"An existential crisis is a moment at which an individual question if their life has meaning, purpose, or value" (Richard K. James, Crisis intervention strategies, 2012).
Viktor Frankl called
this frustration the will-to-meaning. In
other words, failing to find meaning and a sense of responsibility in this life. Thinking about my addictions class at school,
and some recovery meetings I've been to, this seems to be a common thread in the
life of the person suffering from the condition of addiction.
This sense of
meaningless also seems to stem from a deep sense of shame and feeling of
worthlessness. After all, if we have
been made to feel defective and we believed that lie, then we conclude that our
life has little to no meaning.
If there is one major
positive outcome from giving our life to Jesus, it is that we begin to find
meaning to life and meaning to our existence.
We begin to discover our true character and calling in life. That's not to say that finding meaning in
suffering causes all suffering and pain to end.
However, it does mean that even while dealing with painful situations
that may trigger feelings of shame, we can still know that we have value and
know that we have a destiny i.e. we have meaning to life regardless of present
and future triggers or temptations.
Jesus clearly said
that in this world we would have trouble, but he also said that we can be
positive in the face of trouble because he overcame trouble. Not only that, but he promises to make us
over-comers of our trouble. What this
means is that trouble i.e. suffering, has at least one meaning and purpose and
that it is to present us with an opportunity to build self-confidence, build
our faith up in Christ, and make us more aware of our abilities. In short, troubles give meaning our
existence, and that is to learn to become an over-comer through our sufferings. (Romans 8:28; 2 Corinthians 1:4 &6;
4:7-13, 17)
Being an over-comer can
be as simple as organizing our room or as difficult as learning new behaviors
and thought patterns as we recover from behaviors such as gambling, compulsive
helping, toxic anger, sexual irresponsibility, excessive spending, or
over-eating. The reason these behaviors
begin is that we lack a sense of meaning; Jesus said it best when he said he
came to save the lost sheep.
I understand that the
nature of sin may be involved, but we can't just tell someone to quit sinning
so that they can find a sense of meaning.
Jesus said, come to me and I will give you rest, he did not say quit
sinning and I will give your rest.
Sin may lead us to
make poor choices but being lost and feeling worthless and meaningless happened
through a process of decisions or substance use. It will take a process of understanding the
love of God and his valuation of us as priceless that begins to give us a sense
of meaning and purpose. (2 Corinthians
7:6) But God encourages those who are troubled.
I think I’m going to
make a small series of teachings about finding meaning, value, and purpose in
our life, regardless of the age bracket we currently find ourselves.
