Is disability God given?

[Neenie]

I have a teenage family member who is intellectually disabled since birth. He gets picked on allot at school and isn't very happy in life. It makes me frustrated as I keep questioning to myself on why did God create him like that.

The Christian mantra is that God designs everyone from the womb and back it up using scripture like...Jeremiah 1: 4 and Psalm 139: 13. But when you ask about disability many Christians will use a scapegoat such as it's because of "sin" that’s in the world.

Although there are a few factors that can cause disability such as lack of oxygen at birth and extreme prematurity, there is no identifiable cause.

Now, I know it sounds like I'm doubting God.. But this is an issue that’s been on my mind but haven't seen much discussion on.

 

[Princess_333]

I believe that if there is a god, then god causes disabilities, cancer, and other diseases. It's just general appologetics to say "oh disease and suffering is caused by sin", well if god is all powerful, couldn't god prevent them? Doesn't God care about his people?

So yes, if there is a god, god caused these things

 

[SingleServant]

Sin in the world is not a scapegoat, it is a reality. Because of the fall of man in the garden the earth is under a curse. That's why Jesus came and died for us, first to reconcile us back to the Father, then to deliver us from the effect of sin in our lives. Yes many are born with defects and problems but that is not God's doing, what He does is turn everything around for our good if we love Him and are called according to His purpose. The devil is the one who steals, kills and destroys, not God, He heals, delivers and set's free. Yes God loves us and desires us to be whole that's why He sent His Son to save us, so that even in this life if we are disabled in some way we know in the next life there is a body waiting for us without corruption, without the effects of sin. No that this life is short and we are strangers here our hope is not in this life but in Christ!!

SS

 

[Our Sacred Honor]

i have this teacher with a disabled daughter who at first was like o god why did u give me this child..now however she looks at her daughter as the biggest blessing because he daughter who will never be able to live on her own has taught her more in life then any other NORMAL woman shes met...

 

[Princess_333]

Sin in the world is not a scapegoat, it is a reality. Because of the fall of man in the garden the earth is under a curse. That's why Jesus came and died for us, first to reconcile us back to the Father, then to deliver us from the effect of sin in our lives. Yes many are born with defects and problems but that is not God's doing

So basically, God is either
1) Weaker than the devil and can't undo what the devil did or
2) God doesn't care what the devil does to his people

or maybe....
God causes these things to happen, and the devil never actually existed but god created the story of the devil so that there is always someone to blame when god himself does mean things to people...

See what confuses me, is:
assuming all the bad things are caused by sin
why do the bad things happen to good people? Why can't god just make these bad things (caused by sin) happen to people that are bad/sinful, that hurt others, that deserve bad things more than a good person ever would?

 

[jayem]

I come from the viewpoint of a non-theist. But I do believe in the natural world, and nature, sadly, is not perfect. We just don't know, in all cases, why some people are born with impairments; why some people get cancer; why some people have mental illness. I've always been repulsed when religious people blithely claim that disease is due to "sin." Seems like a left-handed way of blaming the victim, to me. Let them go on the oncology floor of any children's hospital, and see the kids with leukemia, or lymphoma, osteogenic sarcomas, brain tumors, or any other pediatric malignancy. What horrible sins did these three and four year olds commit?

I think it's much healthier to look forward, rather than back. Focus on what he can do, instead of what he can't. Many mentally disabled people, unless totally impaired, often have some talent or ability which can be developed. Sometimes it can be artistic or creative. I'm not talking about savants, but I think almost everyone has something they can be good at. If it can be identified, and reinforced, it will greatly help the person's self esteem and allow a much happier life.

 

[mepalmer3]

I have a teenage family member who is intellectually disabled since birth. He gets picked on allot at school and isn't very happy in life. It makes me frustrated as I keep questioning to myself on why did God create him like that.

The Christian mantra is that God designs everyone from the womb and back it up using scripture like...Jeremiah 1: 4 and Psalm 139: 13. But when you ask about disability many Christians will use a scapegoat such as it's because of "sin" that’s in the world.

Although there are a few factors that can cause disability such as lack of oxygen at birth and extreme prematurity, there is no identifiable cause.

Now, I know it sounds like I'm doubting God.. But this is an issue that’s been on my mind but haven't seen much discussion on.

