FAQ: Answering Hard Faith Questions About Disability With Honesty And Care

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We face the hardest question families and self-advocates ask about disability and faith, starting with validation and moving toward hope rooted in Scripture. We share practical ways to make the gospel truly accessible through language, presence, and relationships.

• US disability and church attendance gap
• framing the core question families ask
• meeting people at their spiritual starting point
• validating grief and daily struggle
• Scripture anchors for dignity and purpose
• testimony that reveals impact and meaning
• fallen world, no blame, sovereign God
• language without jargon, clear next steps
• relationships as the bridge to access
• ongoing commitment to accessible ministry

If you want to dive deeper on your own, you can check out the indispensable-people blog or my books on Amazon called The Indispensable Kid or Gospel Accessibility and the Indispensable People

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:02):
Hey, hey, my name is Tracy Coral and welcome to
Indispensable People.
I'm a pastor, a teacher, amissionary, a mom, a wife, and I
believe that every person shouldhave access to the gospel so
that they can know Christ, growin him, and serve him with the
gifts that he has given.
Over 65 million Americans have adisability.

(00:24):
That's 15 to 20% of everycommunity.
And over 85% of thoseindividuals do not attend
church.
90% of pastors believe that theyare a disability-friendly
church, but only 20% of parentsand families agree.
Let's dive deep into hardtopics, big questions,

(00:47):
perceptions, stereotypes, and somuch more.
Thank you for joining me todayon this episode of Indispensable
People, where we're talkingabout frequently asked
questions.
We've had supporters, readers,listeners enter some questions
that they would like answeredabout disability ministry.

(01:10):
And we figure if one person hasthe question, there's probably a
lot more out there that do.
So let's dive into thesequestions today.
This particular question isdifficult to answer, not only in
content, but also in emotion.
And it says, How do you answerquestions from families when

(01:32):
they are questioning God aboutthe disability of their child?
So this is a hard questionbecause sometimes it is the
answers don't change, but theway in which you answer them do
based on where they're comingfrom.

(01:53):
Okay.
Are they Christians?
Do they already believe inJesus?
Are they exploring and theydon't have a lot of background
knowledge on the scriptures?
Where are they in their walk?
Because here's something someonesaid to me once, and it had

(02:14):
nothing to do with disabilityministry, but they were talking
about the support systems anddiscipleship and that building
discipleship models aredifficult because it is more of
a natural relationship withintention.
And so they were talking about,you know, how one person guiding

(02:35):
another person.
So they're on the wagon, all isgood, everything is, and when
they fall off the wagon, thatmentor, that leader gets to go
over and pick them back up andput them back on the wagon.
They get to help them.
And you can do that in differentways because you know what they
already know.
So understanding where they'recoming from is really important.

(02:57):
Also, that plays into theverbiage that we use, right?
So if you're speaking all inChristianese, but they're not
Christians or they're newChristians, they're not gonna
understand what you're saying.
So here's a couple things simpleacross the board, apply to
everyone kind of deal.

(03:19):
You're gonna validate theirfeelings, right?
I can see how you feel that way.
I can understand the weight ofwhat you're carrying.
I can I see that this is makingyou really upset and really sad.
And this is not only just, Iwould say, not only just the

(03:40):
questions that family memberswould ask about the disability
of their child.
I am going to tell you thatyou're gonna get these questions
from the person with adisability themselves as well.
Why did God make me this way?
Did God mess up?
Is that was this on purpose?
Why it, why do I experiencepain?
Why it why doesn't God heal me?

(04:01):
I mean, the questions are goingto come and they're going to
come from the parents,caregiver.
It's going to come from theindividual who's experiencing
the disability.
All of those things, these aregoing to be really important
things and questions to ask.

And here's the honest thing (04:17):
we don't always know the answers,
right?
We can lean on scriptures andknow Genesis 1.27 says that um
we're made in the image ofChrist, and that is for
everyone.
We can know that, yes, there aresome disabilities that are

(04:37):
caused from bad choices in life,but we can say that Jesus gave
the example in scriptures whenthe disciples were asking him
about the man that was bornblind.
Why, why is why was he bornblind?
Where's the line of sin?
All of that kind of stuff.

