This week I learned about another veteran who took their life while sitting in front a VA facility. It beyond a crisis now. While this is seen as a veteran suicide crisis, it has become an unmitigated mental health disaster plaguing military veterans. There are different kinds of support and services available, but I believe the ultimate answer lies in turning to God who is our deepest source of healing and hope. For those who have worn the uniform—He is their help in a time a trouble.

You need to understand this because veteran suicide is not a statistic; it’s a spiritual, emotional, relational, and societal emergency.

When we see the roots more clearly, we can respond more wisely. When we know what help exists, we can guide others toward it. And when we understand God’s heart for the broken, we can point to the only hope that reaches deeper than trauma: His healing presence.

Unfortunately, many veterans and families carry this pain alone. Shame, isolation, and misunderstanding keep them silent. Churches often don’t know how to respond. Communities underappreciate the weight of military service. And in the shadows of that silence, despair grows.

Important note:
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger or considering suicide, please seek help right now.
In the U.S., you can dial 988 and press 1 for the Veterans Crisis Line, or text 838255.
Help is available. You do not have to walk this alone.

The #1 Reason: Invisible Wounds Collide with Isolation

Many veterans carry invisible wounds—moral injury, trauma, survivor’s guilt, identity loss—that the world rarely sees. When those wounds are combined with isolation, the heart begins to whisper lies:

“No one understands.”
“I’m a burden.”
“It would be easier if I weren’t here.”

These lies grow louder when veterans feel cut off from purpose, connection, and hope.

Here are other reasons so many veterans struggle to the point of suicidal thoughts:

• #1: Loss of identity and mission.
  In uniform, there is purpose, structure, and brotherhood. Transition to civilian life can feel like going from high definition to static.

• #2: Unprocessed trauma and moral injury.
  Memories—what was seen, done, or lost—can trigger shame, nightmares, and emotional numbness.

• #3: Stigma around asking for help.
  The “suck it up and drive on” mentality that works in combat works against healing at home.

• #4: Relationship breakdown.
  Marital strain, family tension, and feeling misunderstood amplify loneliness.

• #5: Spiritual confusion or anger at God.
  “Where was God when…?” becomes an unspoken barrier to faith and healing.

Yet even in this darkness, God has not abandoned veterans. There are practical supports, loving communities, and above all, a Savior who understands pain, sacrifice, and suffering more than anyone.

Here’s how, step by step:

Step 1: Name the Crisis and Break the Silence

This first step matters because you cannot heal what you refuse to acknowledge.

Veteran suicide is not just “their problem”—it’s our problem. Families, churches, communities, and leaders must be willing to say the words and face the reality.

What to do:

• Acknowledge the weight.
  In sermons, small groups, conversations: say “veteran suicide” out loud. Create space where it’s not taboo.

• Learn, don’t assume.
  Listen to veterans’ stories with compassion, not quick fixes. Ask, “What has been hardest since you came home?”

• Recognize warning signs.
  Withdrawal, hopeless talk, giving away possessions, increased drinking, reckless behavior, expressions like “everyone would be better off without me.”

• Normalize asking direct questions.
  “Have you been having thoughts about wanting to die?” doesn’t plant ideas; it opens a life-saving conversation.

How leaders often go wrong at this step:

• Using clichés instead of listening.

• Minimizing pain with “at least you made it home.”

• Avoiding hard conversations out of discomfort.

A faithful alternative:

Meet this crisis with honesty and compassion. Jesus never avoided wounded people; He moved toward them.

Step 2: Reach for the Resources God Has Already Provided

Now, in this second step, many go wrong by either over-spiritualizing (“just pray more”) or over-medicalizing (“just take meds”) without seeing that God often works through people, systems, and support as instruments of His care.

There are real, practical services designed to support veterans:

• Crisis Support

  • Veterans Crisis Line (U.S.): Dial 988, then press 1, or text 838255.

  • Local emergency rooms or law enforcement when imminent danger is present.

• Clinical and Counseling Support

  • VA mental health services (therapy, counseling, medication management).

  • Vet Centers (often more informal, offering counseling and group support).

  • Trauma-informed Christian counselors who understand faith and service.

• Peer and Community Support

  • Veteran service organizations (VFW, American Legion, Team RWB, etc.).

  • Faith-based veteran ministries and small groups.

  • Peer-to-peer support groups where veterans talk freely with each other.

• Practical Supports

  • Financial assistance, housing programs, job placement services.

  • Nonprofits focused on transition, purpose, and entrepreneurship.

Why this matters:

• Using these resources is not a lack of faith; it’s often an expression of faith—receiving the help God has provided.

• Isolation loses power when community, counseling, and connection step in.

What to avoid:

• Telling a veteran: “You just need to pray more” while ignoring their need for counseling, detox, or crisis intervention.

• Assuming that because services exist, people will automatically use them.
  Most need help navigating the system.

