There are several possible answers to why God allows people to be disabled and handicapped. Let’s take a look at a few of them. First of all, God allows people to be disabled or handicapped because it is within His will to allow it. In other words, it cannot happen unless it is the will of God to permit it. But this answer isn’t very satisfying. We then ask, why would He permit it? This leads to other possible reasons.
Federal Headship
Federal headship is the doctrine that the male represents the descendants. For example, Adam and Eve were in the garden. Eve sinned first, but sin entered the world through Adam, not Eve (Rom. 5:12). According to Rom. 5:19, through Adam’s disobedience, “the many were made sinners.” So what we’re seeing is Adamic representation, and through his sin, the world experienced corruption. This means that the physical world is affected by sin, and in the physical world, its effect is found in people being disabled and handicapped.
Free will
Free will is the ability to make choices that are consistent with your nature but also not forced upon you. People make free will choices, and this can result in people being disabled and handicapped. For example, let’s say a person goes to a bar, gets drunk, and drives a car. That person injures someone else who then, for the rest of his life, is now handicapped. This is a sad reality that happens all too frequently. But, if someone says that God should stop such unfair effects of bad choices, then he is saying God must stop their free will choices. This is, of course, problematic. At what point should God intervene and stop people from making free will choices? Would it be drunkenness, taking drugs, or even thinking about doing something wrong? The problem then becomes at what point ‘ought’ God intervene?
Redemption
Another possible reason why God could allow people to be disabled and handicapped is because it could bring them to redemption. Oftentimes, when people are injured, they are also humbled. So they could easily turn to God in their humility and be saved. This may not sound like the best reason, but it is certainly a possibility.
Reward in heaven
Though this may not be as heartwarming an explanation, it does have some merit. My wife, for example, has a very rare connective tissue disorder that has required multiple surgeries. She is also in constant pain. But she has never complained against God. So, through her illness, she still praises God for His goodness, for saving her, etc. This brings glory to God and, I suspect, results in an increase of reward for her in heaven.
Mystery
Finally, we must acknowledge that there are aspects of our world that we just don’t understand. God is so far above us, and His ways are so vast in wisdom and understanding that we ask why God allows disabled and handicapped people; it can simply be because we don’t know. Why God allows these things to happen to people is simply a mystery. This is not very satisfying, it is also true. There is a mystery as to why God does so many things and allows so many things to occur. This is why we walk by faith and not by sight (Hab. 2:4).
