Perfect in Weakness
by Doreen Lau
It is during our moments of weaknesses, that we encounter God’s glory which will shine all the brighter.
The life stories of Fanny Crosby and Joni Eareckson Tada reminded me of the Bible verse:
“God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.” (1 Corinthians 1:27 ESV)
I am woefully ashamed to the core after reading about the accomplishments of Fanny and Joni who were both severely disabled at a young age. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, they turned to God not only to seek help to accept and live with their imperfect and broken bodies but to look beyond their disability to serve Him and bring Him glory. This makes me reflect on my own life. I am able-bodied, I have all my limbs in almost perfect working order and eyes that can see. What have I done to bring honour and glory to the Lord? Jesus has said, “…take up your cross and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24 NIV) How often have we made excuses not to take up the cross?
Fanny Crosby became blind six weeks after her birth. Growing up Fanny refused to feel sorry for herself because of her blindness. She chose to follow the spirit within and use her disability to display God’s glory. Shortly before she turned 15, she was sent to the New York Institute for the Blind. While she was there for the next 23 years, Fanny wrote hymns that could be used for evangelism. She lived without light physically but spiritually her light shone from within into her poetry and hymns, giving glory to God, and sharing her love for Him with the world. She left behind a legacy of 8,000 hymns which are still popular today and sung in churches all over the world. One of the most popular hymns, “To God Be the Glory” echoed her desire to give God all the glory.
“To God be the glory,
Great things He has done,
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the life-gate that all may go in.”
Not only did Fanny glorify God by her prolific hymn-writing, but she also lived her life serving the poor and needy. She loved volunteering in homeless shelters around New York, serving the destitute, praying for the lost, and teaching children’s Sunday School. She gave generously to the poor and had only 2,000 dollars when she died at age 94. To Fanny, her blindness was a gift from God. A gift that had enabled her to connect with people easily and equally without being distracted by outward appearances, colour or creed, rich or poor. Fanny’s ability to think of herself as a capable servant of God, never being held back by her blindness, is a true example of walking by faith and not by sight.
While Fanny embraced her physical disability early in her life, Joni Eareckson Tada struggled to come to terms with hers. Joni was an active young woman when a diving accident turned her into a quadriplegic at the tender age of 17, facing every day in relentless pain in a wheelchair. Joni struggled to accept her disability before discovering the meaning of her life. At the early stages of her recovery, she went through bouts of depression and often cried in great despair. But crying was messy because after each crying session, she needed someone to wipe her nose and her tears. It was at this point that she realised that crying was an unacceptable option. She eventually accepted the reality that she has become “the most neediest person” on this planet. From that day onwards, whenever she is feeling down and discouraged, instead of crying, she chooses to sing and has never stopped. In her latest hit song, “Alone Yet Not Alone” she sang:
“I’m alone, yet not alone.
God’s the light that will guide me home.
With His love and tenderness,
Leading through the wilderness.
And wherever I may roam,
I’m alone, yet not alone.”
She confessed that without Jesus Christ she would not be able to get through the day. There were many mornings when she cried out to Him “that she can’t be a quadriplegic anymore not today, Lord”. Her daily prayers gave her strength to find her own and increased her faith that she is not forsaken and not alone.
Through her award-winning books, Joni encourages people with disabilities to discover how to put God’s glory on display – how to say no to complaining and say yes to following God as you walk the most difficult paths. She believes you will find great comfort and encouragement by focusing on the One who longs to lead and guide you every step of the way, every day. When you trust and follow His ways, your life will not be too ordinary, your world not too small, and your work not too insignificant. All of it is a stage set for you to glorify Him.
Today her organisation, Joni & Friends, has been serving individuals and families affected by disability for over 40 years. Her numerous bestselling books, radio programs, disability workshops, and Wheels for the World ministries have transformed the lives of the disabled worldwide. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic which has driven families with disabilities further into isolation, Joni’s House, an international disability centre, located in some of the poorest areas, was founded to serve such families with medical and mobility support, essential resources, and spiritual care.
Joni did not use her disability as an excuse not to serve God. She believes that “God permits things He hates to happen, to accomplish things He loves”. Her disability was created to fulfill His unique and sovereign purpose. Her success in serving the disabled and sharing the name of Jesus Christ to the world has fulfilled her purpose to bring honour and glory to Him.
God has a purpose and plan for us whether we are disabled or not. He will not call us to a task without enabling us to do it. He will provide what we need. Throughout the Bible, God uses the illiterate fishermen, the cultural rejects like the tax collectors, the marginalised people like the lepers, the lame, and the blind as His instruments to display His glory. He does not need to use human strength or physical fitness to accomplish His work. He will enable the disabled when they are called. Physical disabilities should not be a barrier to serving God. Fanny’s blindness and Joni’s disability reaffirmed that His grace:
“…is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV)
Joni and Fanny’s daily struggles and continued courage as they faced the challenges of their disabilities gave the disabled courage to serve God and true hope in their future.
“So do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ESV)
We are not created to take on life’s difficulties, struggles, and suffering alone. We are not forsaken or forgotten when we are troubled, sad, and broken. When we recognise the power of each weakness, we become strongest at our weakest point because in His almighty power we find our strength.
“For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10 NIV)
When we surrender our weaknesses to Him, He will fill us with His power and powerful strength. We are never alone when we have Emmanuel. Believe that God is with us when we are suffering and at our weakest. When we trust Him, He uses our weaknesses, sufferings, and brokenness to reveal His glory to mankind.
He uses the blind, like Fanny and the disabled, like Joni, to display His power and glory. He used a rod in Moses’ hand to perform miracles, including parting the Red Sea and a stone and a sling in young David’s hands to bring down the giant, Goliath. With 5 loaves and 2 fish, He fed 5,000 people. What seems ordinary, weak, and insignificant to the world, God uses to shame those who rely on their own physical strength, social status, and human wisdom instead of depending on Him. God wanted only our trust and faith in Him, nothing else. He will equip us with whatever we need when we are called. So, whether we are able-bodied or disabled, weak or strong, let us not be afraid to take up the cross to accomplish great things in His name.
References
A Spectacle of Glory: God’s Light Shining through Me Every Day by Joni Eareckson Tada
The Fanny Crosby Story (Movie)
About Doreen Lau
Doreen Lau has a heart for evangelism and the deep belief in the power of words and stories to heal and encourage. Though she embarked for London as a young woman to train as a nurse, the Lord had different plans for her. Coming from a background in which she has had to be resilient, Doreen’s life has been shaped and directed by the Lord to be one of ministry, using her life experience to provide encouragement and to build up the vulnerable in our society.
