It’s a rare day when I see someone that causes my heart to go out to him or her just by seeing him or her. Maybe it’s because of my own love of self, or I don’t often see people with any kind of disability or disfigurement. Typically those with physical or mental disabilities cause my heart to be rattled.

Here at the singles retreat, there is a guy who (I believe) has cerebral palsy. Questions come to mind: Did he do anything to deserve lifelong bondage to a wheel chair? Did his parents’ sin make him this way?

The answer, of course, is no.

Jesus and the disciples talked about this sort of situation one time:

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.

And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. –John 9:1-3 (ESV)

So the bottom line is this:

I have no reason to be sorry for someone whom God is glorifying Himself with. The best thing Jesus could do for the man was heal his eyes. Although we may not be able to heal a person with blindness or cerebral palsy, we should do our best for those who haven’t been given a “normal” life.