Will We Again Find Hope

by John Hunter

Jeremiah 29:11

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11 — Today’s New International Version)

This was God’s declaration to the Israelites who were being held captive in Babylon. In Chapter 29 we hear the Israelites’ complaints about the miseries they were suffering, about how the Babylonians were mistreating them and how they wanted to be delivered from this plight.

This verse has been used by many as a testimony of hope for people with all types of miseries. It is a promise that God has plans to relieve us from our troubles. We all make goals and develop plans for their achievement. We have expectations of how our lives should be. However, things happen that alter those plans, often so significantly that we lose sight of the original goals. The Israelites certainly would not have expected to become captives in a foreign land. Disabilities happen just as unexpectedly and take us into territories where we do not want to go. We feel captive in a body that no longer functions as it once did. We cry out in our misery, “Why is this is happening to us? How can life be so unfair?”

Some of us never get past this stage. Others try to move ahead but find a world full of barriers that are both physical and attitudinal. We cannot understand why we had to be the “victims” of this change.

At the age of 19 I had to move to a warm, dry climate for health reasons. I was not happy with having my life disrupted. Dealing with the limitations of a lung disease and moving to a strange land were not a part of my plan. I approached the changes with apprehension and dread. Leaving my friends and family and changing from a small college to a large university were not going to be easy. I had relatives in the new area who were slightly more than strangers.

In a short time, however, I began to fit in. Soon my health, my social relationships and my feelings about my education improved. Was there a plan at work here?

In Jeremiah 29: 5-7 God told the Israelites, “build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."

Twenty-five years after moving to Arizona, I lost 90 percent of my vision in a six-month period. This was a major life upset, one that not only made daily living difficult but also one that I thought threatened my job and financial security for my family. I was devastated. Then we discovered that my employer was federally funded and had to hold my job while I was in a period of rehabilitation. With hard work and job accommodations, I was back to work in six months. I worked for another 10 years. Was there a plan for me? I believe so.

As a person who is legally blind, I found there were many barriers to overcome and coping skills to learn. By joining other groups of persons with disabilities, I was in a community of people who were unable to get past the anger and misery caused by this blow to their plans for the future. I was in a community of people who were trying to join the mainstream but found barriers that were overwhelming. I found parents in pain for their children who would never be like other children and who were having difficulties trying to get services that these children needed. I met many people who needed help in following God’s words to the Israelites to “build houses,” and, in effect, to get on with their lives and become part of the community.

After retirement, I was a founder of an independent living center and I volunteered with various agencies and service providers who were working hard to provide services so that persons with disabilities could have a future with hope. I did not perceive myself as being part of a plan. However, something was drawing me to join the fight for accessible communities, for jobs and accommodations that allow people with disabilities to earn their living and have equality in their communities. I found it very frustrating at times to get non-disabled people to understand the attitudinal barriers that marginalize persons with disabilities.

In my frustration, I discovered Presbyterians for Disability Concerns (PDC). I was looking for information in an accessible format that would help me qualify to be an officer of my church. PDC is working on that issue as well as on helping churches become accessible. One would think that a church would be a place where we would be welcome and find accommodations so we can participate. Not quite! At PDC we are striving to make congregations aware of the talents and abilities of persons with disabilities. We are providing information on how churches can become accessible and welcoming. Our hope is to spread the word to those in pain or misery that God has plans for them. I believe this is in God’s plan.

My wife and I now face yet another major life upheaval, one that is most difficult to bear. Two years ago she was diagnosed as having Alzheimer’s disease. We are still reeling over the changes that are happening and are still in a stage of “why me, again ... Haven’t we had enough?” How can we “ build houses … and prosper?” How can we even think about a future when just planning from day to day is draining? “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” “How can this be so, I cry?” We should “build houses” and get on with a future? Hmmff! Right! Again, I have become a skeptic.

Will we again find the faith to believe in these words? I pray it be so! And I pray it may be so for you!