Faithful action:

Be the kind of friend, pastor, or leader who says:

“You don’t have to do this alone.
I’ll walk with you.
Let’s call together.
Let’s find a counselor together.
Let’s show up together.”

Step 3: Turn to God for Deeper Healing and Lasting Hope

In this first sentence of Step 3, I want to motivate you: there is a level of healing that therapy, medication, and community can support—but only God can complete.

Services can stabilize.
Community can surround.
Medication can regulate.
But only God can restore a soul.

Veteran suicide is not just a mental health issue—it is also a heart and hope issue.

What this step really is:

• Turning from self-reliance to God-dependence.

• Allowing God to speak into shame, regret, guilt, and grief.

• Receiving His forgiveness, love, purpose, and presence.

Core truths veterans need to hear:

• You are not beyond redemption.
  There is no battlefield, no memory, no regret that Christ’s blood cannot reach.

• Your worth is not your record.
  It’s rooted in being made in God’s image and loved by Him.

• You are not alone in your suffering.
  Jesus was “a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.” He understands pain, loss, betrayal, and sacrifice.

• God still has purpose for you.
  If you’re still breathing, there is still assignment.

How to turn to God in this context:

• Pray honestly:
  “God, I’m broken. I’m angry. I don’t understand. But I need You.”

• Return to Scripture:
  Psalms of lament (Psalm 34, 42, 51, 139), promises of God’s nearness (Isaiah 41:10, Matthew 11:28–30).

• Connect with faith community:
  Find a church, small group, or pastor that will walk patiently with you—not rush you.

• Surrender your self-harm thoughts to Him:
  “Lord, my life is Yours. Help me want to live.”

What this step, and the others, all ladder up to:

A journey where:

• Services stabilize the crisis.

• Community holds the weight.

• God heals the soul.

Leadership & Community Lessons for Those Who Support Veterans

1. Conflict reveals needs, not just problems.
   Anger, drinking, isolation are often coverings for pain.

2. Silence is dangerous.
   Open conversations save lives.

3. We must be both practical and spiritual.
   Jesus healed bodies and forgave sins.

4. Shame is a liar.
   Help veterans separate what they did, what they experienced—and who they are in Christ.

5. Prayer is powerful, but not passive.
   Pray—and act. Call, show up, sit with, drive to the clinic, follow up.

Devotional Reflection — The God Who Sees the Broken Warrior

God saw Hagar in the desert and called Himself El Roi—“the God who sees me.”
He sees the veteran lying awake at 3 a.m.
He sees the spouse worried about the one they love.
He sees the parent who doesn’t know what to say.

And He cares.

A Prayer for Veterans in Pain:

“Lord, You see every battle I’ve fought—out there and in here.
You know the things I don’t talk about.
You know the guilt I carry, the memories I can’t unsee,
and the weight that makes me wonder if life is worth it.
I ask You: break through the darkness.
Speak louder than the lies.
Surround me with people who will walk with me.
Heal what war has broken.
Help me live—not just survive.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

A Prayer for Those Who Love Veterans:

“Lord, give me eyes to see pain behind the silence.
Give me courage to ask hard questions,
wisdom to listen without fixing,
and faith to believe You can restore what is shattered.
Use me as a bridge to help,
and as a witness to Your hope.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Reflection & Discussion Questions

1. Who in your world (family, church, community) may be quietly struggling as a veteran?

2. What fears or stigma might keep them from asking for help?

3. Have you ever minimized your own pain or someone else’s by saying, “I should be over this by now”?

4. How can you, your family, or your church become a safer place for veterans to talk openly about suicidal thoughts?

5. Which resources (crisis lines, counseling, peer support) do you need to learn more about?

6. What would it look like for you to walk with, not just pray for, a veteran in crisis?

7. Where does God need to speak healing into your own memories or identity?

8. What “manna” rhythms of daily connection with God could restore your hope?

9. How can you balance encouraging faith with also encouraging counseling and medical care?

10. If you are a veteran, what step—no matter how small—can you take today toward life and connection?

Hope Is Still Available

The veteran suicide crisis is real.
The pain is real.
The confusion is real.

But so is help.
So is healing.
So is the God who sees, who rescues, who rebuilds.

Services can help stabilize the storm.
Community can walk through the valley.
But ultimately, only God can heal the deepest wounds of the warrior’s heart.

If you are a veteran, or you love one:

• You are not alone.

• Your life is not a mistake.

• Your story is not over.

Reach out for help.
Reach out to others.
Reach up to God.

Because the One who carried the cross
can carry you through this, too.

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Connect with Veteran Business Resources

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Are you a veteran looking for support to navigate life’s challenges or build your business? ➡️ Visit our Veteran Assistance Resources page to access tools, guidance, and programs for healthcare, financial aid, mental health, and more. Your next step starts here!

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