"If God existed you wouldn’t have cerebral palsy?"
Not too long ago someone said this to me online. Many times in our lives we run into many types of challenges. Yet what makes things amazing is how we chose to deal with them. It is way to easy to say "their is no God because I have this" or we can say "I am thankful to God for what I have been given."
The fact that I have cerebral palsy means this road has not always been easy for me. Times of internal struggle and a lot of self-doubt. With a nasty combination of a feeling of not being comfortable of where I am at in this life, added, for good measure. Much of this comes from the milestones I see my friends reach and knowing that some of them I may never get to enjoy. I still manage to take comfort in knowing that God is very much with me. Helping and guiding though some of that struggle.
What has helped me in even in a small way is looking though the lives of the Saints. Many of them had major challenges in this life. Some which in our current view could easily be seen as a disability. Though out the history of the church we turn to the Saints for guidance in our lives as they are examples of how to be faithful to God. We see how they were able to overcome the challenges in life. I know that this has given me a small measure of comfort.
As I live my life people will always have their own issues with God. That can't always be helped. In my own walk in the faith. I know that in my own way I am doing far more than I ever thought I could. God, for me, very much exists and I am thankful for all that HE has given me. With the various challenges and struggles I am still learning. I am still growing. I spend time reflecting and praying.
By the Grace of God I am still standing. -JM
Pia Matthews has written a wonderful book called "God's Wild Flowers: Saints with Disabilities." I have found this to be helpful in understanding my own challenges.
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