Seeing Disabilities Through God's Eyes: A 5-Day Devotional With Sandra Peoplesنموونە

God's purpose for disability

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV) says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Each one of us is his workmanship. We are clay in the hands of a loving potter (Isaiah 64:8, ESV). Being born with a disability or developing one later in life is not a sign of faithlessness or weakness on our part or a mistake or anger on God's part. Disabilities may be results of the fall, but they are still part of God's plan and his purpose for our lives.

Exodus chapters 3 and 4 record a conversation between Moses and God that is foundational to our understanding of disabilities and God's sovereignty. God revealed himself to Moses through a burning bush and told him about his expectations for Moses' advocacy and leadership for his people. Moses had many excuses as to why he couldn't fulfill this calling. In verses 4:10-12, Moses even tried to use his limitations as an excuse: “But Moses said to the Lord, 'Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.' Then the Lord said to him, 'Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.' (Exodus 4:10-12, ESV)” What is profound about this response is that it is clear—and clear in such an early account for the followers of God—that God takes credit for disabilities. There is no guessing, no assuming, no excusing. God said, “Is it not I?” who is fully responsible for your creation.

How could this be? you may ask. How could something that leads to suffering and hardships be part of God's plan? We all wrestle with this question. When James was diagnosed with autism, I questioned what God's purpose would be in his life and the life of our family. I had grown up with a sister with Down syndrome, so I knew firsthand some of the barriers we would encounter. On his first day of special education preschool, I locked myself in the bathroom after we dropped him off and cried as I called out to God. Why James? Why us? If there was a lesson he was trying to teach me, I considered this to be a cruel way to teach it.

In that moment (and in every moment since then), I've had to hold on to what I know is true about God when I am struggling to bring my emotions in line with his truths. God loves me; God loves James. I repeated that day in the bathroom. I repeated it when we were adjusting his medications, and he was reacting with self-injurious meltdowns he couldn't control. God loves me; God loves James. I repeated it when we celebrated his sixteenth birthday with Blue's Clues decorations and a new swing set instead of keys to a car like his big brother had gotten. God loves me; God loves James.

Joni Eareckson Tada writes, “God permits what he hates to accomplish that which he loves” (from Pearls of a Great Price, Dec. 12th devotional). And that which he loves—his purpose—can be seen in the life of James and others who have disabilities. We see it in another of the best-known passages about disabilities: “As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' Jesus answered, 'It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.' (John 9:1-3, ESV)”

As I was adjusting to having a son with a diagnosis and all that would mean for our family, this passage brought me peace and hope. But now, as I look at it from the broader perspective of a ministry leader, I see the context it was written in and the application not only for the family of the man born blind, but for those of us caring for special-needs families.

First, let's think about the purpose for this miracle and the other miracles done by Jesus. Jesus healed many people, but he didn't heal everyone. Some people he healed showed evidence of their faith before the healing, and some after. Some were healed by a touch, and some had to take steps to receive healing. Some showed appreciation for their healing, and some did not. For some, Jesus healed them and also said their sins were forgiven, as we saw in the account in Mark 2 with the paralytic man. What is consistent in each healing miracle recorded is the Healer. Jesus healed to show his power over sickness, suffering, and death.

Jesus's healings did more than restore sight or mobility or health. They also restored relationships and communities. As Lamar Hardwick observes, “an examination of [Jesus's] healing ministry strongly suggests that the central theme and aim of his healing ministry was to restore people who were disabled and disregarded back into the community” (from Disability and the Church, page 52). This restoration of connection is seen in his healings and in his teachings (in Luke 14 and Matthew 21 specifically).

Seeing God's purpose in creating people with disabilities from Exodus 4 and Jesus's purpose in healing people with disabilities helps provide guardrails for our own thinking about disabilities. They are not accidental or without purpose. They are not a result of our sin or his apathy. In my own experience after getting my son's autism diagnosis, I was able to read James 1:17 (ESV) through this lens. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights ... ” If James's autism was from God, then somehow it must be a good and perfect gift for the purpose of making us more like Christ and to bring others to him. It is part of his purpose for us.

Application question: How do the passages included in today's devotion help shape your view of disabilities and God's purpose in them?