The unexpected quiet took me by surprise. Her outbursts were loud and continuous, complete with flailing arms and violently jerking body movements. Good thing she was securely strapped into the seat of this three wheeled device that she was pedaling while I pushed and steered from behind. I don’t know the name of this contraption, but it is used with a few of the special needs students in the high school where I work. Today I was pushing one such student around the empty gym on this “bike” in hopes that she would find the repetitive motion of pedaling soothing and that the act of moving forward at a slow and steady pace would calm her mind and her spirit.

I had pretty much abandoned the idea that this was going to happen, but I continued our laps around the perimeter of the gym anyway. I was singing quietly, more to sooth myself than my student and then I found myself praying over her, praying for her. Eventually it was quiet. I realized that she was finally peaceful, silently enjoying the monotony of the motion as we continued at our own pace around the gym. At this point, I dared not stop.

I decided to keep going as long as I could, as long as it was bringing her much needed relief from whatever was torturing her soul. (her guttural screams sounded like a prisoner being tortured – a prisoner longing to be set free) Which I have to say, I understand completely. I, too, am a prisoner desiring freedom. Aren’t you? Aren’t we all? These words found in Romans explain my situation clearly –

“The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved.” (Romans 8:19-24)

You and I are a part of God’s creation. So it’s no wonder that we too are groaning, wanting to be released from our bondage to decay and death, longing to be set free when God redeems and transforms our bodies. We have this promise in Philippians –

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.” (Philippians 3:20-21)

Something to look forward to – complete healing of body, mind and spirit. As I pushed this precious girl around the gym, the peaceful silence a much more welcome companion than her angry screams had been, I thought about the transformation in store for her and in store for each one of us. It will be dramatic. Just how dramatic is described with these words in 1 John –

“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (1 John 3:2)

What a transformation awaits us! As she and I continued walking/pedaling in a silence now filled with peace and prayer, I continued praying for her and the other special needs students I have the privilege to serve at this school. Some are non-verbal or very limited in their ability to use language to communicate their needs and their feelings. Others have physical limitations, one is in a wheelchair, two use walkers. They each have limitations on their mental abilities, some more severe than others. These limits or deficits impact how much the students are able to understand and what information and skills they are able to learn.

Society today does not place a high priority nor a high value on our students or on people who, like our students, are physically and mentally handicapped. They are too often overlooked, undervalued and even discarded or dismissed by those around them. BUT – each person is of infinite value to our Creator, irrespective of their IQ or their physical abilities or lack of physical abilities, because they are created in His image. As I continued to push my now calm, pedaling student, these words of Jesus echoed in my mind –

“I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.” (Matthew 25:40)

Our special needs students may be considered “the least of these” at school and in the culture at large. However, each one of them is “fearfully and wonderfully made” in God’s image, even though in this imperfect world, God’s perfect design is often marred. But when Christ returns, He will set all things right and that includes us! It will happen in the “twinkling of an eye.”

“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)

Changed! All these bodies healed! All these minds fully restored! All these spirits finally set free! At last, these students will be fully all that they were created to be all along in Christ! What joy that will be! These prisoners, held captive by the limitations of their bodies and their minds, will be set free. What they will be “has not yet been made known . . . but they shall be like Him when He appears, for they shall see Him as He is.” (1 John 3:2)

Jesus came for the least of these, those made in His image. (that includes you and me, dear readers) We know our Creator cares for each and every one of us, including the least of these.

“The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made.” (Psalm 145:9)

That “twinkling of an eye” moment is going to be spectacular – all of us set free and transformed “to be like His glorious body.” I am able to see the unique personalities of each of our students now. Their special identities shine through even the most profound of their disabilities. Still, I can’t help but wonder what they will be like when they are fully healed, redeemed and restored. Until then, I will continue to serve the least of these in Christ’s name. It is a special privilege.

sincerely, Grace Day