It’s Not About Circumstances

Grace for All

Hope, No Matter What

(our theme for September)

Romans 15: 13 (The Message)

“May the God of green hope fill you up with joy, fill you up with peace; so that your believing lives, filled with the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit, will brim over with hope.”

Victor Frankl, the legendary Austrian psychiatrist, wrote his landmark book, Man’s Search for Meaning, based on his experiences and observations in Nazi Concentration Camps. Frankl, as he dealt with his own losses and struggles, was mystified at first that many of his fellow prisoners who were strong and vigorous wasted away quickly and died, while some of those who were frail endured and survived. As a scientist interested in the human mind and behavior, he began to ask himself: what are the qualities that enable some to prevail despite crushing hardships and treatment? He came to two great insights that would form a basis for Logotherapy, a new school of therapy he created.

One insight Frankl gained was that those who transcended their circumstances had “something significant yet to do.” In other words, they focused on a positive future where they would make a contribution. To say this in a Biblical way, they had hope, hope of making a difference.

The second powerful truth that came to Frankl was “Everything can be taken from a person but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.” No matter how hard or unfair your life is, you have the choice of how you will respond to it. And it’s the choices, not the circumstances, that create the kind of life you live.

This is the wisdom the Apostle Paul gave to the believers at the church in Rome and to us. Let God fill you with green hope—living hope, growing hope. And this hope will fill you with joy and fill you with peace. When, like Victor Frankl, we search for what life means regardless of our conditions, here is where we find it even in the harshest and darkest and saddest of times. Hope that comes from a loving, forgiving God.

Dear God,

Fill me up with hope—living, growing hope. Amen.

This devotional was written and read by Herb Sadler.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: [e-mail].

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.