When something bad happens, we can be so quick to get mad at God, laying the blame for our suffering at his doorstep. But I sometimes wonder why nobody ever exclaims when they suffer, “I am so mad at sin!”
Shouldn’t we lay the blame for suffering where it belongs? Shouldn’t the suffering of this world make us really mad at sin and the power it has to hurt us and those we love?
Shouldn’t it cause us to be grateful that God hates sin and the suffering it causes so much that he was willing to send his Son to die to free this world from the curse and brokenness of sin?
Nancy Guthrie, Hearing Jesus Speak into Your Sorrow, p. 75.
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Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.
(Psalm 8:2 ESV)
The peculiar mark of God’s majesty is not just that he stoops to listen to or take thought of or care for infants, but that he makes them the means of his triumphs. God conquers his foes through the weaknesses of the weak—the speech of babies. When you think of God as a warrior, remember: He wins with weakness.
John Piper, The Peculiar Mark of Majesty, Part 1, delivered April 1, 2007.
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Pastor John ruined our Thursday morning.
In a good way!
He sent the link for the video below, which I watched early Thursday morning. I told Dianne she needed to watch it, so we did so together. Then, as the children got up, they all watched it as well.
We are not a well-oiled machine to begin with, but we generally know we have to keep moving to get everyone where they need to be. Taking out 30 minutes from our routine basically meant we were in a mad scramble the rest of the morning!
Yet, not a complaint could be found; we were all pretty happy.
This is what ruined our morning:
What is it in our hearts that wants to know others understand, that we aren’t alone, that there are people who don’t just live a life of disability, but live THIS life of disability?
From the moment I saw this dad lift his son and guide him to the center of stage – I’ve lifted Paul like that, with his elbows close in to the body! That little cane with the marshmallow tip – Paul had one of those for years! That little hand making sure his dad was near – that’s what Paul does! The finger flicking, the rocking while he sang, the thumb and fingers around his chin and neck – Paul does that!
The unselfconscious singing.
Even his dad admitting he might not be able to keep his composure!
Yes, it was sweet.
God is good.
And this is still my favorite ‘catch’ of Paul singing!
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A word from Joni, when she was in the midst of terrible pain in addition to her disability (paragraph formatting is mine):
In the course of some of these recent days as I’ve fought for just the smallest bits of normalcy and peace in my war with pain, I don’t feel as if I have very much left to offer at all.
But in the final scheme of things, I know it doesn’t matter.
He is the one who will make the most of the little I’ve got.
He is the one who took note of the widow’s mite, dropped into the treasury, and affirmed that her little was worth more in heaven’s sight than the offering of those who had given much, but had much more held in reserve.
Joni Eareckson Tada, A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain, and God’s Sovereignty, Kindle Locations 1299-1303.
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If you haven’t heard the story of Dr. and Mrs. Robert Mounce before, you simply must watch the below video. What a beautiful picture of ‘this momentary marriage‘ – I want to be like this man!
Much thanks to Justin Taylor for posting this video a couple of days ago. Be sure to read the comments with Justin’s post; Joni also offers an encouraging word!
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Mars Hill has created a whole series of short videos on the theme: The Rebel’s Guide to Joy.
I particularly enjoyed this one on Fanny Crosby, the prolific hymn writer who lived with blindness nearly her entire life:
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God uses the language and experience of disability to help us understand how we are spiritually: blind, deaf, and dead. We need a radical, life-giving Savior who pursues us – and God gave us Jesus!
When addressing the unsaved, preachers often draw an analogy between God’s sending of the Gospel to the sinner, and a sick man in bed with some healing medicine on a table by his side: all he needs to do is reach forth his hand and take it.
But in order for this illustration to be in any wise true to the picture which Scripture gives us of the fallen and depraved sinner, the sick man in bed must be described as one who is blind (Eph. 4:18) so that he cannot see the medicine, his hand paralysed (Rom. 5:6) so that he is unable to reach forth for it, and his heart not only devoid of all confidence in the medicine but filled with hatred against the physician himself (John 15:18).
O what superficial views of man’s desperate plight are now entertained! Christ came here not to help those who were willing to help themselves, but to do for His people what they were incapable of doing for themselves: “To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house” (Isa. 42:7).
A.W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God, p. 112.
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I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
(Psalm 139:14 ESV)
In August when Paul was in the hospital and hooked up to several different kinds of monitors, I had the chance to see his brain fire with activity even though he looked entirely out of it. This was especially true when his mother and his sister talked to him.
We all realized there is a lot going on in that head of his even when he couldn’t show it or respond to us.
I just finished reading an astonishing article on that subject: A Drug That Wakes the Near Dead in the New York Times Magazine.
There is no reference to God or spirituality in this article, but I found myself worshipping our God who creates and sustains such an elaborate mechanism as the brain. There is some amazing stuff in this article.
And some hard things, including reminders that parents are frequently the first and last protectors of their children with disabilities, including adult children. Things change in families that experience disability:
The Coxes have surrounded themselves with a new group of friends — other parents with children like Chris. The families in this informal group share strategies and trade information on emerging research and experimental treatments. They also talk of weariness and isolation. “At the end of the day, you feel like you’re a thousand years old,” Judy says. “And you have no idea how you’re going to get up and do it all over again tomorrow.”
Actually, I do have an idea, and I hope you do as well:
I have forgotten what happiness is;
so I say, “My endurance has perished;
so has my hope from the LORD.”
Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
the wormwood and the gall!
My soul continually remembers it
and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
(Lamentations 3:17-24 ESV)
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I don’t do political endorsements on this blog, so please don’t assume that’s the reason I’m recommending the clip below of Rick Santorum. It was just good to see a dad talk about his love for his daughter with disabilities, even though his feelings didn’t begin that way.
The clip is about six minutes long. If you only have two minutes, skip forward to the 3:45 mark.
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All conference audio and video for The Works of God: God’s Good Design in Disability are now available at Desiring God!
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It’s nice – even convicting – to hear that people include us because they are pursuing their own happiness in God
December 8, 2011 by John Knight
Sometimes I am tempted to think in terms of what the church ‘should’ do for its weaker members because of disability. The old legalist in me finds that line of thinking comfortable. You can measure what the church ‘should’ be doing.
But I received a good reminder yesterday from the pastor I referenced for my Desiring God blog post this week. He’s a godly man and I like him a great deal.
He reminded me that there’s something better than meeting a legal requirement to serve – the call to joy! Pastor Chris reminded me he doesn’t serve Kristina out of reluctant obligation, but out of the benefits he receives and likes, for himself and his church:
I believe it; I’ve been in his church and seen Kristina work a room. She doesn’t care one bit about economic standing, physical ability, age, race or anything else when it comes to sharing her affections!
And it’s nice to see leaders understand that she may live with complicated disabilities, but she is all gift to the body of Christ, from God himself.
The same God who commands us to pursue our joy in him!
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