The Fallacy of Unworthiness
“But Moses said to the Lord, ‘O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”
Our society makes it difficult for people to succeed. If you are a stay-at-home parent, some people judge you as lazy or unmotivated. If you are retirement age, you no longer have anything to offer. Those who society judges as overweight are unworthy because they cannot control their urges. This list of those who have been unfairly judged is long, but you get my point. The saddest example is that those considered somehow less-than accept society’s skewed ideas and diminish themselves, so they stop trying.
We all need to remember those who refused to bend to societal judgment and continued to make a lasting difference. Michelangelo had severe arthritis, and 16th-century treatments weren’t effective. Yet, with his gnarled hands and severe limp, he still painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling and some of the greatest works of art in human history. Meanwhile, Beethoven crafted some of the most inspiring music of his or any age, doing so while almost entirely deaf. About ten years ago, a pathologist determined that Beethoven suffered from Paget’s disease, causing his head to compress and warp. One can only imagine the discomfort, yet he retained his creative vision.
Harriet Tubman led thousands of enslaved people to freedom across the Underground Railroad, all the while suffering from intense headaches and debilitating seizures. She experienced this physical pain since the age of twelve. Additionally, Tubman endured narcolepsy regularly, drifting into heavy sleep even during conversations. President Abraham Lincoln had depression. President Franklin Roosevelt contracted a paralytic illness that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Charles Darwin had Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome. Emily Dickinson suffered from and later died from Bright’s disease, which severely damaged her kidneys. Thomas Edison lost almost all his hearing due to Scarlett Fever. Yet, he still invented the phonograph and sound recording. These are but a few examples of people who changed our world while struggling with their own issues.
Many of these individuals change our world in the very areas most affected by their physical or emotional challenges. In Biblical descriptions, it appears Moses had a speech impediment, Elijah suffered from depression, and the Apostle Paul had chronic ailments, including epilepsy. Yet, God used these three individuals to champion the Judeo-Christian tradition. All these examples should lead you and me to rethink our limitations. Perhaps our so-called limitations might just be our greatest attributes. Prayerfully lift your challenges before God and let God use you in unique and meaningful ways.
