Matthew 13:58
“And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”
Who wouldn’t want to see the great works of God? When I read about the great works of God in history, it creates a desire in me to want to see them in my day. When I was a boy, I heard how God provided finances in a miraculous manner. I heard how God came down and met in meetings in the past. I read how God performed miracles in the Scriptures. These things created a desire in my life to see God’s great works in my lifetime.
A sad statement is made in the verse above when it says that Jesus couldn’t do might works. Imagine, man handcuffing the hands of God. Imagine, the weak limiting Omnipotence. Imagine, the finite confining the Infinite. This seems impossible, but according to the verse above it happens. Though, as a child, I desired to see the great works of God, I see in the verse above that I can limit His works. In the Scriptures there are three clear enemies of the great works of God.
Unbelief is the first enemy of great works. In the verse above, Jesus preached in his hometown, but because they could not see Him as the Son of God, their unbelief caused Him not to be able to perform miracles. I often find there are times when our unbelief keeps God from doing great works. We have this thought in our mind that God would never do something, so we don’t even attempt to ask Him to do it. Do you realize that you are keeping God from performing great works when you don’t ask Him? You must be careful that you don’t let unbelief quench the works of God. Why is it that God can’t work through our unbelief? Because our unbelief causes us not to attempt something for God, and He chooses to work through people. Don’t let your unbelief cause you not to see the great works of God.
Little faith is the second enemy of great works. In Matthew 14:31, Jesus rebuked Peter for having little faith. While Peter walked on the water, he got his eyes off God and saw the waves, and it caused his faith in Jesus to waver. That little faith caused the great work of walking on the water to cease. Many times in our Christian lives we start out attempting something great for God, but then we stop because we are sidetracked by our faith. Somehow, in the midst of the work, something caused us to take our eyes off the mighty works of God. Friend, always remember that if God started to do a work through you that He won’t stop until it is done.
The third enemy of great works is a lack of vision. In Matthew 15:33, the disciples lack of vision kept God from feeding the crowd until He helped their vision. Don’t limit your vision of what God can do to your little world. Always understand that if there is a problem, then God has a solution. It doesn’t matter how big the problem may be, God always has the power to overcome any obstacle. Don’t let your lack of vision cause God not to be able to do great works through the lives of people and through ministries.
Are you guilty of limiting the great works of God? I’m afraid we are all guilty of this at times; however, we must not let it continue. There is something right now in your life that God wants to do, but these three enemies are keeping God from doing it. Always remember that when these three enemies show up, then there is a great work that God wants to do. These enemies are only keeping you from seeing God’s power. Don’t listen to these three enemies, instead have faith in God and trust Him, and you will see His great works.