Jason

I've posted about Jason Mitchener before.

I read his devotionals every day. This one struck me in particular.

Looking Beyond Disability





So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem:
for he did eat continually at the king's table; and was lame on both his feet.

2 Samuel 9:13





I've been disabled from birth. As a baby, I never learned to crawl. I
rolled on the floor to get where I was going. At age three, I started walking
with crutches. When I was fifteen, a wheelchair brought me back to rolling as
my means of transportation.



Through being disabled all my life, I have noticed that people have
widely different reactions to disability. Some people are nervous and have no
clue on how to act around the disabled. Others view the disabled as inferior.
Some perceive the disabled as special and needing special treatment. And then
there are the wonderful people who look beyond the disability and see the
individual.



King David didn't care that Mephibosheth was crippled. He only cared
that Mephibosheth was his friend Jonathan's son and he desired to show him the
same kindness he had received from Jonathan. Mephibosheth became a member of
David's household and had full privileges of eating at the king's table.
Thousands of years before disability rights laws came into being, David gave a disabled
man his right to be treated as an individual, rather than as an inconvenience.



Although my disability is obvious, we each have disabilities. We each
have imperfections. We each have areas in which we struggle. And yet God looks
beyond all that. He loves us despite our weaknesses. When we fall down, He
picks us up. When we make a mistake, He encourages us to try again. When we
feeling like giving up, He doesn't give up on us.



We all deserve to be treated as individuals. We all deserve to be
loved. However, we can't expect to be treated with respect and love unless we
treat others with respect and love. We have to deal with people as God deals
with us, looking beyond the imperfections and seeing a person needing love.





(If this devotional has blessed you, please pass it on.)





From a fellow traveler just passing through,





Jason Mitchener

http://www.JasonMitchener.com





Jason's Music: http://www.soundclick.com/jasonmitchener

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