The Works of God

Another book to consider reading as we prepare for The Works of God: God’s Good Design in Disability is Michael Beates’ new book, Disability and the Gospel (paragraph formatting and emphases in bold are mine):

God creates some people with genetic anomalies simply for the sake of his glory.

Scripture teaches that all things are made by him (John 1:3) and for his glory (Isa. 48:10–11; Rom. 11:33). Many people are not willing to bear the truth that everything God makes and does he uses to glorify himself. It is too much for many to believe that all that happens to them is for the sake of the glory of God’s name.

That is a hard teaching, but in it there is great comfort, and by our very affirmation of it, we further glorify our awesome sovereign God.

The comfort is that when we embrace the truth that God will glorify himself through everything that happens, we know that in the providence of God nothing is lost or in vain. Nothing we experience is meaningless; everything is significant, the bitter and the sweet.

We may not see the sweet side of it in this life. We may not be able to say at the time of the death of loved ones that their death glorifies God. However, we can rest absolutely certain that such things are not mistakes nor do they happen by chance.

We can also be certain that even such awful things will glorify God because he has said so, and he keeps his promise.

Michael S. Beates (2012-07-10). Disability and the Gospel (p. 162). Crossway. Kindle Edition.