Suicide and the God Who Is Close — by David Fox
Some conversations are hard to start. This one is necessary.
Suicide and the God Who Is Close is a 10-page pastoral tract written for the people sitting in our homes, our classrooms, and our church pews who are carrying more than anyone knows. It's also written for the parents, friends, and ministers who love them and don't always know what to say.
Author [First Name] Fox opens with a story he lived — a sixteen-year-old boy, an ordinary dinner, a joke at the table, and a family that never fully recovered. It's a quiet, devastating opener that immediately signals this isn't a clinical discussion. It's a human one.
From there, the tract works through four biblical truths for anyone in a dark place:
Hopelessness is a lie. Suicidal thinking insists nothing will ever change. But that's not God's voice — and this tract makes that distinction clearly and gently.
God is close to the brokenhearted. Not the strong. Not the ones who have it together. The brokenhearted. Psalm 34:18 lands differently when someone is actually broken.
Your life is sacred, even when it feels empty. Worth doesn't disappear with depression. Value doesn't shrink on the worst days. Job asked why he was ever born — and God didn't declare him worthless.
Jesus understands. Not theoretically. From the inside. The Gethsemane passages hit hard here — sweat like drops of blood, soul sorrowful to the point of death. He's not distant from this kind of pain.
The tract closes with a direct word to the struggling, a reminder to parents and grandparents to pay attention and ask hard questions, and a clear reference to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
This isn't a heavy theological treatise. It's a tract you can hand to someone who is hurting, leave in a waiting room, or use as the foundation for a congregation-wide conversation about mental health and faith.
This tract is a strong fit for:
- Congregations wanting to address mental health from a biblical perspective
- Youth ministry and teen Bible classes
- Grief support and survivor care ministry
- Hospital, counseling, or crisis care settings
- Personal outreach to struggling friends or family members
- Ministers and elders needing a resource to share quickly
Product Details:
- Author: [First Name] Fox
- Publisher: Spiritbuilding Publishers
- Format: Printed Tract
- Page Count: 10 pages
- Key Scriptures: John 10:10; 2 Corinthians 4:8–9; Psalm 34:18; Genesis 1:26; Psalm 139:14; Matthew 26:38; Luke 22:44; Hebrews 4:15; Romans 8:31; Matthew 11:28
- Topics: Suicide prevention, mental health, hope, depression, grief, God's nearness, sacred worth, Jesus' suffering
- Crisis Resource Included: Yes — 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
- Audience: Adults, teens, ministers, counselors, caregivers
- Use: Individual, small group, outreach, hospital ministry