Delighting in Your Disability
Tharon Drake lost his memory in 2007 at 14 years of age. Every day when he woke up, he was a 2-year-old again. According to Wikipedia, his amnesia was brought on by a reaction to routine childhood vaccinations. Every morning, his father accompanied him to school, and by the time he reached swimming practice later in the day, he was a 14-year-old again. Eventually, through the help of medication, he was able to overcome the amnesia. But then a different problem cropped up; by June of 2008, Tharon was totally blind.
In spite of his disability, Tharon continued to swim in high school, eventually competing at the international level. He won many medals at all levels of competition and today holds 11 unbeaten national records as a Paralympic swimmer. But he doesn’t consider those his greatest accomplishments.
Tharon eventually became the first blind NCAA coach in the history of the NCAA. He also earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business and a Master’s degree in business administration. With these and many more accomplishments in life, the question naturally comes up; what was Tharon’s greatest accomplishment? This quote has guided him to all of his accomplishments. “Everyone has a disability – mine is just more noticeable than most people’s. God can use any person’s disability for His glory if you will allow Him to do so.”
How do you react to Tharon’s statement that “everyone has a disability? Does that resonate with you, or do you feel defensive? At first thought, you may think you don’t have a disability, but in reality, we all do. If nothing else, our disability is the consequence of living in both a body and a world that is marred by sin and its effects.
The apostle Paul knew what it was like to live with a disability. We find him talking openly about this in Second Corinthians chapter twelve. Our study today looks at the first ten verses of the chapter and I’ve titled it “Delighting in Your Disability.” I invite you to listen to God’s Word from II Corinthians 12:1 to 10.
In this text, Paul clearly reveals the DISCOVERIES by which you and I can learn to delight in our disability.
The First DISCOVERY (that will help us learn to delight in our disability) is,
The Definition of Disability
What is the definition of a disability? Here’s the common understanding. It’s a physical, mental, cognitive, or developmental condition that impairs, interferes with, or limits a person’s ability to engage in certain tasks or actions.
OK, most likely you already knew that, but how is Paul using the word in our text? The KJV uses the English word, infirmities. The same word is translated in other places as illnesses, diseases, and invalid. But the most common rendering is weaknesses. It implies feebleness of some kind in either mind or body or both.
In verse 10 of our text, Paul gives us a partial list of what these disabilities look like. And notice, he says he is content to experience them. Here again, he uses the word weaknesses. Then, he adds insults, hardships with persecution, and difficulties. No one likes insults, to be shamed, or to have your reputation damaged. In Acts 27 Paul used this word to warn the sailors about the injury or damage they and their ship faced by failing to heed his advice.
And then, hardships. Other related words used are distress, compulsion, constraint, necessity, or necessary. Add to this, persecutions, specifically for religious reasons. Many of our brothers and sisters around the world are experiencing this persecution right now. And finally, distress or hardship and difficulty. It describes a narrowness of place, as we sometimes say, “being in dire straits,” not knowing which way to turn for relief.
I read recently of whole villages in northern Nigeria being abandoned by the Christian families who live there. Why? Because they fear attacks by Fulani herdsmen or Hausa Muslims who have been plundering and pillaging northern Nigeria for years. They leave everything behind and flee into the bush. They are persecuted because they follow Jesus.
We must understand that these disabilities, these weaknesses Paul is talking about are not about bad choices. We have all experienced the results of poor choices in our lives. Paul isn’t talking about the consequences of bad behavior. No, these are circumstances that are beyond our control, situations, and experiences that make us look weak. If we were able, we would avoid these situations completely. But we’re not able to do that. And that is part of what makes them so hard to bear. They are beyond our control.
All of us face situations in our lives like this. In our previous message, we looked at the partial list of things Paul had already endured for the sake of the Gospel. In addition, we face hostility and defamation from those who hate God, Jesus, and the Bible. Like the apostle Paul, we want to learn how to delight in our disability. The first discovery we must make is to define what our disability is.
The Second DISCOVERY (that will help us learn to delight in our disability) is,
The Source of Disability
Does the disability Paul mentions come from Satan or God? Or does it come from both? In verse 7 Paul talks about his “thorn in the flesh.” He said it was “a messenger of Satan to buffet or torment him.” To be buffeted means to be slapped or struck with a fist. So, this messenger from Satan kept slapping Paul upside the head, as we say.
Think about it. Would Satan purposely give something to someone to keep them from becoming proud? Pride is what Satan is all about, it was his original sin. So, he is going to entice many people to follow him in that sin.
But there are a couple of things we must remember: first, Satan is not omniscient, that is, he doesn’t know all things. He doesn’t know how a person is going to respond to a situation he may instigate. Case in point – he most likely thought that Jesus’ death was the end of the story. Wrong! That proves he isn’t able to know beforehand the choices we will make. Second, as we learn from the life of Job, Satan can only do what God allows him to do. He does not have unlimited power or access, especially to the people of God. And Satan misread Job too.
