This Just About Sums It Up.....

I was walking into Children's Hospital today, and checking my emails as I walked. I had one from my cousin so I was curious to see what it was about. About two minutes later it was all I could do to keep my composure...but let me back up a little.

Yesterday, at the end of my blog I mentioned that I believe God made my son exactly like He planned, and that his condition wasn't really a birth "defect". It might help to back up and read that if you haven't.

Well, my cousin reminded me of the story of Jesus healing the blind man in John 9. When I read what she wrote, it was one of those moments when you know that God is talking to you.

Here's how the passage begins:

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

Whoa! How could I have not thought of this story? How on earth did this passage not come to mind. This just about sums it up.

While Lisa was pregnant (even up to almost a year before), I prayed about who my child would be. I didn't ask for a boy or girl, I didn't ask for him to be smart, I didn't ask for him to be athletic, or talented in anyway. All I asked for, over and over, was that God would use him to bring glory to Himself.

We rarely consider the implications of our prayers. We tend to pray with preconceived notions in our heads about how God will do something (or at least I do...I'll admit it). I have to be honest, I knew God would use our son, but I never considered it would be like this for one second. I kind of thought he would just make a great man of faith out of him or something. I can't believe how small my expectations of God can be sometimes.

Well, me and Lisa never did ask the question: Why? Don't get me wrong, we were scared to death, and I mean terrified Wednesday afternoon, August 12, 2009, but even then, the knowledge that God is in control of all things kept us from completely falling apart. But now we have a definite answer to the question: Why did God let our son be born this way? The answer: "that the works of God might be displayed in him."

I don't exactly know for sure what that is going to look like, but I'll always have my preconceived notions, and the knowledge those notions pale in comparison to the plans of Him who can raise the dead.