Prayer for Comfort

 

A witnessed something jarring this afternoon. A man clinging to a fence overlooking a highway, had set his mind on jumping to the interstate below. I passed by in the turning lane and the guy in the F150 put on his hazards and got out. He signaled to me that he was going to talk to this guy as another man had found his way on the walkway over the overpass. A small crowd formed on the other side of the fence intent on helping this man. I had just picked up a customer at Quik Trip, with Uber, and I considered getting out as well. I opted to keep going because it seemed enough people were helping out. I did the best thing I know how to do at that moment, pray. The passenger in back noticed the jumper too. Our conversation on the military (we are both veterans) stopped at that moment and for about a minute the situation felt very tense.

 I never found out what happened. As I drove off a small crowd had gathered but I never heard another word. I prayed under my breath for the next few minutes for the man to have a change of heart.I checked the news later to see if there were stories about Tulsa closing the highway or a man threatening to kill himself. Thankfully nothing came up after a quick search.

Even without knowing the result I’m touched by a few things. The gentleman who stopped his truck and hopped out to help, no hesitation in him. Another shirtless passerby who looked like he might be homeless himself, appeared to be talking the guy down. Others got out of their cars as well. I saw one asshole on a motorcycle who took his helmet off to say “Jump Man!” I'm pretty sure I saw a few people taking pictures or video with their phones, so callous. The best and worst of humanity summed up in one incident, heaven and hell battling for the soul of this man, who felt the need to end his life. Satan drove this guy to contemplated suicide, through a failed relationship, an addiction or just a loss of zeal for life. Possibly this man was off his meds and struggled with Schizophrenia or Depression. We should not be confused that the enemy comes to “steal, kill and destroy” and uses every tool to that end.

I resumed my conversation with the passenger in the back, both of us sharing a little bit of ourselves and our experiences in the military. My heart wasn’t in the conversing. Thoughts of the near jumper standing on that ledge with his feet halfway over the edge and his fingers white knuckling the fence still penetrated my head. Should I have gotten out and talked to him? Prayer is the most powerful tool in any event, but it still makes me wonder if I should have done more.  

Help me to learn from the incident Lord and not be fearful or indecisive in the face of certain trouble. I guess a part of my rethinking of the incident is personality. Some people look inward assuming they should have done more, been more or said more. Writers break down their actions into thoughts, after the fact, and pick the thoughts up like pieces of fruit to be inspected for quality and consistency. It's exhausting but it's how I've been trained, journal the incident and figure out what went wrong. 

Life is sacred. Evil is real. The earth is the Lords but Satan controls it and twists the minds of men to do his bidding. Suicide is rooted in a lie that we aren’t enough. Combatting the powers in this earth demands a commitment to God’s kingdom. I’m certainly more aware of it every day and I don’t believe I passed by that bridge on accident. But with every close call I’m reminded of the importance of being rooted in Christ.
“For though we walk in the flesh we do not war according to the flesh.” (2 Corinthians 10:4”)

Sometimes there is no good answer to a bad situation. Prayer is both offense and defense in the face of certain trouble. Even for those that look inward first, God is always there and always active.