We have all had that little voice of doubt in our heads. Sometimes it is about ourselves, sometimes it’s about our kids. Sometimes it sits on repeat and seems to attempt to create a new transcript in our head. It’s still there, though. Sometimes, the voice is benign. More often though, at least for me, it’s not. This voice is strategically placed there by Satan to try to steal my joy. We have to reject the lies that this voice tells us.
I have two autistic boys. They are in mainstream classrooms, but are approximately two years behind their peers. This has always been heartbreaking for me. Like any other momma, I don’t want to see my babies struggle. Today, I want to share some of the lies the enemy has told me about them and how I use God’s Word to contradict them, so that you can do it, too.
Lie #1: Your children’s disability will keep them from accomplishing their purpose.
Jeremiah 1:5 says, “…before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” I am not saying that all our children are destined to be prophets to the nations. The truth is this: before anyone is born, God KNOWS them. He has a set apart purpose for all of us based on what He already knows to be true. God knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that my boys would be autistic. He knew that. He knew exactly when they would learn to speak and read. He knows your children, too. Their disability cannot keep them from accomplishing their purpose.
Lie #2: If you do not keep them safe, you will lose them.
I want to preface this lie with the fact that it is based in truth. Any convincing lie must have a little truth to it. Yes, it is absolutely my job to keep my children safe. I am to make sure, to the best of my ability, that they don’t elope, eat things that are not food, and don’t harm each other…too much. They are brothers, after all. But that’s where my job ends and God’s begins. I get to model to my boys what it is to trust and have faith. Sometimes that trust starts small. I trust what I have taught my children will stick with them. I trust the Holy Spirit can remind them of all the wisdom they have been taught. I trust the Lord is with them even when I am not (Isaiah 41:10).
We have all thought it. Seriously, we have all thought this at one point or another as special needs parents. What happens when I die? Who will care for my child? Here’s the thing though, the promises God makes to us are just as applicable to our children. So when Matthew 6:25-26 tells us:
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Jesus promises this to us and our children. Yes, it is vital for us to try our best to plan for our kids’ futures. For some of us, that means we need to plan for college. For others, that means we need to plan for future care. In the end, just like we rely on God to provide for us, so will they. God is too good to leave them alone. He will go with them wherever they go.
Source: Special Needs Parenting- Key Ministry