Let me add this... The only thing you really mentioned about his disability is that he gets picked on by other people. If everyone in turn saw his disability and helped him out, encouraged him, told him how much they enjoyed getting to hang out with him, then is it really still a major problem? Isn't the problem more on how people react to him?

We all are born in a state where we're not all-powerful, all-knowing, and so forth. So in a sense we are all born as less then what God is (I suppose you could call that a disability).

But generally when we think of disabilities, we don't think of the fact that humans are less than gods, rather we say a person has less capabilities than what we generally call "normal". Theologians have long considered this to be a result of sin (although not that person's sin, just sin in general). When we sin, we do inevitably cause others harm. It's a very logical thing.

But there is also the very strong sense that the world, that nature itself, entered into some sort of fallen state when we sinned. The world, nature, is pretty hard.

The thing that strikes me is that of the disabled people I know, some were quite happy (happier than many non-disabled people), others were really sort of defeated. But it always seemed to be more about how people treated them, not necessarily the disability itself.

 

[BarbB]

Disabilities are not CAUSED by God. God could certainly prohibit such disabilities, but I believe that he uses them to help us grow as Christians. We will be judged about the compassion we show for those who are disabled.

Who are the people who pick on your brother? Why are they allowed to do so? Why is he not with people who love and appreciate him? Just a few thoughts.

 

[Cerberus~]

I believe that if there is a god, then god causes disabilities, cancer, and other diseases. It's just general appologetics to say "oh disease and suffering is caused by sin", well if god is all powerful, couldn't god prevent them? Doesn't God care about his people?

So yes, if there is a god, god caused these things

I like to think that God would have the power to make a natural world that is capable or running itself, without constant intervention and supervision by some tribal God like Jehovah or Zeus.

 

[Princess_333]

I like to think that God would have the power to make a natural world that is capable or running itself, without constant intervention and supervision by some tribal God like Jehovah or Zeus.

Maybe...
But then on that same note, I guess you dont believe in miracles either, right?

 

[JimfromOhio]

As a christian, my bible tells me that God allows our suffering so that the praise life and the prayer life of our church can be increased and strengthened. God never make any sick, ill or disabled. The key is that God allows! God allows our suffering because of our identification with Jesus Christ. Again, verse 5 says, "For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ." Remember that even the Lord Jesus had to suffer, and if we are following and serving him, then we will encounter hardships. In Philippians 3:10, Paul describes this dynamic of living for Christ as "the fellowship of his sufferings," the hard times that come from following Jesus as our Savior. The apostle Peter described it as suffering "for the sake of righteousness" (1 Peter 3:14). If we choose to live in the fellowship of his sufferings, the good news is that the comfort and strengthening of Jesus Christ is exactly equal to the pressure which we experience in life. Paul makes that point later in 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 : "...we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body." We are comforted through suffering because we are identified with Jesus Christ.

At the meantime, my attitude is this: Well.. I have them and am going to use them for God. There are many unsaved people who are ill or disabled that are looking for answers. People who are disabled or ill are there to guide them and telling the unsaved "you are not alone and God will be there for you if you let Him."

From James Lane Allen:
“You are the handicap you must face. You are the one who must choose your place.”

From JimfromOhio:
“My disabilities do not have me. I have the disabilities and I accept them because I know who I am from the inside.”

My step-daughter who is mentally challenged and have cerebral palsy (since birth). She loves attending church and she knows she will be "healed and be perfect" when she goes to heaven. I truly believe that she have more faith in God more than anyone else in the family. She knows she have hope that one day she will not suffer any longer.

By the way, I have been deaf since birth and later diagnosed with mulitple sclerosis and diabetes.

 

[Neenie]

Disabilities are not CAUSED by God. God could certainly prohibit such disabilities, but I believe that he uses them to help us grow as Christians. We will be judged about the compassion we show for those who are disabled.

Who are the people who pick on your brother? Why are they allowed to do so? Why is he not with people who love and appreciate him? Just a few thoughts.

My little brother who has dyscalculia gets outcasted at school, as he comes home upset most of the time. And discrimination is bound to happen because he is different from the other kids. And even when he grows up he is going to struggle through life because of it (that is fact) as he already is. Most of my family is devout Christian and they have done allot of prayer for him but nothing seems to happen. It’s unfairness because he would have potential in life if God healed him from it. But then you read in Psalm 139: 13 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb” It just confuses me.