Is it possible that Satan hoped Paul’s hardships would make him bitter toward God just like he hoped Job’s trials would? You know, the idea that “Hey God, I’m doing what you’ve called me to do, and this is the thanks I get!” Job actually went there. But in all of his suffering, he didn’t reject God or speak evil of Him.
Many people have fallen into that trap. They’ve been told, falsely, “Just come to Jesus and your life will be better and easier.” In reality, the opposite is true. When you become a Christ-follower your life will become more difficult; Satan will use your desires, your friends, and your family to try to lure you away from Christ.
Paul realized that God had allowed Satan to buffet him for a specific reason. The reason for this thorn, (which was, literally, anything pointed), was so that he wouldn’t become proud. This thorn, this sharp, pointed thing was uncomfortable. You know, I thought of another sharp thing in Paul’s experience. Remember in Acts 9 the account of Paul’s conversion? What did Jesus say to him? “It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” A goad is a sharp stick used to prod cattle. That sharp stick irritating Paul’s conscience was part of his conversion experience. It was part of his humbling himself before Jesus as the Son of God.
So, Paul recognized God was allowing Satan to afflict him for a specific reason. Paul first discovered what his disabilities were and then he discovered that the source of those disabilities was both God and Satan.
The Final DISCOVERY (that will help us learn to delight in our disability) is,
The Purpose of Disability
Most things in life have a purpose, a reason for their existence. What was the purpose of Paul’s disability, whatever it was? What is the purpose of our disability?
Paul had experienced the amazing supernatural revelation mentioned in the earlier part of this chapter. He had been caught up in the very presence of God. We can only imagine what this must have been like. In my way of thinking, this kind of experience would certainly be grounds for boasting. “I must be really special for God to give me this kind of revelation.”
Some of the false teachers in Corinth who were opposing Paul were guilty of this kind of self-promotion. Paul wanted no part of that. But he didn’t really want this thorn in the flesh either. He understood that it was necessary to keep him from becoming proud. I wonder, is the temptation to pride the reason why God doesn’t entrust the “miraculous gifts” of First Corinthians 12 to many people? The well-known people of our time who claim to have these gifts are certainly not models of humility.
We can make several observations from Paul’s insights on the purpose of disabilities. First, Satan’s mission in life is to harass you, discourage you, make you want to give up, to dissuade you from following Christ. So, it’s OK to ask God for relief. That’s what Paul did on three different occasions. He begged God to remove this thorn because he saw it as a hindrance to his ministry, to his effectiveness for God. But God could see the big picture and He said “no.”
He said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is fulfilled in [your] weakness.” God’s purpose is to glorify Himself, to glorify the grace and power of His Son, through us as His children. He can’t do that if we’re full of ourselves. And so, He allows disability to keep us humble so we, and others, recognize that any good that comes from us is sourced in Him.
Paul’s conclusion was that he would boast about his disabilities. Why, because they were so much fun? No, Paul didn’t have our modern Western mindset that pleasure or good times are the ultimate goals in life. Paul readily acknowledged the physical, emotional, and spiritual pain that accompanies a life committed to Christ. This second letter to the Corinthians highlights many of those struggles. But he understood the pain wasn’t pointless. He understood that the suffering for righteousness was proof that the power of Christ rested on him.
Not only would he boast about his disabilities – but he would also take pleasure in them or delight in them. Why? Because it was in his weakness that the strength of Christ was revealed. And that is what Paul wanted those around him to see, the power of Christ.
Now, what about you and me? Are our goals in life similar to those of the apostle Paul? Are you and I able to cheerfully embrace our limitations, our disabilities, in order that the power of Christ may rest on us? Or do we chafe and complain, accusing God of being unfair, of giving us a raw deal in life?
I don’t mean to imply that we can’t question God; Paul did. He begged three times for his disability to be removed. We have many examples in Scripture of godly people who questioned God in times of difficulty. Think of Job, Elijah, David, John the Baptist, and others. But ultimately, they acknowledged that God is in control, and He knows what’s best.
Recently, I heard a radio spot by Joni Erickson Tada. As most of you know, she has suffered as a quadriplegic all of her adult life. But she made the statement that she “doesn’t want her suffering to be wasted.” In other words, she knows God has a purpose for what He has allowed in her life, and she wants her suffering to be used by God for His glory and for the blessing of others. Like the apostle Paul, Joni’s response to her suffering has motivated many to embrace their disability for the glory of God.
So, let’s remember, God’s grace is all you and I need. Remember that grace is receiving something that you do not deserve. We all deserve to suffer and spend eternity in Hell. Instead, God has given us Jesus to give us eternal life in Heaven. God will give you and me what we need to continue on regardless of our illness or disability. We need to stay focused on Jesus and stop worrying about what we can’t control.
When you are weak, God is strong. Your disability will stop you only if you allow it to. Trust God that He knows what He is doing and learn to delight in your disability for His glory and for the blessing of others.