- Psalm 42:5 (NKJV) Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.
Whether we remember what we read, books shape us. For example, a book I read years ago: The Battle for the Mind, by Tim LaHaye, had a section about Viktor Frankl an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist as well as a Holocaust survivor.
In his book, LaHaye recounted how Frankl observed that the moment people lost hope they died. I’ve never forgotten that; and I might add, I’ve observed in over thirty-five years of ministry how true that statement is.
Dear friend, you can live approximately 40-60 days without food. You can live approximately 5-10 days without water and you can live approximately 4-6 minutes without oxygen; but you can’t live one second without hope. The moment you lose hope you stop living. Oh you may still be going through the motions but the light goes out of your eyes and the spring out of your steps and you join the dull ranks of the living dead (and I’m not talking about vampires).
As you start another week remind yourself of your hopes.
Sometimes the pressures and problems of everyday life can choke out your hopes. Fight for them; remind yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing. I bet if you dig a little you will discover something you’re hoping for; don’t give up on those hopes – they are what is keeping you alive.
Related articles
- ‘Viktor Frankl on the Human Search for Meaning’ by Maria Popova (disruptive-wonder.com)
- “man’s search for meaning” (cfsintrospections.wordpress.com)
The ONE THING 