Through the Eyes of Hope: Spiritual Sight in the Wake of Adversity

When people have nothing better to do with their time, they troll the internet. They look for ways to be divisive because they’re unhappy with something in their own lives that they don’t understand how to deal with.

We’ve had our share of nasty comments, but the worst was when people implied that we should have aborted our son, Christian. The first time someone suggested we were selfish for giving him life, I felt stunned.

Punched in the gut.

I should have aborted my baby because he had a disability?

I’d grown accustomed to people laughing or making fun, but this opened my eyes to a new evil. There were people who looked at my child and thought, “You should be dead.”

My sweet, innocent Christian had to grow up in a world where people believed he should be six feet underground because his life wasn’t worth anything.

Dead.

Because he was blind.

Because he didn’t look like everyone else.

I clicked the laptop shut and sat in silence.

I couldn’t give Chris or my parents one more heartache, so the words festered in my spirit like an inferno deep in my soul. Just as in Jeremiah 20:9, there was a fire shut up in my bones that I couldn’t ignore, but I had no idea what to do.

To retort or retaliate was counterproductive to our goal. I wanted people to feel like we were open to their questions. Even some of our friends will still apologize for accidentally saying, “Christian, look at this!” or “Look at me.” It’s a natural thing to say, and I wish I didn’t have to be so careful about each word. It’s OK to mess up, and I try my best to give grace.

Little did I know that my eventual response would be the catalyst that sparked the greatest change in our lives.

Our society’s definition of worth is messed up. Since when is someone’s personal worth measured by how much he contributes to the economy? If that’s the case, there are a lot of people in this country who would be deemed worthless. Thank God, literally, that He doesn’t look at us through those eyes.

I had started a new Bible study, and the verse of the day was 1 Samuel 16:7c, “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” King David was an undesirable in his society—the youngest brother and a shepherd. That was two strikes against him in his world, but God uses the “least of these” and makes them great.

We still have a big battle to fight if it’s 2017 and we think it’s OK to kill a baby who might have a disability. How many perfectly healthy children are aborted who were misdiagnosed? And how many babies with a disability were killed who could have had an amazing life? A tiny part of me sort of understands how people think it’s compassionate, but I firmly believe that a disability doesn’t determine quality of life.

We don’t know what’s going to happen for Christian. God may never allow him to have physical sight, even with all the advancements in technology today. We just don’t know. But through Christian and his story, God has given many people spiritual sight because of how He’s used him. That includes me.

If Christian never gets physical sight, the first thing he’ll see is the beautiful face of Jesus—and hopefully me next! Christian has taught me so much and given me more perspective than I could have learned in a thousand lifetimes without him, and he’s only 5 years old. What God has done in this short amount of time astounds me. I can’t wait to see what the years ahead have in store for him.

Adapted from Through the Eyes of Hope by Lacey Buchanan, copyright 2017, published by Charisma House. In this book, Lacey shares her family’s compelling story that has captured the hearts of millions on YouTube and GodVine. Her precious son Christian was born with an incredibly unique medical condition (only 50 known cases in the world). This moving story will inspire you to hold on to God’s promises when things go wrong and find joy in the midst of any storm. To order your copy, click here.

Prayer Power for the Week of February 12, 2017

This week, ask the Holy Spirit to show you how to share His unconditional love with a spiritually blind and dying world. Thank heavenly Father that while we were undeserving sinners, He gave His Son as the ultimate sacrifice to redeem us, and because He loves us, we can risk loving others. Ask the Lord to give you opportunities to put this in action. Continue to pray for worldwide revival, the peace of Jerusalem, our military and their families and our government leaders (Is. 42:16). {eoa}