A Weekly Devotional from the
South Green Street Church of Christ

Feedback | MercEmail Archives | About Us

His name is Jack.  He was born with Cerebral Palsy.  Growing up was difficult for Jack.  Because of his Cerebral Palsy, Jack had difficulty in speaking and would frequently lose his balance and fall.  Consequently, his peers would mock and laugh at him.  Jack's father was an abusive alcoholic who eventually destroyed his home life.  Jack's younger brother was a perfectly healthy baby for the first year of his life, but then suffered a grand-mal seizure which left him in a vegetative state for the next 20 years until his death.  Jack's mother cared for Jack's brother 24 hours a day during those 20 years, rarely leaving his bedside.  Within months after the death of Jack's brother, Jack's mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer.  

Following his mother's death, Jack wanted to preach a sermon.  Of course, due to his Cerebral Palsy and the severe speech impediment it left him with, this would be an impossibility.  However, Jack wrote out the thoughts he wanted preached and asked that someone else speak his words for him.  Though Jack's sermon was preached more than 15 years ago, I still remember part of what he said:

"I want to go to heaven more than anything in this world.  I can hardly wait for God to give me an incorruptible body.  I want to be able to speak clearly without stuttering so that people can understand me, and I want to be able to run without falling down.  I want to be able to see my mother again.  And I want to be able to thank Jesus for saving my soul and delivering me from a body that doesn't work very well."

In spite of all that Jack has been through in life, he hasn't lost his faith.  Jack's life has been a succession of tragedies, but those tragedies have not shaken his faith.  Life hasn't been very fair to Jack, but he knows that eternity will be.  Jack knows that the inequities of life will be made right in eternity.

Friends, are you feeling down?  Are you prone to complain about your situation in life?  More than likely, not many of us would be willing to trade places with Jack.  Instead of complaining, maybe we ought to get on our knees and thank God for our blessings, and thank God for the unbreakable spirit of my friend, Jack!