Hearing the Word
I lost my eyesight at 17 due to severe cataracts. Suddenly about all I could do was listen to talking books. I had been curious about the Bible, but never read it before. So, I asked for the Bible on audio. When I put on the earphones, my journey in deepening my relationship with God began.
Since then, a passage of Scripture has stayed with me: “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. … And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God
is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:7-8, 16 NIV).
To love and accept life is to love and accept God and his Son, Jesus Christ. Challenges are life’s vaccines. They strengthen your soul. Since contracting severe juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at eleven months, I’ve faced many obstacles and challenges that have left numerous scars on my body. I am dependent on others for little daily things that other people are able to take for granted. What clothes am I wearing? Where is the glass of milk on the table? Is something to the right or left of me? These marks have made me a stronger person as I wait for the next mountain to scale.
With my limitations it would be easy to be bitter. But my love and understanding of God and Scripture makes anger impossible. They allow me to live and experience all that a life has to offer. As the Bible says, “It is necessary to pass through many troubles on our way into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22 HCSB).
God has opened the door for me to make a positive, spiritual difference in others’ lives—through my books, poetry, and motivational speaking. Christ can accomplish his divine plans through people, no matter how weak they are, as long as they are willing to be used. This brings out the faith in us and glorifies God at the same time. When I count on God to provide the best for me and others, I am strengthened. This is how I can overcome my blindness. I know whatever he does is in my best interest. So I continually remain a happy and grateful blind and physically disabled individual.
I am grateful to him for the life he has given me. I can still talk. I can still hear. I have all my other senses. I am still alive. I can enjoy so much this world has to offer. God is my life-giver; Jesus is my life-sustainer. When people think of me, I hope they say, “She is living proof of what God’s gifts can do in your life.”
— Shirley Cheng, 26, Wappingers Falls, New York
Photo: Rob Howard
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