All of us have disabilities: some are physical, some are mental, some are spiritual. My brother, my sister, since the time of Eden, God has chosen not to interfere in human affairs unless it is to fulfill a particular purpose. Indeed, God gave our first parents free choice to eat of the Tree of Life or the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. They chose to eat from the wrong tree. The Bible says they wanted to define and decide for themselves what was right and wrong – instead of trusting God. By rejecting God, they put themselves under the influence of his adversary, the devil. Then God chose to allow sin and its consequences for a very special purpose. The plan of God, beginning in Genesis, is for man to fully be “in his own image” (Genesis 1:26), with the attributes of His character.
Because of our choices to do what pleases the devil more than what pleases God, most of the time, which is unfortunate for us too, God keeps His distance from us, allowing us to experience the full consequences of our choices and to learn many valuable lessons.
My friend our bad choices can cause the suffering of not only us but many others! For example, if a mother takes illegal drugs during her pregnancy there is a much higher risk her innocent baby will be born with disabilities. Many people live in fornication or diverse sins ignoring the consequences that could cause may be not on their own children but many generations after them. The truth is God allows all this to happen, not to punish us, but to bring us to Him and for us to understand that our own sin always affects us at some point of life.
However, some people are born with physical or mental defects, not because of the wrong choices of their parents or ancestors, but because it fulfills the will of God: Jesus healed a man who was blind from birth to accomplish God’s purpose: Jesus answered, ‘His blindness has nothing to do with his sins or his parents’ sins. He is blind so that God’s power might be seen at work in him. ‘ (John 9:3). My friend, Ephesians 3:15 tells us that God is building a family. His purpose is to have the humanity become His spiritual sons and daughters. God is reproducing Himself by building a family where Jesus is the firstborn (Romans 8:29, Colossians 1:18). Disability (defects) have nothing to do with what you have done. In reality, we all have disabilities of one kind or another with varying severity. That’s why we need Jesus to be made whole again. All the human problems we may go through are allowed by God so that we will ultimately choose His way and reject the way of Satan. Let’s therefore learn to return and obey Him to be forgiven, restored and healed (2 Chronicles 7:14). Stay blessed in Jesus’ name.