When you think of the biblical concept of abundant life, do you think that is possible in a life that includes disabilities and mental health challenges? In today’s podcast, learn why Catherine contends that it is not only possible, but it is at the heart of what God pours out into the lives of believers. Listen to the podcast or read this post to learn how you can experience His abundance, even if you are living in a season of scarcity.
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Have you ever known someone who has boundless optimism and is perpetually cheerful? This person could be living the life described by the saddest country song, yet they only see brighter days and better times ahead.
Mental health challenges often involve ‘negative self-talk,’ an internal loop that states that the person with depression or anxiety is “not” a lot of things: not capable, lovable, worthy of friendships or even the salvation offered by Christ. In addition to this negative self-talk, mental illness often creates or perpetuates a view that scarcity is reality. Another term for this is a poverty mindset.
Whether you have mental health challenges or not, when all is going right, it’s easy to feel like life is abundant. But if all is going wrong in your life, the normal reaction is to feel that life merely provides scarcity—even when you have enough to meet your needs every day.
This podcast will be published a week before Thanksgiving 2023. You may be in a season of abundance everywhere you turn, or you may be in a season where you’re barely scraping by—financially, emotionally, spiritually, relationally.
You may not be able to change your circumstances, and you may not be able to change the way your body and brain are “wired.” But scripture says there are things that every believer can do—that we MUST do—to remind ourselves and train ourselves that God really is much bigger than our limited view. And God has unlimited resources and supply. His very nature is abundance.
In Philippians 4:8, Paul encourages the members of the church in Philippi to think on things that are true, lovely, honorable, right, pure, praiseworthy. Why do we need to think on these things? Because it’s our natural inclination to look at what’s wrong! When we bend ourselves towards the way God sees, our whole view of the world often changes dramatically.
After all, God says of Himself that He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, He feeds the birds of the air and clothes the lilies of the field. Christ told His followers to ask for daily bread—and He gives it to us! More often than not, He works to address our needs and answer our prayers through a local body of Christ.
The Key Ministry team members are no different than you: we each have our victories and challenges, our public joys and our private pains. So I offer you some recent ministry examples of God’s abundance, to help remind you of the goodness and faithfulness of God in this season focused on thankfulness—perhaps to remind myself, too.
Here are a few examples of the abundance that God has shown me in the past week:
The lady who stands on the road near my church every Sunday. She waves to all the cars passing by. Some people stop, and she offers a smile and word of encouragement.
A ministry leader we work with recently was able to present on why every church needs disability ministry at a large ministry conference designed to equip pastors and ministry leaders. It was not a disability conference. They had a tremendous response to their message!
Another ministry leader who has found an extraordinary disability ministry niche was able to present to over 100 lead pastors on another continent about the need for ministry to and with individuals with ‘hidden’ disabilities—and received an overwhelmingly positive response, in a place where people with disabilities are still hidden away from society.
Yet another ministry leader recently told us about the impact of their annual family camp. In just two years, this ministry doubled the total number of participants—guests, family members and ministry workers—from 180 to 362. People are already registered for their summer 2024 camp.
Another ministry leader led a small group of families and individuals with disabilities in an overnight respite event in another country, where church and secular support for families with disabilities is extremely limited. Before this leader returned home, he was already asked to return next year to help lead another respite event!
A small group leader noted that within their church, more and more families with disabilities are joining life groups, so they intentionally set up the small group that they lead for people of all abilities or disabilities. Their current group includes a mom and her young adult son who lives with schizophrenia and autism. The leader noted, “He is blossoming in the group. He volunteered to read scripture in a recent group meeting.” Another young lady with autism and a significant stutter is in the group. She doesn’t share often, but when she does, the leader noted that her comments are profound.
The Fresh Hope for Families with Disabilities groups started in early November, and nearly twenty people registered for the first group. It is incredibly gratifying to know that the work we do meets the very real needs of families with disabilities.
Did you notice that in every example I just mentioned, God brought abundance into peoples’ lives in the form of new relationships, connections and supports, but did not remove them from their challenges? This is a huge aspect of scripture too often overlooked: that we serve the God who is always with us, going before, lighting our path for today. He’s not a genie who grants us our self-centered wishes, but weaves together good from what we consider scarcity and lack, more than we can comprehend. In some ways that I won’t fully understand until I get to eternity with Jesus, trusting Him and recognizing His abundance in the midst of challenges is the better witness to the watching world, and to the powers and principalities that strive to make us doubt His care.
Part of the way God lights the way for His followers is to learn to see as He sees, and practice what He tells us to practice. Even if your body and brain tell you that there is no reason for encouragement, that there is no reason to be thankful, God’s Word says just the opposite. And often times, when we thank Him and praise Him, the very act of doing what He admonishes us to do ends up lifting our spirits and emotions, and helps us start to see the abundance that He has placed right in front of us. Here are a couple of songs that have lifted my spirits in recent weeks: In Christ Alone and King of Kings by Hillsong.
No matter what your bank account says, no matter your challenges, we encourage you to focus on what He says about abundance and blessings, and pray that your eyes are opened anew to what He has placed before you. From the Key Ministry team, we wish you and your family a blessed and abundant Thanksgiving.
