Now I am gonna confess something that I do not think I have ever told anybody. When I was younger, I used to pray and ask God to miraculously heal me from my Arthrogryposis. I had dreams of one day walking and all the sudden being able to bend my knees but alas, I am still disabled. I have always been ok with being disabled but there has always been that little voice in the back of my mind that reminded me from time to time how cool it would be for God to perform a miracle in my life. And yes, while that would be cool, it is not God's will to heal me from my Arthrogryposis.
It was not until my teenage years that I fully understood why I was born disabled. Daddy was preaching one Sunday from John chapter nine - the story where Jesus heals the blind man. In verse two, the Disciples asked Jesus:
"...Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?"
Jesus replied in verse three by saying:
"...Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents:
but that the works of God should be made manifest in him."
When Daddy read that verse, it was like the light bulb came on! God created me, Arthrogryposis and all, so that He could be glorified and others could see Him through me.
Something that I have noticed in my twenty years of being disabled is that many people who are disabled just sit around and have pity parties all day because they feel sorry for themselves. This is how the world thinks disabled people should be. The world sees no value in the life of a disabled person. But, how am I going to show Christ in how I live if all I do is sit around and have pity parties for myself? I will not be able to show Him in my life if that is all I do!
Thinking through this makes me feel honored to be disabled. Because of my disability, I have come into contact with many people that I probably would have never met if it were not for the Arthrogryposis. I cannot count how many times I have been able to encourage others by sharing my testimony as a result of being disabled.
Another reason why I believe God created me disabled is to keep me humble and solely dependent on Him. In 2 Corinthians twelve verse seven, Paul says:
"And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations,
there was given to me a thorn in the flesh,
the messenger of Satan to buffet me,
lest I should be exalted above measure."
Paul saw his thorn in the flesh as God's way of keeping him humble in the midst of the fact that God gave Paul the privilege of recording portions of the inspired Word of God. Then in verse ten, Paul states:
"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities,
in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses for Christ's sake:
for when I am weak,
then am I strong."
Paul made a choice to let God use his life despite his thorn in the flesh. Never in Scripture do we see where Paul had a pity party because he was "disabled". (I am using the term "disabled" as a shortened form of the phrase "thorn in the flesh". We are not really sure what Paul's thorn in the flesh was but it very well could have been a physical disability of some sort.) Paul spent his life serving God and letting God use this "disability" for His will and glory.
So, while it has taken me twenty years to go beyond just accepting my disability to being thankful for it, I really truly am thankful for my disability. It has been so cool to see God use it and give me opportunities to encourage others because of the Arthrogryposis. I cannot wait to see how God is going to use it in the next twenty years and Lord willing, many years beyond that.
What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?
~ Ruby James Mikula
