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Viktor E. Frankl is one of those rare and special individuals who survived Hitler’s concentration camps. He went on to become a well-respected psychiatrist in his time after the war. Frankl dedicated his life’s work to exploring and sharing the necessity and influence of meaning and hope.
Frankl observed that the people who survived the concentration camps during the Holocaust were the ones who found the strongest will to live by finding meaning. He surmised that a driving force in motivating people to continue on in the face of suffering was finding meaning and keeping hope alive. Once they lost hope, their time was short.
He wrote, “Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how.’”
These thoughts from the not-too-distant past helpfully remind us about eternal truth revealed in Scripture. Because Jesus is our hope (1 Tim. 1:1), we can rightfully long for something better than what we experience when we suffer.
- For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Romans 8:18)
Because Jesus is our hope we can rightfully long for something new.
- For in this hope we are saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he see? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. (Romans 8:24-25)
Because Jesus is our hope we can rightfully long for something permanent.
- For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)
Bart Warren
South Green Street church of Christ
Glasgow, KY