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

God's provision when disability feels heavy

We can see that God takes responsibility for disabilities and has a purpose for them. We can also see that God provides provision for the disabled. This is clearest in the stories of David's practical provision for Mephibosheth and God's sufficient grace for Paul.

And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.” Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.

And Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.” And David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.” And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?”

Then the king called Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, ... “Mephibosheth your master’s grandson shall always eat at my table.” So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king’s table. Now he was lame in both his feet (2 Sam. 9:1-4, 6-9, 10b, 13, ESV).

After many military victories, David experienced a season of peace. Scripture says he administered justice and equity to all his people (2 Samuel 8:15). It was at this time that David thought of his friend Jonathan and wanted to show kindness to any surviving relatives. He found out there was a survivor—Mephibosheth. Earlier in 2 Samuel 4:4 (ESV) we read this about him: “Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled, and as she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.”

Mephibosheth was now a man and was summoned to approach the king, who was ultimately responsible for the death of his father and grandfather. The very king who in his anger at being mocked by the Jebusites (who said even their blind and lame could hold David off), had made a law that the blind and lame couldn't live within the city of Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5:6-8). Mephibosheth fell at David's feet in fear as he was brought before the king. But David responded with restoration, invitation, and compensation. David restored to him the land of Saul and Jonathan, three miles north of Jerusalem in Gibeah. He extended an invitation to sit at his table. Verse 11 says, “So Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons.” And David offered compensation, giving to him “all that belonged to Saul and his house” (v. 9). Mephibosheth then lived in Jerusalem and ate “always” at the king's table (v. 13).

God's provision for Mephibosheth is clear in these verses. Mephibosheth was at the mercy of David: he fell on his face before him, calling himself a servant to David and “a dead dog.” In humility and with fear, he came when David summoned him. But instead of finding wrath because of the actions of his grandfather, he was met with grace. It is important to note that Mephibosheth doesn't receive an invitation to the table after he is healed. He remains lame. God's provision doesn't equal healing. It does equal his grace. The thorn Paul speaks of in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (ESV) is also evidence of this grace.

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

In 2 Samuel, David was a representative of God's grace in the life of Mephibosheth. In this epistle, Paul also experiences God's grace even though his suffering is not alleviated. Instead of growing bitter and resentful, Paul grew in Christlikeness as he identified with Christ in his sufferings and found strength. We are all broken, needy people. People with disabilities just can't hide their neediness as easily as the rest of us try to hide ours. But in that neediness we find God's sufficiency—his provision. As John 15:5 (ESV) says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

Application question: In the life of Mephibosheth, God used David to provide for his needs. How is God using you to meet the needs of others He has placed in your life? And how is He meeting your needs as you meet theirs?