I Want You!

I’m going to read you a list & see if you can tell me what these things have in common; traumatic brain injury, deafness/blindness, chronic illness, eating disorders, insomnia, speech difficulty, Alzheimer’s Disease/dementia. What do those items have in common? They are all different types of disabilities. As we age disabilities creep up on us & prevent us from doing many of the things we enjoyed earlier in life. That list is a few of many types of disabilities. One that was not on the list, and perhaps the most elusive disability of all, is self-pity.

When we get older it seems like almost every joint starts to ache because of injury, surgery, arthritis, or some other reason. We also lose the strength we once had. Because of the miracles of modern medicine, we are living longer. These advances are a blessing from The Lord. But weakness & pain are almost always present as we get older.

We now have over 15,000 certified nursing homes in the United States that care for those who need it. When we are not able to get out & do the things we once did; such as tend to the flower bed, walk around the yard, play with our grandkids, or other activities, we move to one of these homes. We then question what purpose God has for us when all we do is sit in our chair or lay in bed & watch TV. How can that be of any service to Him? We see no purpose for our life & we pity ourselves.

Our Heavenly Father did not create man to feel worthless & pity the condition he’s in. Look how valuable we are to Him! He gave the life of His only begotten Son so that we will be forgiven for our sins & be with Him for eternity. In return, we should devote ourselves to the Lord in service every second of our lives. We ask how He can use us when we are unable to do almost everything. God will give you the power and ability to accomplish His sovereign will. If the Holy Spirit reveals what God wants, He will also provide for us a way to do it.

Because we are not able to be what we consider to be an effective part of God’s calling, the question “WHY?” comes up many times. Questions like “’Why has He allowed this to happen?’ ‘What did I do to deserve this?’ & ‘What can I do for Him now?’” often cross our minds. We should understand that God has a reason for everything that happens. He either caused it to happen or allowed it to happen.

If anyone in the history of the world had a valid reason to ask “WHY ME?” & pity himself it was God’s servant Job. Job was living a good life with wealth as a successful farmer, herdsman, & landowner. He had hundreds of heads of cattle & thousands of sheep. God also found him to be faithful, blameless, & upright. He was the greatest man in all the people of the East. God had blessed him greatly. Satan tried to prove to the Lord that the only reason Job was like this was because of the things he owned. The devil was going to prove Job to be a liar; or so he thought. He was going to try to show God that what Job really loved was his many possessions. God gave Satan permission to take these things from Job. Satan grinned & put his plan to action. In less than one day Job lost everything! When he found out about all that had been taken from him Job grieved deeply. In a matter of hours, he lost 1000 donkeys & oxen, 7000 sheep, 3000 camels, & all 10 of his children. After this happened Job shaved his head, fell to his knees to worship God, & said, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21)

Satan was angry that his plan to take the worldly possessions from Job failed to cause him to turn against God. Job didn’t become angry with the Lord or pity himself. He turned to God in worship. Satan then said to the Lord that if He would allow him to strike Job’s hand causing him great pain Job will curse God to His face. The Lord gave the devil permission to harm Job & his wife but he could not take their life. Having been granted permission from God, Satan caused great boils to appear on Job’s body from head to toe. Job still worshiped God despite this affliction. Satan again failed to turn him against God. The Lord was pleased by the steadfast faithfulness of His servant Job. Job didn’t get angry or pity himself because of the evil that had been done to him. God blessed him greatly for that. To reward this obedience & dedication God returned to Job twice what was taken.