I can’t help but notice that the concept of suffering & trials keeps coming up all around me, whether in other people’s lives or through hearing God’s voice….I feel He’s trying to speak.
Just last week I heard Nick Vujicic speak, an incredible man of God who was born with no limbs. Having pretty much just the trunk of his body, head to stomach, & two stubs for his legs/feet, he bounced around stage sharing his story, while having us dying with laughter. (You can check him out at www.lifewithoutlimbs.org)
Can you imagine? No limbs! When first listening to him your mind is flooded with tons of ?’s as you focus on his body & how he struggles to just get around. By the end of the hour, your mind has been captured by the fact that this man has truly received a supernatural joy from finding his identity in Christ, and not his circumstances.
What struck me most was his comment, “Have you ever thought about how we as Christians pray so often for our circumstances to change, rather than our hearts and characters? Maybe God is more concerned about the latter & that’s why he doesn’t change the former.”
In addition to this, I also can’t help but think how incredibly glorified God has been through Nick’s life. Humans may view him with eyes of pity, weakness, & even as an outcast. But maybe what we see as less than is really how God is most glorified.
Maybe that’s why God also allows so much suffering and death in our world. Maybe it’s through what we view as the very worst in life that His name and purposes end up receiving the very best?
Maybe that’s why Jesus was able to remain silent and not defend himself when going to the Cross? Maybe that’s why Paul was able to have joy while being persecuted and in jail for Christ? Maybe that’s why Nick can laugh hysterically without arms or legs & make light of his situation? Maybe that’s why we as Christians can have hope in the midst of death & losing people we love so deeply?
Just reflecting a lot on life and eternity lately…
