Saturday, November 15, 2008

Advocate As Though You Were Not Advocating

Before the election, John Piper wrote an article titled, "Let Christians Vote As Though They Were Not Voting." It was based on 1 Cor. 7:29-31. He stated, “Voting is like marrying and crying and laughing and buying. We should do it, but only as if we were not doing it. That’s because “the present form of this world is passing away” and, in God’s eyes, “the time has grown very short.”

Likewise, we should advocate as though we are not advocating. The word “advocate” is used so prevalently in the Special Needs community. We hear, “You are your child’s advocate…if you don’t fight for him no one else will!” Yes, we are supposed to want the best care, resources, services, therapists, and doctors for our children. However, not to the point to which we neglect everything else for the sake of advocating. As we support our children and seek out what’s best for them, we should always keep God’s eternal truth in mind. So, the next time you’re in a school meeting to go over your child’s IEP (Individualized Education Plan), God desires you to keep in mind His IEP (Infinite Eternal Perspective). Focus on these 3 truths -

1. God acts for those who wait for Him. - Isaiah 64:4
2. God gives what is good to those who walk uprightly. – Psalm 84:11
3. God fights for those who do not fear. – Deuteronomy 3:22


So, in other words – God is our Advocate! As you, “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30), He takes care of everything else. We must live for Christ, surrender to His will, and trust Him with the outcomes. Only in doing that can we advocate as though we are not advocating.

3 comments:

John Knight said...

Great post, Caryn! We have Paulie's IEP just before Thanksgiving and it usually makes me sad to have so much concentration on how different he is. This was a huge encouragement!

Pamela said...

Thanks so much!
Your posts are always encouraging and so biblical. Just this week I was discouraged because we could not afford the treatment our autistic son needs and I felt like in some way we were failing him. You reminded me that God is in control. He foreknew our situation and He is our advocate!

Chris said...

I truly thank God for your commentary. It's very uplifting and true.