What We Can Learn from Our Special Needs Children and Friends

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. [10] That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV

What do we do when the challenges in our lives make us feel powerless?

In a recent episode of the podcast Living by Faith with Trillia Newbell, Russ shares something that we believe deeply as a church: the most important thing in life is a close relationship with God. When we are weak, God’s power makes us strong.

As we walk humbly with God, acknowledging our limitations (Micah 6:8), he provides the strength and power we need to see our challenges as opportunities. We have seen this happen through our community programs like E-Sports and E-Life, which promote the inclusion of people with special needs in all aspects of life. 

To learn more about building a deeper relationship with God and finding purpose through life’s challenges, be sure to listen to this episode!

God turns problems into opportunities

I’ve been broken, lost, depressed, oppressed, and weak that I might find favor and gain the weak. I’m flexible, adaptable, and able to do and be whatever is needed for all kinds of people so that in the end I can use every means at my disposal to offer them salvation. I do it all for the gospel and for the hope that I may participate with everyone who is blessed by the proclamation of the good news.

1 Corinthians 9:22-23 Voice

In this passage, Paul reminds us that our weakness and pain have a purpose. Challenges can draw us closer to God and deepen our empathy for others. As Russ shares in this episode, when we face obstacles, there are likely others who feel the same.

“You are not the problem,” Russ tells parents of special needs children. “You’re an opportunity for God to be glorified and for the church to connect with the [more than] 7.5 million kids who have special needs in America.”

While this number refers to the number of public school children who received special education and/or related services in 2023, the overall number of children with special needs is much higher. It’s estimated that 14.5 million children in the US have special health care needs.

This understanding led to the creation of inclusive programs like E-Sports and E-Life. What we see as problems, God sees as opportunities.

Inclusion is an opportunity

As Jesus passed by, He saw a man who had been blind from birth. [2] And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” [3] Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

John 9:1-3 NASB

The man in this passage would certainly have seen his blindness as a problem. But Jesus didn’t. He saw it as an opportunity to show God’s power. 

As we walk with God, he can help us have the perspective of Jesus. We have seen God move powerfully through our efforts to be inclusive of people with special needs with programs like E-Sports by changing the lives of countless families and partnering with major community and sports organizations around the Bay Area.

As you listen to this episode today, take a second to think about these questions: What challenges in my life are actually opportunities for God to move? How can I walk with God in a way that brings me internal strength in my areas of weakness?