While it’s certainly not something any of us enjoy, it is often through pain and suffering that we grow closer in our relationship with God. It is through our trials that we are stripped of our idols and forced to rely wholly on God, who alone is sufficient for us. Atticus Shaffer knows what that means.
Actor Atticus Shaffer, 19, who played on ABC’s sitcom “The Middle” for nearly a decade, knows that all too well.
Now, Shaffer is saying goodbye to “The Middle” and opening up more about his spiritual journey that started with the diagnosis of his genetic disorder known as osteogenesis imperfecta.
The disorder can be extremely painful and makes sufferers much more susceptible to broken bones.
But while his suffering through the disease planted a seed, Shaffer didn’t fully commit to following Christ until he was a teenager.
“I really committed to Christianity when I was 15,” he shared. “I just knew I had that draw to say, ‘I need to know the Lord. I need to know where I stand.”
While Shaffer was raised in a Christian home, the actor says his mother always left the decision to follow God up to him. And it was ultimately through his “endless surgeries and intense pain that he turned to God most,” according to CBN News.
“It’s helped me to be more empathetic and be more compassionate,” remarked the teen. “You get placed in situations where you have to depend on God.”
Shaffer admits that being a Christian in a secular entertainment industry certainly comes with its challenges, but he has been given the opportunity to overcome them with his crew in the most beautiful way:
“I’ve never been one to Bible thump…but I do know there is a difference between right and wrong,” he said. “After I became a Christian and started standing up for my beliefs. A lot of the other crew who weren’t open about their faith started to speak up and talk about it too. So we all came together and supported each other.
In secular TV, it is risky. I’ve worked with people who as soon as they find out I’m a Christian they treat me different. But we became a community and prayed for each other, vented to each other and were there for each other whatever it may be.”
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