Helping the Helpless

Verse of the day: Leviticus 19:14, “You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God: I am the LORD.

One of the ugliest things we, as born again believers, can do to dishonor the Name of Jesus, is to mistreat the disabled. We are to avoid mistreating them just because they suffer from a physical or mental disability. As ambassadors for Christ, we should view helping those who cannot fend for themselves, as a privilege, and service to the Lord. Matthew 15:29-31 tells us, “Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there. 30 Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them. 31 So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.” Not only did Jesus accept them and heal them, but in verses 32-39, He fed the four thousand, which included those with disabilities that He healed. Even before Jesus came and showed such great kindness to the lame, the blind, and all those with infirmities, God made it clear that we are to be kind to those who are unable to fend for themselves. Job said of himself in Job 29:15, “I was eyes to the blind, and I was feet to the lame.” As God’s children, the Holy Spirit is working in us to produce His fruit in our lives. Galatians 5:22-23 tells us, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” Hence, if we are growing in love, we are also growing in kindness. 1 Corinthians 13:4 clearly states, “Love suffers long and is kind”. This love and kindness is not to be impartial. Sadly, I have seen incidents where Christians have looked down on, and treated people differently, simply because they had some kind of disability. I have seen them look down on parents of disabled children, and I have heard born again believers complain about disabled children and suggest that there was no place for them in a particular local church, especially during those years when there was little understanding about children, and adults, with Autism. That is a crying shame, and should never be. Sin and death has marred God’s perfect creation, and God has allowed a number of people to be born with all sorts of disabilities, and poverty, but He loves the disabled person just as much as he loves a healthy person. Psalm 139:14-16 reads, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.” This also applies to those who have physical and mental disabilities. When Jesus was asked who sinned, in respect to the man who was born blind, He answered, in John 9:3, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.” Even the disabled can be used for God’s glory, even when we do not see it, or understand it, with our limited, carnal, minds. Let us never forget that just because we were not born with a disability, does not mean that we cannot suffer from one. Joni Eareckson Tada is a wonderful example of how God can use the life of someone who was not born disable, but later became disabled as a result of a diving accident. She wrote, in her booklet, “Hope…the Best of Things”, “The 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” (Crossway Books, Wheaton, Illinois, 2008). I have seen God use people with disabilities in some of the most amazing ways. I have known men and women with Cerebral Palsy, whom God used to teach or preach, and others with Down Syndrome who were the greatest example of unconditional love and kindness. I once knew a woman with Autism who could quote some of the most obscure Bible verses, word for word, and know the reference as well. How would we want to be treated, if some day we came face to face with an illness or accident that left us disabled?

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).