Crisis of the Soul
Recent reports indicate “soaring” rates of suicide among young adults over the past decade. A generation that has seemingly been handed everything on a silver platter, that is, except healthy relationships and a positive future. That is a lot to be missing from life. What could be worse than living in hopelessness, surrounded by everything physical the self could desire? When there is nothing else but pursuing wealth or success, man becomes deeply unhappy.
The words of the Apostle Paul echo when he warned that in the last days, love of self would dominate the landscape. As love of self grows, so the connection to others and a higher power is less necessary. Any notion of God recedes into the background. And finding and maintaining loving relationships is all but impossible. This further exacerbates the emptiness as self cannot generate purpose and meaning to life.
If we think about the reality of this situation, we need to be very grateful that God has graciously opened to us His purpose in the human creation. We live life with the quiet conviction of purpose. This should provide quietness of mind along with a feeling of clear direction – a sense of purpose. We have reason to rise every morning and look forward to the day ahead. Our lives should be spiritually full with no room for emptiness.
But more importantly, it should produce a desire to be a shining light in the gloomy darkness of loss of meaning. This world is truly struggling. The forces of evil are overtaking whatever good still remained from any knowledge or appreciation of there being a God. Even believing one is going to heaven when they die provides some source of purpose. But even that is evaporating as people lose confidence in religion in general.
A life without purpose cannot generate fulfillment and something firm on which to stand. People can withstand great negative pressure when they see a reason to live. However, we are witnessing a true crisis of the soul. Something is missing.
That something is God and His way of life.
God has called a group of people, an ecclesia – to demonstrate that missing ingredient. It is not just a matter of being a light, but the purpose of the light is what is important. That is to glorify our Father in heaven.
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and a day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified” (Isaiah 61:1-3).
We are called to shoulder this mission both by sharing the gospel and demonstrating by example that God is the answer to the crisis of the soul. We need to exude the quiet confidence of a purpose for life and to give an answer for the hope that lies within.
Brian Orchard
