Victor Frankl, the Swiss psychiatrist and author, said that the primary motivating force in life was not a quest for power but a quest for meaning. Noted philosopher Albert Camus said, “Here is what frightens me. To see the sense of this life dissipated. To see our reason for existence disappear. That is what intolerable. Man cannot live without meaning.”
Herein lies the explanation for most of the wasted lives today. Why should young people throw their lives away through drugs, alcohol, and suicide except that they believe life has no meaning? There are three questions everyone must answer in order to find meaning in life.
First, the question of identity: Who am I? Many people are struggling with identity today because God has been elbowed out in life. If we are the illegitimate offspring of a thoughtless order, then we have no identity and life has no meaning. However, if we have been created by God, then we have little problem with knowing who we are. Here is a person created in the image of God and for fellowship with God.
Second, the question of purpose: Why am I here? Emerson said, “Every man’s task is his life preserver.” We must have a task, a reason for existence if life is to have meaning. Why are we here? We are here to serve God and do his will. A person’s life is never filled with more meaning than when he links his life with the purposes and will of God. Those who have done the most in this world have been the most conscious of fitting into the divine plan.
Third, the question of destiny: Where am I going? A philosophy of life that does not come to grips with death is inadequate. We are all destined to be wed to death, and it is best that we get acquainted with her before the day of the ceremony. Where are we going? We are going to judgment. The Bible says, “It is appointed until men once to die, and after that the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). We have been separated from God because of sin. What we lost through sin has been restored through Christ. Jesus said, “I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Link your life to him and life will be worth living.