| A man came to speak to us at church today. His name is Nick Vujicic and he's an Australian. His birthplace isn't the most unique thing about Nick though. He was born no arms and no legs, but amazingly this isn't the most remarkable thing about Nick either.
Nick's message is the most remarkable thing about Nick. Nick's message is that we are saved by Jesus Christ. Nick's life has meaning and purpose that transcends his body's limitations. Nick believes he is a miracle and that God didn't make a mistake when he was made the way he was. Nick believes that he was made that way in order to reach other people, to be a living example of God's blessings and not his own physical limits.
I listened to this man talk with conviction about his life and his faith. I was left without any doubt that this was a man who truly believes what he says and who has examined his own soul and the purpose of God. This man travels around the world to give his testimony and I doubt that anyone could possibly be untouched by his faith and courage.
Nick quoted Jeremiah 29:11 which says, "For I know the plans I have for you, "says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me."
Nick related how when he was young, he wanted to give up; he wanted to surrender to his disabilities. He talked about how he didn't know anyone like him and how much it would have meant to him to see another armless and legless person who was healthy and happy and doing good things in the world. Nick said there were none and he felt alone.
Nick said he was raised in a Christian family and that he was taught to pray for miracles. He prayed and prayed for legs and arms and his prayers were never answered. Nick believes that if you ask for a miracle and don't receive one that you are the miracle. He described meeting a 4 year old boy with his identical handicaps. He also described a mother who brought her none year old son to see him who also had no arms, no legs and a little foot like he has. Nick said it gives people hope when someone facing the same problems has faith, hope that people with different challenges can't provide as meaningfully.
Nick feels that is part of his role, to find and inspire other people with physical handicaps that do not have any role models. He also feels that his challenges in life aren't any more difficult than other people with what they might think by comparison are lesser. He spoke about people with broken families and how he felt that would be much harder to overcome than his physical limitations. Nick's point was that God has a purpose for us in every situation and circumstance and we need only be ready to allow Him to enter our lives, we need only spend time reading His word.
Nick spoke to us about the lies that enter into our thinking. He talked about the fear and the guilt that we carry around with us about our sins. He talked about how our forgiveness through Jesus Christ enables us to be confident about His grace and that He knows we are never going to be perfect. But that so many people allow their own fears and their own self hatred to stain their lives and limit the ability of God to work in their lives for the good of others.
I can relate to the terrible impact of fear and self-loathing. I can sometimes allow myself to slip backwards from where I began my journey with Christ. I can sometimes feel the shadows of fear and guilt darkening the walls of my home. I want to close my eyes to them and seclude myself in my pain. I know that Nick had gone through some of that himself, that he had to struggle with the feeling that he should give in to them and quit trying.
Nick is about as different physically as anyone I've ever seen. But Nick is about as grounded in his faith as anyone I've ever heard speak. Some would say that Nick was not created as God intended, but Nick says that he was created precisely as God intended. Nick points out that there is no natural or external reason for him to be born the way he was, he simply was.
This tends to fly in the face of science that would say he is deformed. It also tends to fly in the face of many Christians who profess to know God's will in creating people. Both groups think they have the perfect human model in mind and yet there stood Nick. Nick, who is so supremely secure in his knowledge of who he is and why he was created by God just as he is. Nick, who is so secure that he is carrying out God's purpose for his life. Nick, so confident that his differences were created by God.
I was amazed recently to read what Jesus said about all people being created the same in Matthew 19:11. Jesus apparently knew and was completely unphased by the fact that not all people were born the same.
As Nick so eloquently preached today, we are not all born the same, and yet our Father's love for us and the indelible fact that He has a purpose for our lives is common to us all. Nick encouraged us to cast off our fears about how we were created and to embrace the miraculous gift of life and to seek God's purpose in every breath we take. What a guy!
For more information about Nick look at his web site, http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/
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