His Arms and Legs

Nick Vijucic as he was cheered by the crowd.

Today was the first time I actually couldn’t pray what I normally prayed for someone. Often, I would ask the Lord to use me (or whoever I was praying for) to be His arms and legs, and mouthpiece. When I started to pray that, I realized that Nick Vujicic had no limbs. He couldn’t literally be the Lord’s arms and legs because He is completely limbless. Because that is so, I prayed even harder that the Lord would use Nick as His mouthpiece. I wasn’t disappointed. Tonight, Ethan, his friend, and I, listened as Nick shared his life story to a packed convention center full of 10,000 (mostly Thai) people. By the time we headed home, it was almost 10:00 p.m. but as Ethan said, it unfortunately started late but it was surely worth going to hear him. Nick only spoke for about an hour but he was powerfully used by God.

Born with a rare disorder, Nick grew up without any of his limbs. Yet, overcoming his disability and depression at a young age, he’d grown up full of faith and joy. He’s lived his life doing what normal people did, play sports, go to school, and enjoy life as best he can. He shared that he believed he could do all things because of Christ who strengthened him. At 19, he discovered that his purpose in life was to encourage so he decided to be a motivational speaker. He shamelessly talked about where his hope came from and whom He believed in. He encouraged people to never give up. He pleaded with us not to allow our limitations to stop us from trying. He reasoned with us that just because we fail doesn’t mean we’re failures. He taught us that each failed attempt in selling himself as a speaker taught him to learn how to speak better. He encouraged us to learn from our mistakes.

Nick at different stages of his life.
He never stopped trying.

He shared a whole LOT more but as I listened to him, I knew that what I was witnessing, Nick himself, was God’s miracle. That Nick today is full of joy, peace, and love, in spite what he doesn’t physically have, is a testimony of what our Lord is capable of doing. Papa God had transformed Nick into a contented and joyous man who loves Him and who knows that his purpose in life is to encourage others and to share about our destiny if we believe in Jesus. Nick is now happily married and has a healthy boy. All the more, joy wells up from within him. As he shared about that joy, his love for all of us, and his God who loves, he asked if he could pray for us. Then, he prayed an earnest and heartfelt prayer of blessing for everyone. He implored that we would all know the love and the joy that comes from the Lord. Truly, nothing is impossible for our God. In the absence of arms and legs, the Lord used Nick Vijucic to speak into the hearts of all of us there. Judging from the many teary eyes I saw, many were moved. And I know that a LOT of that movement is towards God. May the Lord be praised for His goodness and love and for His amazing wisdom in using the limbless to bring people to Himself.