那不勒斯足球俱乐部

The Lord is God of the physically healthy and the mentally strong, but He is also the God of the physically disabled and the mentally handicapped. He is sovereign over the fragile and feeble as well as over the adroit and mighty. The Bible teaches that every person conceived in this world is a unique creation of God (see Psalm 139:16), and that includes the disabled and the handicapped.

A natural question is why God allows some people to be born disabled or handicapped or why He allows accidents that bring about a disability or handicap later in life. This issue falls under the umbrella of a theological/philosophical debate known as 鈥渢he problem of evil鈥� or 鈥渢he problem of pain.鈥� If God is both good and omnipotent, why does He allow bad things to happen? What is the point of someone losing his sight or being forced to walk with a prosthesis? How can we reconcile God鈥檚 goodness and perfection with the fact that so much of His creation is broken and wounded?

Before we proceed, we should acknowledge that we are all disabled or handicapped in some way. The need for eyeglasses indicates impaired or 鈥渉andicapped鈥� vision. Dental braces are a sign of imperfect teeth. Diabetes, arthritis, rosacea, a 鈥渢rick鈥� knee—these can all be considered disabilities to some extent. The whole human race lives with the reality of imperfection. Everyone experiences less-than-ideal conditions. We are all broken in some way. The handicaps we live with are simply a matter of degree.

When a person is disabled or handicapped, to whatever degree, it is a symptom of original sin, when evil came into the world. Sin entered the world as a result of man鈥檚 disobedience to God, and that sin brought with it sickness, imperfection, and disease (see Romans 5:12). The world was blemished. One reason God allows people to be disabled or handicapped is that such conditions are the natural result of mankind鈥檚 rebellion against God. We live in a world of cause and effect, and it is a fallen world. Jesus said that 鈥渋n this world you will have trouble鈥� (John 16:33). This is not to say that every disability is the direct result of personal sin (Jesus countered that idea in John 9:1–3), but, generally speaking, the existence of handicaps and disabilities can be traced back to the existence of sin.

Another basic reason that God allows some people to be disabled or handicapped is that God will glorify Himself through it. When the disciples wondered about the man born blind, Jesus told them, 鈥淭his happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him鈥� (John 9:3). When the same disciples later wondered about Lazarus鈥� sickness, Jesus told them, 鈥淚t is for God鈥檚 glory so that God鈥檚 Son may be glorified through it鈥� (John 11:4). In both instances, God was glorified through the disability—in the case of the man born blind, the temple rulers had incontrovertible proof of Jesus鈥� power to heal; in the case of Lazarus, 鈥渕any of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him鈥� (John 11:45).

Another reason why God allows disabilities or handicaps is that we must learn to trust in Him rather than in ourselves. When the Lord God called Moses in the wilderness, Moses was reluctant at first to heed the call. In fact, he tried to use his disability to excuse himself from service: 鈥淢oses said to the Lord, 鈥楶ardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent. . . . I am slow of speech and tongue鈥欌�� (Exodus 4:10). But God knew all about Moses鈥� problem: 鈥淭he Lord said to him, 鈥榃ho gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say鈥欌�� (Exodus 4:11–12). In this amazing passage, we see that all human ability—and disability—is part of God鈥檚 plan and that God will help His obedient servants. He doesn鈥檛 call the equipped so much as He equips the called.

Joni Eareckson Tada suffered a diving accident as a teenager, and for the past five decades she has lived as a quadriplegic. In her booklet Hope . . . the Best of Things, Joni imagines meeting Jesus in heaven and speaking to Him about her wheelchair: 鈥淭he weaker I was in that thing [my wheelchair], the harder I leaned on you. And the harder I leaned on you, the stronger I discovered you to be. It never would have happened had you not given me the bruising of the blessing of that wheelchair鈥� (Crossway Books, Wheaton, Illinois, 2008). How can she speak of her 鈥渂ruising鈥� as a 鈥渂lessing鈥�? Only by the grace of God. With that sentiment, Joni echoes the apostle Paul who accepted Christ鈥檚 sufficient grace for his thorn in the flesh with these words: 鈥淚 will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ鈥檚 power may rest on me. . . . For when I am weak, then I am strong鈥� (2 Corinthians 12:9–10).

Another reason why God allows some to be disabled or handicapped is that, in His overarching plan, He has chosen the weak things of this world for a special purpose: 鈥淕od chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him鈥� (1 Corinthians 1:27–29).

God doesn鈥檛 need human might or skill or fitness to accomplish His work. He can use disability and handicap just as well. He can use children: 鈥淭hrough the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger鈥� (Psalm 8:2). He can use anyone. Remembering this truth can help handicapped believers to maintain focus on who God is. It鈥檚 easy to 鈥渃url up in a ball鈥� and have pity parties when life makes no sense, but Christ鈥檚 power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

In a sense, when Jesus came into this world, He became voluntarily disabled. He handicapped Himself as He left the perfection of heaven to live among the sinners on earth. He laid aside His glory to wrap Himself in inglorious humanity. At the Incarnation, Jesus took on human flesh in all its frailty and vulnerability. 鈥淗e made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant鈥� (Philippians 2:7). The Son of God took part in our human condition and suffered on our behalf. And that is why 鈥渨e do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses鈥� (Hebrews 4:15); rather, we have an Intercessor who understands our weakness, relates to our disability, and identifies with our pain.

God promises that disabilities and handicaps are temporary. Those conditions are part of this fallen world, not the world to come. God鈥檚 children—those who by faith in Christ are made children of God (John 1:12) —have a bright and glorious future. When Jesus came the first time, He gave us a taste of good things yet to come: 鈥淧eople brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them鈥� (Matthew 4:24). When Jesus comes the second time, 鈥淭hen will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy鈥� (Isaiah 35:5–6).

Joni鈥檚 wheelchair-bound perspective is enlightening: 鈥淢aybe the truly handicapped people are the ones that don鈥檛 need God as much鈥� (The God I Love: A Lifetime of Walking with Jesus, Zondervan Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2003). The position of weakness, disability, and handicap—the position of having to trust God in this world—is a position of honor and blessing indeed.