The Least of These

With baby #3's impending arrival, it has been easy to focus on the new addition to our family and forget about the burden for orphans with special needs that God has placed on my heart.  But in the past week, God has used several blog posts to overwhelmingly remind me of the plight of orphans with special needs around the world.  Just today I watched a video about older boys in Eastern Europe, most of whom cannot speak or even walk, who have been neglected for far too long.  As I watched this video, I melted into tears for the second time in as many days as I thought of my dear Wesley.  My adorable and delightful son who is God's precious gift to our family could easily be one of those boys someday if he had been born in a different part of the world.

Speaking is such an incredible struggle for him that I could easily picture him never speaking without significant intervention.  Without the numerous hours we have invested in feeding therapy, it is very likely that he would be unable to eat solid foods.  If he were in an orphanage right now, he would be a non-verbal boy transferred to a mental institution at the age of five to live out the rest of his life alone.  He would spend far too many hours of each day just lying in a crib and staring up at the ceiling - lost and forgotten; forsaken by the rest of the world.

As I imagine my son, whom I love with my whole heart, enduring such horrific conditions, my heart breaks for the countless children who will live out the rest of their lives in these very situations.  I think of the joy that Wesley exudes and the delight that he brings to all those around him, and then I realize that because of sin and depravity in this world, countless other boys and girls like him will never be given the opportunity to enjoy life and bring joy to those around them.  Because they are not seen as created in the image of God, they are instead given just a shell of a life as if they are unworthy of being honored as creations of a holy and righteous and loving God.

In truth, Wesley, and all people who have any sort of disability, were created by God's sovereign hand and are infinitely loved by Him.  Therefore, how we treat them, both through our action and inaction, clearly shows whether or not we believe God's word to be true and whether or not we value what He values.  More than that, how we treat the least of these is directly related to our love for our Savior.  For Jesus Himself says in Matthew 25 that as we do (or do not do) to the least of these, so we also do to Him.

When we face Jesus on the last day, may we all be able to say, "when I saw people with disabilities, I saw them as created in Your image.  I loved them and I reached out to them and cared for them, for in them I saw the face of God."