This post was written by a lovely friend of mine, Bethany. I met Bethany at Youth Becoming Leaders and was always really inspired by her and her story. Bethany also has a blog of her own called Abiding in Hope, which you can check out here.
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Hi, my name is Bethany, I have a disability called Cerebral Palsy. Being disabled has influenced my walk with Christ in indescribable ways. I was born 14 weeks premature after my mom had toxemia. After being on a ventilator for almost two weeks and under constant care, there was nothing the doctors could do for me anymore. They said that I would die. Before that happened, my parents wanted me to be baptized; so, I was. A miracle occurred that day. Within an hour of my baptism, I was taking some breaths on my own, whereas before, I relied completely on the ventilator.
That was the day my journey with Christ began, but I know His preventive held me even before I came to know and understand who He is. I don’t want to say that my Cerebral Palsy (CP) defines me, because it doesn’t, but, it has given me a perspective that no one else can have. Throughout my life I have faced daily struggles resulting from my disability, simple tasks for everyone else are not at all simple for me. I have learned in walking with Christ that He is faithful, even when we can’t feel His presence, or see what He’s doing. Knowing that He saved me at birth, I am assured that He has a specific purpose for me, one that only I can fulfill, as it is with all humans. I could never deny that Christ is my savior, because of this fact.
Since the day we all were born He has been with us, and loved us; Ephesians 1:4-6 says that, “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved.” Every day I struggle with one thing or another because of my disability, and sometimes I get angry and frustrated because it doesn’t fully go away, and it is a difficult cup only I can drink; However, He has given all of us this promise, through the Apostle Paul, found in Romans 8:18, “ I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” He also gives us another promise in Romans 8:28-30, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”
Think about that for a minute. The Creator of the universe chose us to be His children before He made the world, He set us to be adopted into His family, it was/is His will, and all we have to do is believe that He is Lord. Then God said that the glory that will be revealed in us, (which is His glory), is not even worth comparing with our struggles and suffering, because His glory is so much better. He doesn’t have to reveal His glory in us, but He wants too. He does it willingly for those who believe and follow Him, Willingly. I wouldn’t change my past and what I’ve been through, the struggle will be there until the day I die, but it’s worth it because I believe God is sovereign, He is for me, and He is with me, and the same goes for you too, if you accept His free gift of grace and believe. If there’s one thing I’ve learned through experience in all my years of life, it’s that our struggles and frustrations can be big and strong, but God will always be bigger and stronger than all of them.