What a difference a point of view makes...

It is no shock that we live in a broken world. There are reminders of this fact every day.

For whatever reason, it is pretty second nature for me to ear mark different references to suffering. To justice. Sometimes even disabilities.

My mind has been running all over the place for the last few days, as I was piecing together thoughts for this blog.

When I was in fifth grade, there was a very popular book/movie that was being read and watched by everyone, young and old. Fried Green Tomatoes. There are so many things I like about that movie, but there is this one part where there is a reference to oysters. As Buddy Threadgood tells the story: There are millions of oysters, and God sees one, and he decides...that one...I am gonna make that one different, and he puts a little piece of sand in it. That one oyster can do something that the others can't. It can make a beautiful pearl.

Now, perhaps I am reaching a bit, but if you think of all those pearls as people with disabilities, then the world is pretty special, isn't it?

In countries other than the USA, people with disabilities are seen as cursed as a result of past sins of relatives. Of course, this is a biblical. One of my favorite verses in the New Testament is in the Gospel of John. The disciples are walking along with Jesus, and they come across a blind man on the side of the road. When asked whose sin has made him blind, Jesus' reply is a bit spine tingling. Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him." (John 9:3) God has seen to it that there are a lot of special people in the world, myself included, and I am just flat out fortunate. It seems the older I get, the more I view my own disabilities as gifts that God has given me. You know, no two eyes see the same thing in the same way. People are used to educate others based on points of view all of the time. The Lord loves each and every person's point of view. After all, through the good, the bad, and yes, even the ugly, that is what has formed the world in which we live.

I was listening to a few hymns this morning. Granted the lyrics of hymns are pretty universal, but when listing to "Abide With Me," there is a line in there: Help of the helpless, abide with me. I love that that one line applies to any and everyone, but as I sift through countless pictures from WFTW trips to Ghana, Uganda, Haiti, Romania, etc., lines from some of my favorite hymns and scriptures ring true.

In "O Love That Will Not Let Me Go," written by George Mathison, he writes, I trace the rainbow through the rain...

I once heard a beautiful illustration for this reference: The picture that God gives us that he will never destroy the world again is this beautiful rainbow (battle bow) that is cocked, aimed back to Himself, and the wonderful thing about the Cross of Jesus is that the battle bow has been loosed, but not on us...but, His Son, instead. So, when trials come, we can hold fast to God's unfailing promises, His COVENANT promises. The proof that God loves us is that He will not destroy the world again, because His Son was destroyed in our place. The wonderful thing about justification through faith, is not having to wonder if God hates us, because every ounce of wrath that God has, has been poured out on Jesus. That fact alone is the epitome of a love that will not let us go.*

All of that to say, when I see pictures of beautiful people around the globe who are/have been affected by disability, and know that they have been told through actions or words that they aren't loved, or that their sins have made them the way that they are, I wish so very badly that I could tell each and every one of them (especially the children) that they are loved and treasured beyond measure. I am so thankful for the heart and vision of Joni and her ministry. Because of her disability and her heart for the Lord, so many people are being exposed to not only the Gospel, but true lasting love...for the first time. If there is anything in the world that everyone should hear, it's the Gospel, and that you are loved.

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.”

(Matthew 18:10 ESV)

I hope that at least some of this made sense. I am just speaking/writing from my heart.

Grace, Peace, Love and Mercy...

*The illustration to which I reference can be heard on Indelible Grace's album: The Hymn Sing: Live in Nashville, for those of you interested.