is out there.  Not every one will go to a rehab.  With the same resolve that can be used to hurt yourself or others, resolve to get help for yourself or those hurting around you.

 

 

 

 

 

DON'T BREAK, BEND

When we don't get help with life's issues, we are subject to break.  When we get help, what could have been a bad break, is a bend.  The difference in breaking and bending is being able to move with the things that hit you.   It also involves having a strong connection with others and with God.

 

"A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken."   Ecc 4:12

If you are hurting to the breaking point, Don't SNAP!  You may be pulled by the cares of this world, but you are not alone.  There really is strength in numbers.  Connect with God and with others who can hold on with you, who can help you; don't try to do it alone.  If you find your circle of friends is to frayed to help, find help outside of it.   In the midst of it all, be sure God has been invited to that circle.  That is where the ability to bend comes, the grace to move with what happens in life, the ability to have joy even when things are not the best.... and He promises to work all your pain and struggle for good.  Don't let life break you, not just because of the lives that are hurt by your brokenness, but because you too are worth it. 

 

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