Skip to main content

Strength, Agility...

             The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments. (Habakkuk 3:19)

 

Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) was the son of Gabriel and Elsa Frankl. They were Jews who lived in Austria, which means that when Hitler annexed Austria, he was thrown into a concentration camp. He was already a psychiatrist and had already published papers on his perspectives (called Logo Therapy,) but according to Man’s Search for Meaning, he at least confirmed to himself the idea that if someone had a “why,” he could survive the “how.”

Now, I am not suggesting that God cannot and does not supernaturally give strength, agility, and ability. I’m not limiting or discounting God. Rather, I’m doing the opposite. God can and does also give “normal” strength, agility, and ability, and “normal” determination to people. And He can and does give all those things in levels somewhere between normal and supernatural. Sometimes, the gift is given in supernatural ways. Sometimes, it’s in what we’d consider normal ways.

And one of those normal ways of giving strength involves what Viktor Frankl suggested. If we have a why, we can survive the how, or at least survive it better. The bigger, stronger, and more important they why is to us, the bigger, stronger, and more difficult hows we can endure.

Think in terms of the various superheroes popular today. Would Bruce Wayne be Batman if his parents hadn’t died? Many of them have a why, if only in a sense of responsibility or comradery with other superheroes. Think of the real heroes who go into burning buildings, catch murderers, learn to perform surgery, or even give blood that saves a life. If they didn’t see what they were doing as good and important - if they didn’t have a why, they probably wouldn’t do what they do, and the world would be worse for it. Consider the stories we hear about people doing amazing things for their loved ones.

          How much more should we be strong when our why is God? At least, when our why is really God. But this is where I demand the supernatural. If my dedication to God isn’t proven at the level of a super saint, or a martyr, If I’m not in full-time ministry… if I’m not Moses, David, Elijah, Elisha, Daniel, Esther, and Deborah all rolled into one, is my why too small? Am I a failure because I’m not living a bigger life than I do?

          I’m not looking for pity or advice. These are questions we all ask, or should. And the answer isn’t to go look for bigger things to do for God. The answer is to look for a bigger God- not another god. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more