God uses whatever it takes to grow our reliance on Him. Acts 9 tells the story of Paul on the road to Damascus where he simultaneously saw Jesus, heard Him speak, and went blind for a couple days.
That's what it took to set Paul on the path of faith and reliance.
My personal road to Damascus began forty years ago today when I gave birth to a son. Twelve hours later he received a diagnosis and earned an airplane ride to a hospital in another state. That's what it took to put me on the path to faith and reliance. I could do nothing for our tiny baby except entrust him to God.
I didn't see God. I didn't hear Him.
Instead, I found myself on the Damascus road of parenting a medically fragile baby. Sometimes, my husband and I could see one step ahead. Usually, we were traveling blind. We could do nothing except rely upon God to show us the way.
Forty years later, I can confidently say that He did.
Photo credit: CDC on Unsplash.com.
My confidence was bolstered today when I was studying the story of Paul on the Damascus road in Acts 9. Paul's experience on a dusty road over 2,000 years ago was very different than that of mine, as the parent of a child with special needs. However, the people He provided along the way for Paul and for our small family were remarkably similar.
God provided complete strangers. Hospital personnel recommended places to stay in a strange city. A skilled surgeon operated on our son. An old lady and her son came to our aid when we discovered we'd locked our keys in our car. Just like Ananias–who restored Paul's sight, introduced him to believers in Damascus, and was never again mentioned in the Bible–we never heard from any of the strangers from the early days of our journey again.
God provided early teachers. Paul stayed in Damascus and learned the basics of the Christian faith from believers there. We learned the basics of caring for a baby with medical needs from our son's neonatal intensive care nurses. We felt ill-equipped when it was time to take our son home, but they assured us that we and our baby were ready. They were right.
God provided mentors. Barnabas mentored Paul for many years, first as his teacher and then as his partner in ministry. Some of our mentors were doctors and nurses who oversaw our son's care once we were in our own home and community again. Others were fellow Christians in our town who encouraged us in our faith. Still others learned how to care for our son so we could get a break now and then.
God provided purpose. Paul's purpose was to take the gospel to the Gentiles. Our purpose was to love and parent our small son. That early purpose led my husband to switch careers and become a nurse. It led me to welcome kids with learning needs into my classroom, and later, to encourage parents of kids with disabilities through writing and speaking.
God provided friends. Paul's early friends saved his life by sneaking him out of Damascus in a basket. Those who heard him preach the gospel and believed in Jesus became friends. Many later welcomed him into their homes and started churches. The friends God brought to us–from those who rallied around us forty years ago to those we see at disability and special needs conferences like Key Ministry's Inclusion Fusion Live, and so many others in between–enrich our lives and hold us accountable.
God uses whatever it takes to grow our reliance on Him. He did it for Paul. He did it for my family. If you're raising a child with disabilities and special needs, you can be sure He is using your experience to grow your reliance, too. You can also be sure that He will use people to do it. He will populate your unique Damascus road with strangers, teachers, mentors, purposes, and friends. He will use them to...
change you,
challenge you,
encourage you,
stretch you,
and prepare you for purposes far beyond the stretch of the Damascus road you can see in the present moment.
Our God uses whatever it takes to grow our faith—even, and perhaps especially, our kids with disabilities and special needs.
Jolene Philo is the author of several books for the caregivng community. She speaks at parenting and special needs conferences around the country. She's also the creator and host of the Different Dream website. Sharing Love Abundantly With Special Needs Families: The 5 Love Languages® for Parents Raising Children with Disabilities, which she co-authored with Dr. Gary Chapman, was released in August of 2019 and is available at local bookstores, their bookstore website, and at Amazon. See Jane Run!, the first book in the West River cozy mystery series will be released in June of 2022.
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