Faith on the spectrum

“You must act according to the decision they give you at the place the Lord will choose. Be careful to do everything they instruct you to do.” Deuteronomy 17:10 NIV

Sometimes God makes us choose a path. We can choose to accept Jesus as our Savior or not. Free will exists in our salvation. I think He also lets us choose more common paths as well.

Fifteen years ago, we were considering a change of career. We ended up at our local mall to just window shop and think. I was following Korbin and Mary was with the girls. Korbin was just two years old. I watched as he hobbled straight toward a trash can, and he was sort of looking back at me laughing. I knew he was going to run into it, but I could not reach him. He hit head first and then bounced backward. I could see he was not hurt, but he was ticked off. I remember getting a strong sense of peace, sort of like God saying “Right or left, either way I will go with you. Just don’t keep going the same direction.” Decision made.

About a year later when he was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum we were faced with many decisions. We knew very little, and the pressure seemed to be significant. Early on we had a major decision to make. Do we stay in Hays, or do we move closer to more established help?

It turns out there is a school with a reputation for success, but it was 3 hours away. Moving meant going to an experienced team. It also meant a complete reset of our family. I should mention that when we started this journey, we did not know the team who would end up working with him here. At that time, he was three years old. To top off the pressure we were told we had about two years to reach him. They told us progress beyond that would be small. In some areas this advice was correct but in some ways it was wrong. I think they did that to make sure we got to work.

I told a friend of mine what we were considering. He was typing on a computer, and he literally never looked up. He just said, “Did I ever tell you that my wife is an expert in autism?” No, he had not. Long story short, we decided to stay in Hays. God proceeded to reveal the team He had assembled one year at a time. Sometimes the leap of faith is to stay.

Sometimes the leap of faith is to go. We know a family currently faced with the same decision. Someone told us once that if you have seen one person on the spectrum, you have seen one. They are all different and all require different interventions. For this family and their child’s spot on the spectrum, the choice seems to be moving toward the help.

Sending them encouragement seems sort of like a small token, but I want to do just that. They are scared. They are worried. They do not know very many of the answers, but they know a whole lot of questions. God will reveal those answers in His own time but the period of time it takes to get an answer can seem like forever.

Mary and I will join a long list of people sorry to see them go. Everyone who knows them loves them. We also join a long list of people who will admire them for the courage and faith it takes to make the move. We are proud of them.

Faced with obstacles, how do you make your biggest decisions?

Equipped with volumes of information, how do you factor in God, who has already seen your future?

Challenge: Most of the time when we worry about the impact our decisions will make on our future, we leave out God already being present there. He will go with you.

Rick Claiborn