Be a Shining Light:

See People with Disabilities as Jewels that Sparkle

By Babs Kincaid

God has a big heart of compassion for the people the world calls less than or inferior because of their disabilities. For example, God chose Moses to be the dynamic leader of Israel to deliver them out of slavery from Egypt to freedom. God chose Moses, a man with a speech defect to take on a crucial leadership role for the nation of Israel! Israel had been in slavery for 400 years in Egypt! According to Peter Machinist “And when God commands Moses to free the Israelites from Egypt, and Moses protests his competence to challenge the Pharaoh because of a speech defect—a “heaviness of mouth and heaviness of tongue” as the text says (Exodus 4:10)—this defect is turned, by God, into the basis of a new arrangement, wherein Aaron shall do the speaking, and Moses will direct him as though he were God Himself (Exodus 4:16).” Check it out from God’s play book “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;” 1 Corinthians 1:27 According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance the Greek word for weak (772) means “without strength, and more feeble.” According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, the Greek word for mighty (2478) means forcible, powerful, strong and valiant.” So God’s merciful heart did not select a mighty warrior to fulfill this dangerous mission, but someone who had a significant weakness. The cool part of this story is that despite his weakness, Moses with God’s help rose to the occasion and bravely got the job done! Listen to the historical summary in God’s word: “Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt-to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.” Deuteronomy 34:10-12 What a miraculous achievement! Yea God!!!                                                                             

There are moments in life that take your breath away and one of those involves a child I know with downs syndrome. David was 5 ½ years old at the time and one particular morning after breakfast he clearly said to his mom, “Babs' arm.” His mom Lisa knew that meant that Babs needed prayer for her arm. It was customary for Lisa to do devotions with her children after breakfast. Lisa is a prayer warrior and part of our Sunday prayer team at Calvary Church in Jupiter, Florida. I had broken my arm and Lisa had been praying for me. The remarkable miracle in that story is I have never been to Lisa’s house and I have only seen David a handful of times at church. The fact that he would have remembered my broken arm and need for prayer was a Heaven drop directly from God! God used a precious child David with a disability to highlight my need for prayer! I struggled with a lot of pain during my healing process, so I was extremely grateful for the prayer. When Lisa told me the story, it brought tears to my eyes!!! God’s big heart was moved to use a small child with a disability to help me at my critical point of need! Listen to this heartwarming narrative from God’s word: “Then the little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these,” Matthew 19:13-14 No wonder God uses little children with disabilities to significantly minister to people in need! Yea God!

What I took away from those two real-life stories, is that Almighty God as a creative genius sees people with disabilities as jewels that can sparkle. “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7b When we discount people with disabilities we are missing the mark with God. Check it out from God’s word: “To show partiality in judging is not good.” Proverbs 24:23b God has called us to show honor and value to all people.

I find it fascinating that individuals with autism have exceptional giftedness from God that other people do not have. “Some of the strengths you may see in people with autism – Adapted from A Parent’s Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome and High Functioning Autism by Sally Ozonoff, Geraldine Dawson, and James McPartland:

■ Strong visual skills

■ Ability to understand and retain concrete concepts, rules, sequences and patterns

■ Good memory of details or rote facts (math facts, train schedules, baseball statistics)

■ Long-term memory

■ Computer and technology skills

■ Musical ability or interest

■ Intense concentration or focus, especially on a preferred activity

■ Artistic ability

■ Mathematical ability

■ Ability to decode written language (read) at an early age (but not necessarily comprehend)

■ Strong encoding (spelling)

■ Honesty

■ Problem-solving ability (when you cannot ask for something you want, you can get pretty creative about getting your hands on it yourself.)”

       Wow, that is quite an impressive list of attributes that I would even love to have in my wheelhouse of credits! Some of the celebrated individuals with autism who have or are making a difference in this world from Famous Autistic People in History from http://www.appliedbehavioranalysisprograms.com/historys-30-most-inspiring-people-on-the-autism-spectrum/ include the following individuals:

§  Hans Christian Andersen – Children’s Author

§  Lewis Carroll – Author of “Alice in Wonderland”

§  Albert Einstein – Scientist & Mathematician

§  Bobby Fischer – Chess Grandmaster

§  Bill Gates – Co-founder of the Microsoft Corporation

§  Thomas Jefferson – Early American Politician

§  Steve Jobs – Former CEO of Apple

§  Michelangelo – Sculptor, Painter, Architect, Poet

§  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Classical Composer

§  Sir Isaac Newton – Mathematician, Astronomer, & Physicist

§  Jerry Seinfeld – Comedian

§  Satoshi Tajiri – Creator of Nintendo’s Pokémon

§  William Butler Yeats – Poet

          It is intriguing to me that individuals with ADD/ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) also have unique giftedness from God that bears recognition. According to Bob Seay from an article in ADDitude Magazine here is a list of what to love about ADD:

v Insomnia makes for more time to surf the web

v The drive for hyperfocus

v Resiliency

v A sparkling personality

v Generosity with money, time, and resources

v Ingenuity

v A strong sense of what is FAIR

v Willingness to take a RISK

v Making far-reaching analogies that no one can understand

v Spontaneity

v You have a “Ferrari” brain, but with “Chevy” brakes

v Pleasant and constant surprises due to finding clothing or money you forgot about

v Being funny

v Being the last of the romantics

v Being a good conversationalist

v An innate understanding of intuitive technologies such as computers or PDA’s

v Honestly believe that anything is possible

v Rarely being satisfied with status quo

v Compassion

v Persistence

v Joining the ranks of artists, musicians, entrepreneurs, and other creative types

v Always being there to provide a different perspective.

v Willingness to fight for what you believe in.

v Excellence in motivating others

Be surprised at this list of some well-known people with ADD or ADHD:

Walt Disney – founder of Disneyland

Michael Phelps – Olympic gold medalist

Michael Jordan – Basketball star

Richard Branson – Business mogul (starting his own space exploration company to owning his own island)

Albert Einstein - Theoretical Physicist

Ryan Gosling – actor

Justin Timberlake – Grammy winner singer

Jamie Oliver – star chef

Karina Smirnoff – Dancer with Dancing With the Stars

Will Smith – actor and singer

Jim Carrey – funny actor

Ty Pennington – expert carpenter from show Extreme Makeover

Terry Bradshaw – NFL quarterback

David Neeleman – founder of JetBlue Airlines

Paul Orfalea - Founder of Kinko's (copy chain)

To be a shining light by adding worth to others with disabilities, I dug deep into God’s word to highlight his emphatic instructions for us. God’s word teaches us to show Honor toward others. "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.” Honor one another above yourselves." Romans 12:10  It is worth stating that we are to Value Others above ourselves. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,” Philippians 2:3 Another bold directive from God is to show proper Respect to everyone. “Show proper respect to everyone.” 1 Peter 2:17a Since Jesus modeled kindness and forgiveness, we are admonished to Be kind and Forgiving to all people. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 Considering that Jesus was the epitome of sacrificial Love, it is logical that God would direct us to follow his example. “By this we know love that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 1 John 3:16-17”

If God has crowned me with his glory and honor, I want to treat others with disabilities so they will feel like they are being treated with glory and honor!

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. ...Psalm 8:4-8?

Be known as someone who Adds value to People!