Music Monday: “Rollin’ “By Blessing Offor
by: Debbie Waltz
Welcome Back, Readers ~
Last week, I hope you got a glimpse into the role that acceptance plays in living with a disability. It doesn’t always make things easier, but it helps you adapt to your new reality. Of course, each journey towards acceptance is drastically different, depending on the circumstances of the disability. Whether you were born with a disability or an accident changes your life, you still have a choice to make – wallow in self-pity, mourn what could have been, or adapt to your new life by doing the best you can with what you have. Last week on Friday, I interviewed Candida, a vibrant lady with amniotic band syndrome. For Candida and I, we found our choice rooted in the depths of our faith.
This doesn’t erase our difficulty, but it gives us a new sense of purpose in our suffering. Our faith assures us we aren’t walking this road, but God is walking with us, guiding our steps along the way. We may not understand God’s actions, but we know Jesus can see the bigger picture. Remember what Isaiah 55:9 says: “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” (NIV)
However, Jesus doesn’t stop there. From his immaculate conception to his death on the cross, He always had a plan to redeem us from our sins. But I believe God wanted to relate to His children on a deeper level. Hebrews 4: 15- 16 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been in every way, just as we have—yet he did not sin.”
God honestly doesn’t like to see His children in pain. Why else do you think He spent most of His ministry healing people? However, he knows there is more at stake than their physical health; they may also need spiritual healing. But in Mark 2:1-5, Jesus tries a different approach. He sees the immense faith that the friends of a paralytic man have- enough to make a hole in a neighbor’s roof so that Jesus can heal him. But in a flip-the-script moment, he doesn’t immediately heal the man. Why? Keep in mind, scribes surrounded him every chance they could- scrutinizing and analyzing his every move; their hope being that they could catch Jesus in a lie, at some point. They were all about the law and following it to the T. Now here’s Jesus- saying he can forgive sins and heal people. Knowing and perceiving their questions, Jesus spoke them aloud saying, “Why do you question these things in your heart? Which is easier to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know, the Son Of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…'”
I’ll be honest when I first came across Blessing Offor’s “Rollin’,” I thought it was quite fitting since I use a wheelchair, and my tagline is: “Rollin’ Into The Future.” This song reminds us that while we are here on earth, we won’t escape difficulty; however, God will always be around to help. But, conversely, it reminds us that friends are only human and bound to be let down eventually.
To view Blessing Offor’s “Rollin” it can be accessed here:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=LseUOhqtBkw
Debbie, I love reading your blog. I need to try to see things from your point of view and it’s so different from what I see every day. It’s so neat that I got to meet you on Faithbox and you teach me so much I need to know when I get a chance to see my friends who are disabled! Thanks for your words that teach, and your talent in writing them down for all the world to read!
Susan, thank you so much for your kind words. I’m glad you can catch up with my work here; it gives you a new perspective. I know I haven’t been on faith box. Lately, things have been tight, and I’ve been busy, as you can probably see. Still, thanks for following me!