Victor Frankl, a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps, concluded that people can endure great suffering if there is meaning in the suffering for them, that life perceived as meaningless is one of the hardest things for the human spirit to bear. The good news is that God has created us all for a purpose; our lives are not meaningless. He has good works for us to do (Eph 2:10); He wants us to be involved in His great work of salvation.
This is astonishing, for God has no intrinsic need of us and yet longs for us to be His hands and feet, His shining face to a world desperately in need of significance and purpose. Matt 25:40 demonstrates that we can show God to others through our actions. God’s plan is that we are all involved in the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20), that we all serve as His ambassadors (see 2 Cor 5:17-21). We may wonder how we can do this, but every gift and talent we have, when surrendered to God, can be used by Him (after all, even Ehud’s left-handedness served God’s purposes, as we read in Judges 3:13-20!) Jesus said, ‘if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.’ (Matt 10:42) Our service will inevitably come in different shapes and sizes, for God loves diversity, but we can all serve Him in ways that will reflect His nature and allow others to see Him (see Matt 5:13-16).
One of the devil’s favourite lies is that life is pointless and we can’t make a difference. History tells us otherwise; it’s littered with the names of people whose actions had huge impact on families, societies and even the whole world. As we live in our true identity in Christ and fulfil His purpose for our lives, we will find that we all matter enormously. We can all make a difference.
