Made in His Image, part 6

The Glory of God

So, why? Why does God do this? What is the purpose behind disabilities, pain, and suffering?

First, I believe that He creates everyone for a reason: to bring glory to Himself.

The Lord says to Isaiah:

Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him. (Isaiah 43:7)

And Paul writes in his letter to the people in Rome:

For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:36)

Second, I believe He fashions us as He does for our good.

This is an oft-quoted verse, but let’s read it one more time and think about what “all things” means.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to Hispurpose. (Romans 8:28, NKJV)

All things. Disabilities, suffering, pain included. He uses these things for our good.

Let’s look at this a bit further with the example given to us in John chapter 9.

Now as Jesuspassed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.” (John 9:1–3, NKJV)

Let me make a quick point here. Although mutations and diseases and disabilities and suffering are part of the Curse and are the result of our sin in Adam, they aren’t necessarily a direct result of a specific sin that we’ve committed. Jesus makes this clear here. Although the man and his parents were sinners, his blindness wasn’t the direct result of a sin that they had committed.

So why was he blind? Why does God make us—every one of us—the way He does? So that the works of God might be displayed in his life.

Imagine for a few moments being the parents of the man born blind. How many times from the time they found out their son was blind did they pray, “Please, God, use this for your glory.” Or how many times did they say, “We don’t know why our son is blind, but we know that God can and will use Him as a testimony for Himself and to draw others to Him.” Or, how many times did they cry out to God,“Why, God? Why did you make our son blind?” And then imagine their joy when Jesus healed him and used him to display the work of God. “Ah,” they said. “So that’s why.”

But it didn’t stop there. Two thousand years later, we’re still reading about this man and learning from his situation. For two thousand years, the testimony of the man who was born blind has been encouraging and blessing people.

And think further about all of the other people with disabilities that we read about in the gospels whom Jesus healed—the lame, the blind, the deaf, the lepers, those in immense pain. What purpose did their suffering serve? It allowed Jesus to demonstrate His deity to those around Him at the time. And to countless millions who have read and believed those accounts in the two thousand years that have since passed. Do you think the lady with the bleeding problem ever imagined while she was suffering through her problems that she would be an example of faith to so many for so long?

To relate this specifically to our son and his genetic disorder diagnosis, I believe that he (and each of us) is part of God’s plan to bring Himself glory in some way—genetic mutations and all.

 
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11