We all live with limits.
I have met few who enjoy having limits. Some accept them as part of life, while others fight against them, normally losing the battle.
Many of our limitations are inherent in the fact that we are human. We were born human and will die human. In between those two events, we are faced with lots of limitations. They just go with the human race. Compared to God, man has many limitations. God has no limitations.
Various stages of life are characterized by limits unique to that stage. Perhaps the most frustrating stage of life are the senior years. These limits unfortunately are part of the aging process. While we think in our mind that we can do the things we did when we were younger, we can’t no matter how much we exercise and stay fit.
As I write these words, I am awaiting a procedure to trim a ruptured disc in my back that has been irritating the sciatic nerve in my right leg for about four months. My doctor never told me this, but I suspect lifting heavy boxes during the cleaning out of our attic space ruptured that disc. While I had the strength to lift these boxes, that one disc and the sciatic nerve made it clear they were not happy.
The Lord has given us limits for our own good. I am convinced of that. Let’s travel back to the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2:16:
“And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.’ “
He only gave them only one limitation. They could eat from any tree in the garden but one-the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And that was for their protection. He told them that they would die if they ate from it.
Then as now we think we know what is best. And we certainly don’t want anyone telling us what to do-even God. Deep down we want to play God. In the meantime, Satan is giving people the wrong ideas about God. He tried to paint of image of God to Adam and Eve that he was a proverbial scrooge.
Part of the teaching ministry of Jesus was to correct wrong ideas people had developed over the centuries. Read these words he spoke in Matthew 7:9-11.
“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him.”
Jesus made it clear that God loves to give. In fact, he is a giving God.
My dad was a giving man. He loved giving to his children and grandchildren. He knew how to give good gifts to his children just a Jesus mentioned. As good and giving as he was, God is far more so.
Even though God loves to give to his children, he also places limits upon us.
Do you remember the limitations your parents placed on you in your child and teen years? Maybe we did not appreciate them at that time, but everything changed when we had children of our own. As adults we knew playing in the street was unsafe for our young kids. When our kids began to drive, the limits placed on them was not because we wanted to punish them but because we loved them and wanted them to be protected from harm.
In addition to our age-related limits mentioned previously, how else does God place limits on us? In his book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, Peter Scazzero refers to our personalities as raw material. He says our personalities are both a gift and a limit with their strengths and weaknesses.
Not accepting the limits of our personalities can bring stress on ourselves and our families in several areas, but especially in our vocation. Certain personalities are just better suited to certain vocations. If we refuse to accept these limits and try to prove that we have no limits and live beyond them, we put ourselves and our families under unnecessary stress. Being in the wrong vocation is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.
Every vocation has a certain amount of stress. That is a given. But if it is affecting your physical and mental health, you may be trying to do what you are not suited to do. Accept God’s gift of limits.
To be continued.