God’s plan and purpose for you didn’t stop when you heard a diagnosis from a doctor or therapist. That wasn’t the end of our your story. It’s just the beginning.
A few years ago, I wrote an e-book, Speechless: Finding God’s Grace in My Son’s Autism. The book was about the first year after my son James’s diagnosis and the spiritual journey that diagnosis took me on. Writing that book was one of the hardest things I’ve done. I wanted to put it behind me and say, “Well, that was therapeutic. Let’s do something fun now.” But God wasn’t done with me yet. That experience helped me realize my purpose as a special-needs parent as I continue to live it out even ten years later.
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort we ourselves are comforted by God” (1:3-5). Our ministries are born in our suffering, our afflictions. God uses the hard experiences in our lives to make us more like Christ and then He gives us a mission to live out—encourage others with the comfort we have received.
You may not want your ministry to be the one area in your life you struggle with the most. The area you are still trying to understand. The area God is using like sandpaper to refine you. The area that causes you to be the most sensitive, raw, and insecure. But don’t ignore the work God is doing! You can make a difference in the lives of others as you continue to learn and grow yourself.
Exactly what this looks like in your life will be different from how it looks in my life because although we have the same purpose (comfort others), we have different gifts, skills, situations, backgrounds, families, churches, neighborhoods, and jobs. Our diversity reflects the creativity of God, not just in how we look, but how we think, feel, learn, communicate, and use our gifts. “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well,” (Psalm 139:13-14).
God will use you exactly as He created you to live out the purpose He gave you.
He uses this introvert with social anxiety and chronic jaw pain to speak to crowds, encouraging them to include families like mine in their churches. He allowed me to have dyslexia and also called me to write books. He has sovereign control over what I thought were detours and wrong turns to get me exactly where I am now.
Each day He invites me to join with Him to spread a message of hope to others who need to hear it, and He invites you to do this same! You live out your purpose as a special-needs parent when you encourage others and tell them what God has done in your life.
My prayer for you in this new year is the same as the author of Hebrews prayed,. “Now may the God of peace … equip you with everything good that you may do his will …” (Hebrews 13:20-21).
He has created you to live out your purpose, He has equipped you to live out your purpose, and He will empower you to fulfill that purpose for His glory.
Sandra Peoples is a special-needs mom and sibling. She and her family live outside of Houston, TX where she serves her church as the director of special-needs ministry at the Southern Baptist of Texas Convention as their special-needs ministry specialist. She’s the author of Unexpected Blessings: The Joys and Possibilities of Life in a Special-Needs Family and the host of the podcast, Self Care and Soul Care for the Caregiver. You can connect with her at sandrapeoples.com.
