New Vision (Terri)
“The
eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the
everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27)
Terri Schiavo, brain-damaged,
but loved, is gone from this world. In the United
States, the debate raged, but the U. S. Courts sided
with her husband and her feeding tube was removed.
Some wanted her to die so she would no longer
suffer. Others didn’t want her to suffer, but at
the same time wanted her to live. Very few had “no
opinion.” A central issue was her wishes.
Apparently, before her injury, she mentioned that
she did not want her life to be sustained
artificially. She did breathe on her own and lot of
the debate centered on the feeding tube that was
taken away. She died of thirst and lack of food. “Where
is God in this?” is the question of some and
the answer is in today’s Bible verse: He was there
with her, as He is with all who have suffered or
will suffer in this life. He's there for YOU
right now!
The furor over Terri raised a
lot of questions about the quality of life. Many
wondered: SHOULD a person continue to live when they
are facing a lifetime of extreme difficulty? And a
related question is important: WHO decides whether
or not we live or die? Does an off-hand remark give
anyone the right to kill?
You may recall the Director of
“New Vision Ministries,” Howard Burdick, who has
been legally blind since he was a young boy, after
surgery on his eyes did not succeed. Howard runs a
“medical lending closet” giving out crutches, canes
and other equipment to those who need such items,
but cannot afford them. He and another man dress up
as clowns and go into hospitals where they cheer up
the patients. He runs a weekly church service in a
convalescent home. And he is God’s gift to Friday
Study Ministries. Howard, an ordained pastor with a
Masters Degree in Christian Education, has prayed
about joining our Church On The Net, and if approved
by our Board, he will be our “Minister
of Abilities.” Howard believes that those
with “disabilities” often have great abilities that
others don’t understand and they are capable of
providing “New Vision” to the rest of us.
I teach in a convalescent home
on a weekly basis also, and both Howard and I have
come to the conclusion that those with disabilities
often “see” life from a better, more complete
perspective than those the disabled call “Able
Bodied Persons.” When someone receives Christ, he
or she is “gifted” by the Lord, and the process
through which the Lord enables His loved ones to
utilize those “gifts” for the benefit of others,
often includes suffering. We need the hard-won
perspective of the “disabled,” and we need – them.
As Howard points out, we should
LISTEN to those with disabilities. The SITUATION of
Terri Schiavo spoke to us, even though she could not
speak. God allows disabilities, and provides
offsetting abilities to those who have them. Note,
by the way, that ALL of us are going to be disabled
if we live long enough. It’s called the “aging
process,” which was invented by God so that we would
at last ALL see our need of Him.
Life isn’t easy. And who can
better understand and comfort others in their
distress than the one who has suffered? Many times
the “disabled” are unable to work. Most think they
would “love it” if they didn’t have to work every
day, but a lot of those in the “disabled” community
would like to work if they could, and many do just
that. Those who don’t work, Howard points out, have
a unique opportunity – They often have TIME to
pray! God loves their prayers! – and He answers
them!
Suffering is the strange,
unexpected “gift” from God that NOBODY really wants,
but God in His wisdom, shares it with many of His
loved ones. Scripture says: “For
to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not
only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His
sake” (Philippians 1:29). And as Jesus
informed His surprised disciples, “If
anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me”
(Luke 9:23). At our weekly Sunday Fellowship, I
asked a man who has been a paraplegic for a year and
is suffering from blood clots and other
difficulties, if he thought of his wheelchair as a “cross?”
His answer was an emphatic “Yes
– this chair IS my cross!”
When we were in Phoenix, a
couple of weeks ago, I asked Howard, Director of New
Vision Ministries - what would his life have been
like if he was “sighted?” His response was that he
did not know, but we agreed that suffering DOES
change us, often for the better. The person who has
suffered is deepened by the suffering, the
limitations, and boundaries God has placed around
them. Would Howard have such a passionate need to
help those who are disabled, if he were not disabled
himself? The man in a wheelchair who was paralyzed
a year ago, wants to start a business providing
low-cost medical equipment to the disabled – Would
he have considered such a business before his
injury? My wife, Genevieve, lost her first husband,
Bob, to cancer, and after his death, she started a
national organization (the Agent Orange Widows
Awareness Coalition – AOWAC) to reach out and help
other widows who have suffered similar loss. Would
any of these people have interests like they do,
except for the suffering in their lives? Very
likely not! We often have to lose OUR way before we
find the Lord’s will for our lives.
No matter WHAT the experts
thought about Terri Schiavo’s ability to think and
feel, she and her parents experienced suffering.
She was ALIVE and her body felt pain just like yours
and mine. What was the PURPOSE of all that? Why
did her relatives suffer from the moment she became
disabled? WHY do such things occur? The honest
answer is that we do not truly know, except we do
know this: “The eternal God
is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting
arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27). He was WITH her,
and He is with ALL who simply TRUST in the Lord.
He’s there for YOU, right now.
We heard many discussions about
Terri, as to whether or not she would have elected
to live if she had been able to speak. But few
addressed God’s will, that He leads some to suffer
in His Name. He has indeed called many in that
way. Some say “yes,” but many draw back, offended
by Him. Dr. Daniel Wallace wrote this: “Taking
us through suffering, not out of it, is one of the
primary means that the Spirit uses today in bringing
us to God.” And we need the Lord far more
than we need to escape the troubles of life. Let’s
pray:
Lord, we do not fully
understand suffering, but we do see in our Scripture
for today, that You are there with us in our
sorrow. Enable us to believe in You, Lord, no
matter WHAT happens. Yes, we do ask for a new
vision about life, especially that we may learn to
TRUST in You. And Lord, bring PEACE to all who
loved Terri. In Jesus Name. Amen.
