Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
The Christian Approach for The Differently Abled
2 Corinthians 12: 1-10
Vs 9: But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me
Disability is a 'protected characteristic' under the Equality Act 2010. A person with a disability can legally expect to have equal access to employment and services. And yet today, many people with disabilities feel disempowered, vulnerable, and even abused in our society. In reality, equal access to employment, transport, leisure, and even healthcare facilities is a myth. One of the great questions that people have when it comes to God is how do we understand God and suffering. Why do bad things happen to seemingly good people? Reconciling suffering and God is hard for Christians to grapple with. To the Corinthian Christians, suffering is a big issue. For them, they cannot understand how a true apostle of Jesus could suffer to the degree that the apostle Paul has suffered. This has caused Paul’s critics to consider Paul an inferior apostle. Rather than deflect his sufferings, Paul has magnified his sufferings. Thus Paul proclaimed, “If I must boast, I will boast in the things that show my weakness” (2 Corinthians 11:30). Paul does not do this to promote or elevate himself but to express why suffering should never be considered a reason to dismiss a person as a true servant of Jesus.
Satan uses trials, suffering, and difficulties to torment us. Satan uses these things to harass and trouble us. This is exactly what we see in the book of Job. Satan is using suffering to torment Job so that he will turn his faith away from the Lord. Job is afflicted so that it would be revealed that Job serves God for nothing. The purpose to the suffering that Paul is experiencing. “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations ' and “to keep me from becoming conceited” is the purpose of God (12:7). God is not tormenting Paul. God has another purpose by which he allows suffering to happen in the world. Paul says that for him, because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations he received, this thorn in the flesh was given to him so that he would not exalt himself or become conceited. God used this so that humility would be maintained. A message we consistently see in the scriptures is that God allows suffering purposefully. God allows suffering so that his purpose and good would be fulfilled in us.
Verse 9 affirms that God has given us sufficient grace to endure. Notice the answer is not that suffering would be removed. Rather, God has given sufficient grace so that we are able to endure. God’s power is made perfect through our weaknesses. It is when we are out of strength that we finally depend on God the most. Suffering is to burn away our pride, self-confidence, and independence. Therefore we embrace the suffering given to us because we have been given God’s grace which is sufficient to endure and is necessary for the growth of our faith.
As Christians what can we do to those who are differently-abled? Perhaps the best-known example is Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel 9. He was the son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul. He became disabled when his nurse fell with him in her arms as she was trying to flee from danger. When David became king, he made inquiries as to whether there was anyone left from the house of Saul to whom he could show kindness for his friend Jonathan's sake. When he found Mephibosheth, he did not single him out for his disability, he simply did what he would have done for any son of Jonathan. Nor, when he discovered his disability, did he recoil from honoring him; he treated him exactly as he would have done if Mephibosheth had been a powerful warrior. He welcomed him to his table, gave him Saul's land, and provided servants to farm it for him. This story becomes a powerful metaphor for the kingdom of God, where abled and disabled people sit together side by side as equals at the feast table
Satan uses trials, suffering, and difficulties to torment us. Satan uses these things to harass and trouble us. This is exactly what we see in the book of Job. Satan is using suffering to torment Job so that he will turn his faith away from the Lord. Job is afflicted so that it would be revealed that Job serves God for nothing. The purpose to the suffering that Paul is experiencing. “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations ' and “to keep me from becoming conceited” is the purpose of God (12:7). God is not tormenting Paul. God has another purpose by which he allows suffering to happen in the world. Paul says that for him, because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations he received, this thorn in the flesh was given to him so that he would not exalt himself or become conceited. God used this so that humility would be maintained. A message we consistently see in the scriptures is that God allows suffering purposefully. God allows suffering so that his purpose and good would be fulfilled in us.
Verse 9 affirms that God has given us sufficient grace to endure. Notice the answer is not that suffering would be removed. Rather, God has given sufficient grace so that we are able to endure. God’s power is made perfect through our weaknesses. It is when we are out of strength that we finally depend on God the most. Suffering is to burn away our pride, self-confidence, and independence. Therefore we embrace the suffering given to us because we have been given God’s grace which is sufficient to endure and is necessary for the growth of our faith.
As Christians what can we do to those who are differently-abled? Perhaps the best-known example is Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel 9. He was the son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul. He became disabled when his nurse fell with him in her arms as she was trying to flee from danger. When David became king, he made inquiries as to whether there was anyone left from the house of Saul to whom he could show kindness for his friend Jonathan's sake. When he found Mephibosheth, he did not single him out for his disability, he simply did what he would have done for any son of Jonathan. Nor, when he discovered his disability, did he recoil from honoring him; he treated him exactly as he would have done if Mephibosheth had been a powerful warrior. He welcomed him to his table, gave him Saul's land, and provided servants to farm it for him. This story becomes a powerful metaphor for the kingdom of God, where abled and disabled people sit together side by side as equals at the feast table
Prayer
Lord, strengthen me to help and care for those who are differently-abled
Thought of the day
We are the body of Christ, and so we should do everything that Christ's body did when He was here on earth. Where disabled people are concerned we should touch, embrace and love them just as He did
Anish Thomas
Marthoma Church of Greater Washington
Lord, strengthen me to help and care for those who are differently-abled
Thought of the day
We are the body of Christ, and so we should do everything that Christ's body did when He was here on earth. Where disabled people are concerned we should touch, embrace and love them just as He did
Anish Thomas
Marthoma Church of Greater Washington