(04:58):
And you have the reply, youknow, that it is these didn't
happen because his parentssinned or because he sinned, but
it was so that the works of Godcould be displayed.
And so we know that we'recreated in the image of God, we
know that we're fearfully andwonderfully made.
We know that we are knittogether in our mother's womb.
So God knew before.

(05:20):
We know that we serve asovereign God.
And so it's not that he causesdisability, but that he allows
it.
And if he allows it, thenthere's purpose in it.
And you could give examples ofother lives that God has used of
people with disabilities thathave brought glory to him and

(05:42):
have made other people know moreabout him than a person without
a disability could.
So for example, I met with a, Imet a lady a couple weeks ago at
a church visit, and she justcame to say, you know, thank you
so much for what you do.
I just want to tell you about myson to encourage you.
And so she told me about her sonwho was, I believe he had

(06:06):
cerebral palsy, and thedisability was extensive, and so
struggled with words, and heneeded full care for his
personal care needs.
And mom said that whenever hepassed away, the amount of
people that showed up and saidthat he brought them to Christ

(06:31):
was just unbelievably endless.
She had no idea, she hadn'tunderstood all the things that
he had done, but God had movedin his life and brought him to
other people.
And even two days before hepassed away, he the person that
he that worked with him, he wasinsistent that he speak to them

(06:54):
about following Christ.
And it was as if the parent wassaid, it was as if he knew that
he was going to be gone and hehad to take care of this before
he was gone.

(07:18):
Testimonies of someone else'slife can really bring
perspective and helpunderstanding, but it's not all
the answers, and you have togauge that person and their
acceptance of things becausethey may not want to hear that
at all.
And we'll go back to the basicsof the reminders of knowing that

(07:41):
you're created in God's image,so you're made to be like the
creator of the world.
You are knit together in yourmother's womb, which means he
knew about you beforehand.
Another scripture is Exodus4.11, where Moses is talking to
God and telling him how he isnot enough or equipped or

(08:03):
doesn't have everything to dowhat God is asking him to do.
And God replies by saying, youknow, who makes man?
Is it and he goes through, youknow, who makes him blind, who
makes him deaf, who makes himmute, is it not I the Lord?
And so he takes full credit forthe allowance of that.

(08:24):
We live in a fallen world, sounderstanding that, you know,
what God meant for perfectionwas changed by Adam and Eve in
the garden when they made thechoice to disobey him.
And so, you know, there's noblame, there's no shame.
They were purposefully created,they're here for a reason, and

(08:47):
that God can and will use theirlives for his glory.
And those are all things thatare confirmed in scripture.
And so those would be the piecesof encouragement that I would
use for those families.
But sometimes they just needsomeone to listen, listen.
They just need someone tounderstand that yes, the world
is saying celebratedisabilities.

(09:07):
Disabilities is great.
And I'll also understand thestruggle that they're living
with, the difficulties thatthey're living every single day,
whether it's health, whether itis school, whether it's just
interactive, friends, social,the things that they're
struggling with, to validate andunderstand that those feelings
exist.

(09:28):
And yes, we can see without adoubt how that is a struggle for
your life.
But at the same time, God didnot say we would live a life
without struggle.
But he also told us that hewould never leave us, he would
never forsake us.
And he says that we are chosen,that we are royalty in his

(09:49):
family, and that he has plansand he has purposes for us.
So those are all things to liveby.
But also these questions giveopportunities for building
relationships, for walkingalongside of someone.
And when you build thoserelationships and you walk
alongside of someone, then youopen the access to the gospel.

(10:13):
Because if you've invested inthem and they feel safe with you
and know that you love and youcare for them, then they will be
willing to hear the word of Godfrom you.
And that is what makes anaccessible gospel.
I can't claim to have all theanswers.

(10:33):
I can't claim to know all thethings, but here's what we are
gonna do.
We're gonna keep thisconversation going.
We're gonna make the accessiblegospel available to individuals
with disabilities in ourchurches and in our communities
so that every person has theopportunity to know Christ, to
grow in him, and to serve himwith the gifts that he is given.
If you want to dive deeper onyour own, you can check out the

(10:55):
indispensable people blog or mybooks on Amazon called The
Indispensable Kid or GospelAccessibility and the
Indispensable People.