Home > Men > Live by His Power > Cope with trouble
Men of Integrity, Mar/Apr 2000
| Suffering—Isaiah 42-61 |
Thursday, April 20
|
Why Power
Key Bible Verse:
Hear,
O Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength
(Deuteronomy 6:4-5). Bonus Reading: Isaiah 53:1-9
Jewish
psychiatrist Victor Frankl had spent years researching and writing a book on
finding meaning in life. Arrested by the Nazis during World War II, he arrived
in Auschwitz, stripped of everything—property, family, possessions—but with
his manuscript hidden in the lining of his coat.
"I had to surrender
my clothes and in turn inherited the worn out rags of an inmate who had been
sent to the gas chamber," says Frankl. "Instead of my manuscript,
I found in the pocket of the newly acquired coat a single page torn out of a
Hebrew prayer book, which contained the Shema Yisrael (today's Key Bible
Verses).
"I interpreted this
'coincidence' as a challenge to live my thoughts instead of merely putting them
on paper."
Later, reflecting on his
ordeal, Frankl wrote in his book, Man's Search for Meaning, "Nothing
in the world would so effectively helps one to survive even the worst conditions
as that knowledge that there is a meaning in one's life. … He who has a
why to live for can bear almost any how."
—Craig
Brian Larson in Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching
Personal Challenge:
- Give God your difficulties and ask Him to
remind you why you live.
Thought to Apply: Jesus did not come to explain
away suffering or remove it. He came to fill it with His presence.
|
— PAUL
CLAUDEL (FRENCH DIPLOMAT, AUTHOR, PLAYWRIGHT)
|
Credits: Adapted from—Thursday: Illustrations
for Preaching and Teaching (Baker, 1993)
Copyright © 2000 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of
Integrity. For reprint information click here.
March/April 2000, April 20, 2000
To sign up for a free trial of Men of Integrity click
here.
To order multiple copies of Men of Integrity for your men's group,
click here.
Men of Integrity
Connect with God | Transform my Mind | Live by His Power
Relate Better | Make an Impact
Home | Archives | Contact Us
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Try an Issue of Men of Integrity
Free!
|
 |
|
No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders.
If you decide you want to keep Men of Integrity coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless.
Give Men of Integrity as a gift
Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
| |
|
