“You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.” Matthew 13:14-15
Someone once asked me, “If you had the power, would you go back and choose your life in a wheelchair?” In one sense, I knew what he meant. After all, God has taught me much through my wheelchair. But would I want to do it over again? I don’t think so.
I can’t think of anyone who desires to be paralyzed. Who would be foolish enough to choose not to have use of his legs and hands? Can you imagine someone wanting to be blind, choosing darkness over the brilliance of a clear blue sky? Who would want to deliberately shut his eyes against the sight of a glorious rainbow?
And who would want to be deaf? Who in the world would desire silence instead of the beauty of a waltz, or the soothing voice of a loved one?
Yet there are people who choose to be handicapped. If you were to challenge them, they wouldn’t have it any other way. They deliberately determine to be disabled. Theirs are very serious disabilities; not physical ones but spiritual handicaps. Jesus even talked about such people.
O God, it’s foolish to think that someone would choose a physical handicap. I certainly wouldn’t. But forgive me when I foolishly close myself off from You and Your Word. Help me to open my eyes and ears. To look for You and listen to You today. I choose not to be paralyzed by indifference or doubt.
