As grizzly stories go, this one was pretty bad. On October 5 authorities in San Bernadino, CA discovered that an unemployed father of three had murdered his entire family because he was upset over the state of his finances. He methodically shot his wife, three sons, and his mother-in-law before turning the gun on himself. It was a sad ending to several beautiful lives.

The father, Karthik Rajaram, left two suicide notes and a will. In the notes he described the financial pressure he was under because he had lost his job. Although the family lived in a gorgeous gated community in the foothills of the Santa Susanna mountains, they didn’t own the house. All that glittered wasn’t gold.

In the suicide notes, the father felt that things had gotten so bad that he was left with only two choices. He could kill himself, in which case his family would suffer emotionally–because of his loss–and financially, because he was the only person who worked in the home. Choice number 2: Kill everyone, including himself. That way, no one suffers. Somehow, the financial box he was in had stolen every other choice from him, save two.

It’s easy to dismiss this guy as nut-job who should’ve known that he had more options than to kill himself or his family. But if you live long enough, circumstances in life just might put you in a place where you can see only few options. I haven’t been around that long, but I’ve been there a few times.

Several years ago I remember being profiled and stopped by a police officer who proceeded to rip out the dashboard of my car in search of drugs. I had been married less than a week and my new bride was with me. He patted me down and started moving to do the same to her when I said to him like, “You’re not gonna touch my wife.” He called for back-up and few more officers came, including a female who checked my wife. I felt more powerless that night than I had at any point in my life before. He had no right to stop us. He embarrassed us, just because he could. That night I felt like I had one choice, and that was to hunt down that officer and kill him. I’m ashamed to say it, but that’s how I felt.

Even though I felt like doing the unthinkable, I knew I had other options. I knew even then that my “struggle [was] not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). Translation? The stuff that happened to me had a lot to do with an evil force led by Satan, bent on doing me harm (1 Peter 5:8).

If Satan can make you feel totally hopeless and powerless to change your situation, he’s got you right where he wants you. Then, he can streamline your choices and push you in the direction of making the wrong one. But I’ve got some bad news for him, which is great news for you and me. God is so into powerlessness!

In 2 Corinthians 12:10 Paul, a servant of Jesus, wrote: “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Wait, did this guy just say that he “delights” in trials? Only fools do that, right? When you read 2 Corinthians 12 altogether, you discover that this guy had a really bad problem that he begged God to take from his life, but God refused. Instead, God told Him “My grace is sufficient (enough) for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (verse 5).

God was telling Paul, bring the problem to Me. I’ll help you deal with it, because I’m much stronger than you. You can try to fix it yourself, but it wont work. You have another choice, and that’s to let me help you. Paul got so good at handing over his problems to God that he took pleasure in doing so. He (delighted) in the process. Why? Because He had faith that God would see him through.

Do you feel caught? Are you running out of options? Tell God about your problem, ask for His help, and then trust Him.