DISABILITY AND SERVICE

“Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the LORD?” EXODUS 4:11

Disability and Service Exod 4:1-17

God called Moses to deliver his messages to the enslaved Israelites and to Pharaoh. Yet the prophet felt inadequate to serve, reasoning that his speech problems disqualified him from speaking for God. He even gave God other reasons for his reluctance, saying the Hebrews would not believe God had sent him and even simply asking God to send someone else. But God confronted Moses’ complaints with some powerful questions: “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak . . . ?” (4:11). Actually, Moses’ objection was more about his inability to trust God than his disability in speaking God’s message. This is the place Shaw Bates came to as well.

Shaw Bates grew up with dyslexia (a language skill disorder) and learning disabilities. Learning for Shaw felt like he was climbing a ladder while people without disabilities took the elevator. When he was seventeen, he didn’t know what his future would hold. One day in prayer, Shaw felt the Lord saying he wanted him to make a difference in other people’s lives by serving in Christian ministry. He thought that if God could powerfully use Moses, then perhaps he could use him, too. With the Lord’s help, Shaw graduated from Biola University with a BA in psychology and began serving as a community support specialist in a nonprofit organization.

Like Moses and Shaw, God calls us each to look beyond our limitations and trust him to enable us. Our weaknesses shouldn’t keep us from experiencing the joy of serving others in God’s name. They should cause us to marvel at his awesome power and provision whether we serve people with disabilities or we’re being served by them.