“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” – John 10:10
Sometimes I feel grateful and sometimes I must decide to be grateful regardless of how I feel. I don’t think either one is particularly right or wrong. God, who created us, knows the fluxes of mortal life better than we. We have frustratingly little control over the entirety of the world. We cannot stop bombs from devastating unsuspecting crowds. We cannot stop that Honda from cutting us off in traffic. We cannot save every child from abuse. We cannot make the rain stop before tee time. We cannot, we cannot, we cannot.
Thankfully, that’s not the end of the story.
Viktor Frankl was a survivor of the holocaust and did much to bless the lives of those in the concentration camps and around the world. He believed there was one thing that separated those who came to act like their accursed oppressors, and those who did not: choice. None of them could control their extreme circumstances. None of them could prevent the unspeakable horrors they experienced. But, they could choose how they would react to the lives they had. When the darkness seemed to win and close in around him like an unshakable cloak, he found a single point of hope upon which to remind himself of his God-given humanity. He remembered God’s calling upon his life and chose the fullness of that life.
Beloved, this moment you may be in total bliss. You may be at rock bottom and prepared to give up. Christ our Lord stands in the gap to remind you that you are a person of infinite worth. Look hard, look deep, look far. Find that point of hope. It’s there, I promise! If you have nothing else, you have the ability to choose. So, choose the One who finds us in our deepest valleys and on our highest mountains. God has a calling for you. Reject the opportunities for bitterness or pride and choose the fullness of life God offers you.
Rev. Drew Haynes, Pastor of Campus Operations
