Responding to a comment from one of my post...

Jamerica,

I tried to go to see if you have a blog but you didn't so I thought I will repeat my comment here as I posted in responding to your comment in my recent blog post about "Understanding Disabilities including Deafness"

Thank you for your comment. I will have to disagree with you though, because if you look at my other blog where I explain about this kind of prayer faith. What you believe in is what Word of Faith teaches in terms of “faith” towards health, wealth and prosperity. WOF teaches that a God who actually hears our prayers and wants to answer them by telling us of the desire of God to heal people of their physical infirmities when often goes unanswered for many Christians. This is a kind of doctrine that pride can lead a person to think, “Look what I’ve accomplished.” I don’t view these as the essentials of Christian life and practice. Our motives in our Christian lives should be both holy and genuine.

Disabilities teach us dependence on His grace (John 15:1-5, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10) that trials come to make us think of our own reflections, trying to look at it from the biblical and the personal viewpoint. Trials come to test the strength of our faith because they assist us in the knowledge of our own faith. (Genesis 22:1-18, Malachi 3:3-4, 1 Peter 1:6-9)

Trials including disabilities teaches us that the greatest good of the Christian life is not absence of pain, but Christ-likeness and to do His will. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Romans 8:28-29). Trials including disabilities teaches us that God is more concerned with the character He is building in us, He comforts us in His arms through His power of Grace on the journey to His destiny for us as Paul explains: “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3-4). Jesus reminded us in John 9:2-3 where Jesus and His disciples encountered a blind man. “His disciples asked Him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”

God has given us the grace to sanctify us. The sources of "thorns" can be weaknesses, insults, distresses, persecutions and difficulties (which also includes sickness). James says count it all joy when you fall into various trials cause trials have a perfecting work. Peter says after you've suffered a while the Lord will make you perfect. God uses suffering to reveal our spiritual condition. In the midst of the sufferings, what kind of Christian do you see yourself?

In this life it is inevitable and it is useful because it produces the evidence of your true spiritual condition, humility and intimacy with God and allows God to put Himself on display in His grace.