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I love the line from StarWars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. The characters Jar Jar Binks, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon are being chased in their underwater submarine-type craft by a grotesque looking fish. Just as the fish attempts to eat them, a larger fish appears and devours the smaller one. Then Qui-Gon says, “There is always a bigger fish.”

There will always be someone who is better looking, better dressed, and more successful. The kicker is not to compare yourself to others, like on Instagram. Your fingers scroll up, and you feel down.

But, we still want that perfect selfie, like the man from Hong Kong who traveled to the Grand Canyon in March of 2019. He pulled out his phone and fell off a cliff, while taking a selfie. 

Who has a perfect selfie? We all have some type of physical defect or handicap. In the world of golf, a handicap is a compensation in strokes given to a golfer on the basis of skill in past performances which can either be an advantage or a disadvantage. In the world’s economy physical defects are a disadvantage. Does God use the proud?

Warren Wiersbe said,

“Just about everyone you meet on the pages of the Bible had to overcome a handicap before God could use him. In more than one case, God deliberately gave believers handicaps, and this became the making of them.”

David was shorter than his brothers, but was chosen to be king. Paul had a “thorn in his flesh” but he wrote 13 books in the New Testament. 

Dr. Paul Brand spent the majority of his life in India treating leprosy patients, before he moved to Louisiana. Listen as he remembers a special patient:

“Our little church at Carville, Louisiana, includes a devout Christian named Lou, Hawaiian by birth, whose body manifests the ravages of leprosy. Lacking eyebrows and eyelashes, Lou’s face seems unbalanced, and paralyzed eyelids cause tears to overflow as though he is constantly crying. He has become almost totally blind because of the failure of nerve cells on the surface of his eyes. Like many other leprosy patients, Lou struggles with a growing sense of isolation. His sense of touch has faded now, and that, combined with his near blindness, makes him afraid and withdrawn. He most fears that his sense of hearing may also leave him, for Lou’s main love in life is music. He can contribute only one gift to our church, other than his physical presence: he sings hymns to God while accompanying himself on an autoharp. Our physical therapist designed a glove that permits Lou to play the instrument without damaging his insensitive hand. But here is the truth about the Body: no person in Carville contributes more to the spiritual life of our church than Lou playing his autoharp. He affects us all by offering as praise to God the limited, frail tribute of his music.” (Fearfully and Wonderfully)

God uses weak people like you and I. Give Him praise.