This Type of Sadness Can Be Dangerous

Nehemiah 2:2-3
(2) so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”
(3) I was very much afraid, but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire? ”

Contemporary English Version
So the king said, “Why do you look so sad? You’re not sick. Something must be bothering you.” Even though I was frightened,

New Living Translation
So the king asked me, “Why are you looking so sad? You don’t look sick to me. You must be deeply troubled.” Then I was terrified,

Nehemiah worked for king Artaxerxes as a cupbearer. He frequently served before the king. Nehemiah was among the captives serving in this foreign land. Nehemiah and others had been here for seventy years as a punishment for sin.

Nehemiah Chapter one tells us that Nehemiah had received reports that some captives had returned to Jerusalem and the place was in a terrible sorry state. The news from Jerusalem disturbed Nehemiah. He felt helpless since he was a captive and couldn’t travel without permission. He wished he was in Jerusalem to help fix the place.

With these concerns eating him up, he continued with his duties before this foreign king. As he went in to serve the king, the king noticed that Nehemiah was stressed over something. Something was making Nehemiah sad. The king knew that it was not sickness. The king concluded it must be a serious matter. This type of sadness can be dangerous!

We must congratulate the king for such a life-saving observation. Many people interacted with Nehemiah at home and at work, but only the king was bothered to know if Nehemiah was sick or whether he had other stresses. If we made such observations, some suicides would be preventable.

The king knew that Nehemiah was not sick. What a cordial relationship! Do you know the health status of your workers? Do you know if they are stressed? Are you concerned about what stresses them? This king is worth emulating in many ways. This king bothered to know what was troubling his very junior slave servant. He was red to know why his servant was sad. This type of sadness can be dangerous!

This king did not dismiss this as a mood swing short-term problem. The king gave the problem the attention it deserved. The king went out of his way to show care and concern for a junior insignificant worker.

By the mercies of God, show concern for people. Love people enough to know their welfare. Love people enough to know when their. Sadness points to psychiatric challenges. This sadness can be dangerous!

Check on your colleagues, family members, and fellow workers. Check on your relatives and friends. Talk to them. Find out the source of their sadness. Some sadness is normal and nonthreatening. Other sadness can be depressing and even life-threatening. This sadness can be dangerous!

When challenges come we do get sad. But when the sadness is prolonged it should concern us. When sadness is prolonged it means the issues are not resolved. When a person is sad, it means that their mind is worried and unhappy. This sadness can be dangerous!

Suicide is caused by hopelessness and loneliness combined. Sadness means that there is an unresolved issue. If that stays for long it may turn into hopelessness. When people are hopeless and we do not show concern, the hopelessness gets combined with loneliness and suicide becomes very attractive and tempting. If there is no hope and no one cares about me, the next best option is to exit life. This is always a wrong conclusion but that is what happens and is felt by some of those who end or attempt to end their life.

If you feel sad, do not wait for the feeling to get worse, share the concern with a friend or responsible persons such as counselors or religious leaders. It is not a sign of weakness to seek help, it is a sign of responsibility and self-awareness. seek help. When Nehemiah explained his problem to the king, he was helped, yet he didn’t know he could be helped. Help is always available even when you think no help is available. You may think no one cares and like Nehemiah soon discover that the king you least expected to care, actually cares.

If you think it’s hopeless, give it one more try after prayers and it will work. If you think you are lonely and no one cares, it is because you have not discovered that some people so close are so caring and you don’t know. The sadness mentioned in our text today is dangerous, address it as soon as possible.

Show concern, for people. Go beyond small talk niceties. Find out how they slept and what they ate among other concerns. That will save some from sinking into irreversible mental sickness. May God help us to overcome this kind of sadness. May God help us to show concern for the people around us daily, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

Read more on the Biblical position about suicide by clicking this link which will also lead you to a very rich video on this same topic. Click this link Death By Suicide, Hell-bound or Heaven-Bound?

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