God has designed relationships whereby when we mistreat people, we are also mistreating ourselves. Deuteronomy 27:18 English Standard Version Bible says,“‘Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind man on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’" God wants people with and without disabilities to be treated well.
In America abortion law is not treating people with disabilities well. Legal abortions are performed to take the life of babies who appear to have a genetic disability, such as Down syndrome.
However, North Dakota has become the first state to pass in both their state legislatures a law prohibiting abortions based on genetic abnormality and sex-selection (usually the killing of girl babies because they are girls). The law is awaiting approval by the governor. The primary sponsor of the bill is Fargo, North Dakota Representative Bette Grande, who has two family members with genetic disabilities.
We all have bits and pieces of us that don't work properly. So what if someone is not perfect? Life is a wonderful opportunity.
We can develop disabilities before birth or acquire them later in life. The Apostle Paul may have acquired a disability that he called a thorn in the flesh and prayed three times for God to remove it. God didn't remove it. 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 Amplified Bible says,"Three times I called upon the Lord and besought [Him] about this and begged that it might depart from me; But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!"
Having weaknesses to work through can be beneficial by making us and other people better if we cooperate with God's power and ability working through us. Abolitionist, Author and Speaker Frederick Douglass said, "If there is no struggle, there is no progress."
We are right to ask God for healing. We also need to recognize that God may use a person's disability to bring about other types of healing in the individual and others. Nick Vujicic is of Serbian heritage and born in Australia with tetra-amelia syndrome, a rare disorder characterized by the absence of all four limbs. Vujicic now lives in America and has for years prayed for arms and legs. God hasn't provided them yet. God has provided Vujicic with the tenacity and courage to use his body in adaptable ways to create as much independence and enjoyment for himself as possible. He is also an evangelist and motivational speaker. Many people hearing Vujicic communicate are moved by an awareness that if Vujicic can conquer life without arms and legs, then so can we facing whatever it is in the way.
One of the fears that some people have about disability is that the disabled will not be able to live independent lives, get married and raise children. Yet the God we serve is infinite. Since He lives inside of believers, infinite things are possible if we enthusiastically seek God and His ways. Proverbs 18:15 Amplified Bible says, "The mind of the prudent is ever getting knowledge, and the ear of the wise is ever seeking (inquiring for and craving) knowledge." Vujicic lives independently, is married to Kanae Loida Vujicic-Miyahara and has a son named Kiyoshi James Vujicic.
God does not will for some disabled people to be independent and married. Instead of viewing this as a death sentence, why not talk with God and find out His purpose for it? Many people today are lonely and feeling empty. Perhaps some of them are called to find purpose and fulfillment in a relationships with people who have disabilities.
None of us came to planet earth randomly. God sent us here, and He wants us to connect to Him and other people today and forever. God doesn't make an exemption to His good plan based on being disabled or non-disabled. 1 John 4:9-11 New Living Translation Bible says, "God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other."
The North Dakota bill prohibiting abortions for genetic abnormality and sex-selection welcomes lives. No life is worthless. Each one of us is a wonder. Nancy Tillman writes in her book On the Night You Were Born:
"For never before in story or rhyme
(not even once upon a time)
has the world ever known a you, my friend,
and it never will, not ever again..."
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