Some thoughts on Disability
So I hesitate to share these thoughts just a little bit because I realize that disability and kids with special needs can be a sensitive subject and I also realize that everyone's journey and perspective is completely different. But I wanted to share what the Lord showed me from Psalm 139 today maybe to help us see disability through just a little bit different lens.
This thought is close to my heart as I lost a brother named Kelly after a long disability. He was 16 and I never really got the chance to know him that well. The Lord took him before I was old enough to really get to know him, but that didn't stop me from wondering why does the Lord allow disability? Well, if we believe Psalm 139 we have to understand that EVERY child, including and most especially those with special needs, have intricate and beautiful purposes designed by God from the very beginning, and it might just be to teach us more about God and His grace for us.
Highlight:
'For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well. My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret, when I was formed in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began. God, how precious your thoughts are to me; how vast their sum is! If I counted them, they would outnumber the grains of sand; when I wake up, I am still with you. ' Psalms 139:13-18
Explain:
In these verses, we learn the depth of God’s thoughts toward us. They are overwhelming to consider. They are arranged in three groupings as best I can tell.
In verses 1-4, we learn that God is literally in our head. That is He knows our thoughts and our words before we say them. Nothing is hidden from Him.
In verses 5-12, Then not only is God in our head, He’s in the world. We can go literally anywhere in all of the created universes and God is there. We can’t escape His presence in heaven, in hell, in the east, in the west, meaning there is nowhere we can hide from His love and care for us.
In verses 13-18, Finally we learn that God is not only in our head, and in the world, He is in the womb. God knew us before we were even formed. From our very first inception, God knew and possessed us, He knew all of our parts and every hair on our head before it was even there.
Apply:
Often people’s perceptions of who we are is determined by the words we say, by our emotions, by how we respond to them, etc. But not God, He knows our thoughts, both good and bad, He knows the tendency of our emotions and our responses without the use of a social filter that we employ with those around us. God is not deceived by these things for He knows who we really are, and He still loves us, cares for us, offers us His grace. What an incredible thought.
What a comfort to know that wherever we are, we are not hidden from His view. I think of our brothers in sisters in Somalia, experiencing persecution, the brothers and sisters in China, in Sri-Lanka and so many others. I think of the unrest in Venezuala, none of it is hidden from God and He is working His purposes in them all.
This has to inform our view on life before birth. God is the One who knows us and the plans He has for us from the very beginning, if we stand in the way of that and murder those children, aren’t we standing in the place of God? God has designs on every human being, no matter the circumstance, not a single child is an “oops” or an accident in His mind and He knows the course of their life and what they could be. This is also true in the lives of children with disability. God has plans for them to use them for His glory, He knows every special need in the heart of a child and it is not accidental, it is providential. It is God’s plan to allow these disabilities often to shape us and mold us in our care of them and learning how to show them grace. They are God’s special instruments of love and care for us, and He knows exactly what He is doing with each one of them. None of their so-called disabilities caught Him off-guard and none of it surprises Him, He knows exactly what He plans to do with each one of them. They aren't disabled, they are perfectly equipped by God to accomplish exactly what He means for them to accomplish in us and we would do well to stop pitying them, but learn from them and love them as much as God does. God never makes a mistake and His purposes and plans for every person are perfect and right. We should treasure them as much as God does and allow them to teach us of Himself through their lives and care.
Respond:
God we says with David, “How precious your thoughts are to me; how vast their sum is!” Help us to comprehend the glorious and incredible ways in which You know and care for us, and help us to cherish the life that You give us knowing that You are with us in every season, at every moment, and You know our thoughts and our ways. Help us to love these special gifts that You have given us and help us to learn what You can teach us through their lives and their stories.
