Man without limbs: I need God more than arms and legs

Nick Vujicic is a Christian motivational speaker who gave his life to Jesus Christ at the age of 15 when he read the story of the blind man and Jesus in John 9.

When people asked Jesus why the man was born blind, he said it was for the works of God to be revealed through him.

“He healed the physical body of the blind man (in John 9). But what I said to God is, ‘I don’t know what your plan is, but I trust you. I need you not just for arms and legs, [but] I need peace. I need forgiveness. I need purpose,” Vujicic, president of the non-profit Life Without Limbs, said at the Seattle Harvest event.

Vujicic, who was born with no arms or legs, shared his inspiring story to a crowd of 15,000 at the Key Arena in Seattle on Sunday.

More than 93,000 people watched the event online and 1,692 accepted the invitation at the end of the night to commit their lives to Jesus.

The Australian-born motivational speaker, who has inspired thousands of people worldwide, shared that when God does not grant a person the miracle they prayed for - Vujicic had prayed for his arms and legs to miraculously grow - God can perform another kind of miracle.

“God can still use you to be a miracle for someone else to bring them to the truth and knowledge of Jesus Christ,” he said.

Earlier in the evening, Greg Laurie, lead pastor behind the Harvest Crusades and senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California, addressed the question of why there is suffering in the world. He said humans, in the broad sense, are responsible for the problems we face in the world today. The illnesses, disabilities, and death are all a result of sin, he said.

“The general tendency is to place all the blame for all of the problems and suffering of humanity on the shoulders of God,” said Laurie. “God gave us the ability to choose and our first parents, Adam and Eve, made the wrong choice in the Garden of Eden,” he said.

Vujicic, who has learned to overcome bitterness over his physical condition, left the crowd with a message on how to be happy. Some people say they are not going to be happy until they get married, have a job, save up money, or have more friends, said the author of new book Life Without Limits.

But having those things will not necessarily make you happy, he said.

“It’s not about the outside. It is about being complete on the inside,” said Vujicic. “Because I have seen so many people complete on the outside but who don’t know the truth. It is the truth that sets you free and who the son sets free is free indeed.”

Over the course of the three-day festival, 39,000 people attended in person, 162,717 watched the webcast, and 4,225 made decisions for Christ.

The Seattle event was the last Harvest crusade scheduled this year. The next Harvest event will be in Auckland, New Zealand, in June 2011.