Trusting God through Disability and Weaknesses

When I think of today’s and tomorrow’s radio guest, Sarah Kovac, I’m reminded of a story I once heard about two people strolling along the beach.

One was blind, the other was not.

At the top of a large sand dune, the blind man stopped and breathed in the salt air. “Isn’t this absolutely beautiful?”

“How can you appreciate any of this?” the sighted man asked.

The blind man smiled. “Can’t you feel the warmth of the sun or the sand between your toes? Can’t you hear the crash of the ocean waves?”

Let me ask you, based on that conversation, which of the two men was truly blind?

It’s easy to feel pity for those who have a physical disability in some way. After all, life is even more of a challenge when you’re facing it from a wheelchair or without the benefit of sight or hearing.

But I think we too easily regard people with physical impediments as somehow different from us – as if they’re disabled, and we’re not.

But Sarah Kovac teaches us that each of us has our limitations – not all of them physical. And we desperately need God’s grace if we hope to aspire to everything God has in mind for us.

Sarah is an author and inspirational speaker who suffers from something called Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenital. The condition can develop for a variety of reasons, but doctors have never discovered a cause for Sarah.

The condition’s impact on her is dramatic. The bones from the base of her neck to her fingertips are stuck in place, and the muscles are underdeveloped. She can’t use her hands or arms for virtually any daily tasks, like driving a car or changing her baby’s diapers.

It’s a significant limitation for a wife and a mother of two, to be sure. But she’s learned to compensate. Since the age of two, she’s used her legs and feet in place of her hands and arms. Now she can do most everything life requires of her – yes, even changing her baby’s diapers and driving a car.

Of course, if the Lord offered to restore the use of her limbs, she’d readily accept. But over the years she’s grown to value herself as a whole person, even if certain parts of the whole don’t function properly. That’s how God sees her. He knows and loves her fully – as she is.

But Sarah didn’t always feel so optimistic. As you can imagine, her life hasn’t been easy. In fact, there was a time when she believed her parents and everyone around her would be a lot happier without her alive. The only answer, she felt, was to step out over the edge of a rooftop and onto the top rung of a fire escape to fall to her death.

Thankfully, she chose not to take that final step.

Life didn’t immediately get better, but the Lord did work in her life, and she came to trust He was present in the midst of her disability.

That’s why Sarah’s message is one of hope. We all have limitations that burden us or that keep us from reaching our full potential in life – and only for some of us is that brokenness physical.

If God so chooses, He could heal any of us. But He always has our best interests at heart and can use every aspect of our being, even our flaws, for our good and the good of others. That’s the beauty of God’s healing and restoration – not everything in life is easy or pleasant, but none of it is wasted.

I am fascinated with the paradox of vulnerability in this life. We human beings strive for excellence and control. And yet the Lord often allows our lives to go in unpredictable and precarious directions to teach us to trust Him and to mold us into His character. Trials and difficulties are meant to empty us of ourselves and to teach us what it means to find strength in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).

I hope you’ll tune in to hear from Sarah. I think you’ll be inspired to see God’s presence in your weaknesses and learn to embrace that His will – despite all of our failures and shortcomings – truly is perfect. Listen on your local radio station, anytime online, or via our free, downloadable mobile phone app.