Where Is Your Hope?

As a Christian, there is something much more powerful, something that we are able to tie into that is so much greater than what we're going through on any given day, week, or month.

This past Wednesday, Guest Pastor Darin Weiss discussed the four types of people as outlined by Dr. Viktor Frankl, a jewish psychiatrist and survivor of the World War II concentration camps, who interviewed fellow survivors following their release. He discovered four responses to the pain and suffering which was experienced during this horrendous time.

1. Brutality - These people became self-centered, willing to trample over other people, focused only on what they had to do to survive.

2. Hopelessness - These people essentially gave up, withered up, and died off.

3. Fixation - These people were focused on what they had, and did everything they could in order to get back to the lives they once lived. When they eventually did re-enter society, things were not as they had envisioned, and they became very depressed.

4. Freedom & Hopefulness - These people turned to something outside themselves. They placed their hope in something eternal, something transcendent; they remained confident and hopeful, they had a peace and kindness about them, despite the difficulties they were facing.

When life throws something at us, what is it that we trust in? What are we looking to? Where is our hope?