We all know someone with a disability—someone born with a difference, someone affected by an accident or injury, or someone facing age-related loss of function. It’s natural to have questions: Is disability a result of doing something wrong? What does it mean to be created in the image of God? And where do people with disabilities fit in God’s Kingdom, both now and in the future?

These questions shape how we see ourselves and others as children of God. Rodney Wiebe, Bethesda’s Director of Family Support and Community Development and father of two sons with diverse abilities, shared his reflections on this at a recent Bethesda leadership meeting.

Rodney describes a moment that changed the way he reads scripture. “Like many people, I had read scripture through certain lenses—through the lens of ‘what does this mean for me?’ or ‘how does this feed the church?’ And there’s nothing wrong with that. But one day I decided to put on a different pair of glasses. I began asking, ‘What does scripture say to my sons?’ Suddenly, the words came alive in a new way, speaking to me as a parent and opening my heart to see God’s work differently.”

He reflects on passages like 1 John 3:1-2: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! … When he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” Rodney sees this truth clearly in his sons: “The reason the world does not know them is that it does not know Him. What they will be has not yet been made known—but they are children of God, just as I am, just as you are.”

Rodney also looks to John 9, when Jesus heals a man blind from birth. His disciples ask if the man’s blindness was the result of sin. Jesus answers, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” Rodney’s reflection is personal: “My sons’ disabilities were not the result of sin, mine or theirs. Rather, they are opportunities for God’s work to be revealed—moments where light enters ordinary life and touches the people around us.”

And then there is Genesis 1:26-27, the reminder that every human is made in God’s image. “I may never fully understand what it means to be created in the image of God,” Rodney admits, “but I know that all humanity bears God’s likeness. I am the image of God. My sons are the image of God. You are the image of God. And nothing can change that—it is not earned or lost. It simply is.” Psalm 139 reinforces this truth: “You knit me together in my mother’s womb… I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

For Rodney, this means that his sons are not outsiders. They are not mistakes. They do not need to be fixed. They belong fully in God’s Kingdom, just as he does, just as we all do. Sometimes they will be ministered to. Sometimes they will minister to others. And sometimes, they will teach all of us something new about love, resilience, and joy.

“At Bethesda,” Rodney says, “we see this every day: the gifts, the laughter, the contributions of every person. Every life reflects God’s image. Every life has purpose. And every person belongs.”