I'll reply back tomorrow. It’s 1:am here and I need some sleep. Thanks.

 

[Cerberus~]

No, I just don't attribute them directly to God.

 

[mepalmer3]

My little brother who has dyscalculia gets outcasted at school, as he comes home upset most of the time. And discrimination is bound to happen because he is different from the other kids. And even when he grows up he is going to struggle through life because of it (that is fact) as he already is. Most of my family is devout Christian and they have done allot of prayer for him but nothing seems to happen. It’s unfairness because he would have potential in life if God healed him from it. But then you read in Psalm 139: 13 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb” It just confuses me.

I'll reply back tomorrow. It’s 1:am here and I need some sleep. Thanks.

If God exists, and "goodness" exists, then god is necessarily absolutely good. That's another thread, but it's very logical.

You again mentioned that his problems stem from people discriminating against him. Now do you believe that disabilities cause people to make fun of them? Or is it just a correllation between the two that you see? I find it really hard to point at God for people giving your brother a hard time. The only way this seems possible is if God causes everyone to act and they have no choice in the matter (ie, there's no free will).

 

[we5frogs]

Before the fall, God had Adam and Eve 'hedged' in to a wonderful place where nothing bad could reside, because God who is love will not be in the presence of evil. After the fall, those hedges no longer surrounded them, they were sent out from the garden because they could no longer be in God's presence.

Now, sometimes the devil is responsible for using ailments and injuries to tempt us away from God, as He used the tree in the garden. More often, though, bad things happen as a result of choices that were made down through time, not with direct malice toward the person born with a disability, for example, but every action has an effect eventually. Every time someone turns their back on Go'd perfect plan for their life, somewhere down the line, someone is going to pay the price, and birth defects can be explained in this way.

Our wonderful creator, though, in His infinite mercy, does use even the most distressing, hurtful, awful circumstances that life brings us, and invariably makes something wonderful out of them when we place our complete life and trust in Him. Gid can use even our 'weaknesses' and turn them into strengths when we let Him use them for His glory.

 

[SingleServant]

You need to get to know Him (God) for yourself then you'll understand what His nature is. As long as you know about Him from a distance and not personally, nothing can convince you otherwise. The answer to the Love of God is in the cross.

SS

 

[ImmortalTechnique]

Disabilities are not CAUSED by God. God could certainly prohibit such disabilities, but I believe that he uses them to help us grow as Christians. We will be judged about the compassion we show for those who are disabled.

what an evil god

 

[coyoteBR]

I have a teenage family member who is intellectually disabled since birth. He gets picked on allot at school and isn't very happy in life. It makes me frustrated as I keep questioning to myself on why did God create him like that.

The Christian mantra is that God designs everyone from the womb and back it up using scripture like...Jeremiah 1: 4 and Psalm 139: 13. But when you ask about disability many Christians will use a scapegoat such as it's because of "sin" that’s in the world.

Although there are a few factors that can cause disability such as lack of oxygen at birth and extreme prematurity, there is no identifiable cause.

Now, I know it sounds like I'm doubting God.. But this is an issue that’s been on my mind but haven't seen much discussion on.

Neenie:
Well, first, take in mind I have quite an unorthodox view of christianity.
Yes, it is true that everything that happens, happens due to the Will of God. He Would not be Onipotent and Onipresent if that's not so.
Now... go to an newstand. Grab a magazine, open it at random, read a sentence on the middle of the page, close it. Can you tell what the article was about, what the idea the writer defended, the places he researched?
That in a magazine.
We are talking about the happenings of a whole world of visible things, and a whole world of invisible things. We don't know what happened in the past, nor our future.
God Knows. And for sure his plan for us is better than anything that we can imagine. It may involve suffering, but is for a cause, that will become ccrystal clear for each one of us. Take it a fez days, months, hundreds of years.

Peace.

 

[BarbB]

what an evil god

Do you have anything to add to the debate beside this totally irrevalent remark? Didn't think so!

 

[Jetgirl]

Disabilities are not CAUSED by God. God could certainly prohibit such disabilities, but I believe that he uses them to help us grow as Christians. We will be judged about the compassion we show for those who are disabled.

So he's ok with not prohibiting the creation of disabled people because they can be use as "tools" with which normal people can win points toward heaven?

Ick.