Last weekend state Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) took to Twitter and shared an inspiring video — a man in a wheelchair scaling a rock-climbing wall, with his wheelchair hanging below him! The video has personal meaning for Greg Abbott, who was paralyzed from the waist down at age 26. Twitter users said they would rather die than lose the use of their legs, and one even told Abbott that God put him in a wheelchair. Abbott’s responses were perhaps even more inspiring than the original video.[PJMedia]

God is mostly ‘found’ during and after tragedy through those who surround you. God reaches into people’s lives out of grace and speaks to or touches them in a way that they are able to say “wow that was God” and that is faith. Faith believing when He does something for you.

“So great to see but if I ever end up in a wheelchair I’m just ending it,” one Twitter user wrote in response to the video. He would rather commit suicide than live without his legs. “That’s what I thought before I ended up in a wheelchair,” Greg Abbott responded. “I’ve done more AFTER the accident that left me paralyzed than before that accident. With God all things are possible.” [PJMedia]

God-given grace is the free and unmerited favor of God. He gives mercy to some, calls out many, yet few are chosen. Not one of us deserves this, yet God does it everyday to people all over the planet. If you can’t hear God speaking to you, start rattling his cage and tell him what you would like Him to do for you. Don’t stop until he answers. Yours truly has never known Him to fail one who seeks him.

The governor went on: “God didn’t cause the accident that left me paralyzed, but He did help me persevere over that enormous challenge. I’m a testament that the glory of God is revealed by a young man’s back being broken in half and still rising up to be Governor of Texas. With God all is possible.” [PJMedia]

It isn’t God who is like our earthly parents, it’s our earthly parents who have been made in the image of God. In my particular case, they took care of me and my sister not merely from obligation but because they loved us just for being their children. That love is from God. And it is that love that allowed both me and my sister to trust them implicitly, regardless of our circumstances.

It is indeed inspiring that Abbott became attorney general and then governor of Texas, despite his paralysis. On July 14, 1984, an oak tree fell on him while he was jogging after a storm. He had two steel rods implanted in his spine, underwent rehabilitation, and has used a wheelchair ever since.[PJMedia]

That’s the kind of love God has for us all. He could well have destroyed mankind after the fall in the Garden of Eden, but he loved us and forever desires to restore what was lost. That’s what the Bible is about; bringing back that which was lost by man’s actions.

Christians have long struggled with theodicy, the problem of bad things happening to people who do not deserve them. Tragedy is inescapably real, even though a good God created the universe and will dispense ultimate justice. The Bible’s answer to this problem is complicated. Jesus Himself took on human pain and despair, but redeemed them for ultimate joy.[PJMedia]

Why Jesus came, calling all disciples…

The ‘prodigal son’ illustrates the whole principle of a person’s responsibility of his or her actions. It also illustrates the biggest theme of the New Testament – God’s amazing ability to forgive and extend GRACE to those who will believe and receive the gift of His Son’s payment for their sin – which takes humility and repentance that many refuse to their eternal detriment.

When Jesus heals a man blind from birth, His disciples first ask, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answers, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him” ~ John 9:1-3 … God did not cause Greg Abbott’s injury, but He did bring good out of it. All things are indeed possible with God.[PJMedia]

God doesn’t cause tragedy to happen to people. Jesus said “in this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Things happen to all of us during this life on earth, and God will help you through it. All you need is simple faith.

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See full Tyler O’Neill, PJMedia: Greg Abbott Success despite Paralysis shows Glory of God

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Face of Jesus by Richard Hook

Soli Deo Gloria!

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