2 Kings 6:1
“And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.”
Every person’s desire should be to grow beyond their capacity. It may seem like that would be impossible, but with God nothing is impossible. God is very capable of taking you beyond what you or anyone else could think you could do.
In the verse above, we can see that the sons of the prophets had a dilemma. The building where they met was too small for them. They had grown beyond their capacity. Yet, this did not stop them from continuing to grow. There were six definite things that helped these young men to grow beyond their capacity.
First, they had initiative. They said in verse 2, “Let us go…” They didn’t wait for someone else to do something for them, but they had the will and initiative to do something themselves. You will never grow beyond your initiative. If you are waiting for someone else to do something for you, then you will be waiting for a long time. It takes initiative to grow beyond your capacity.
Second, they had plans. Verse 2 is their plan of what they wanted to do. You can have all the initiative in the world, but you must have a plan of what you are trying to do if you are going to grow beyond your capacity. Truly, plans are your vision of what you can see happening. If you have no plans, then you are bound to stay where you are.
Third, growing beyond your capacity takes prayer. They said in verse 2, “…we pray thee…” Though they were saying this to the man of God, the man of God was symbolic of going to God. You show me what your prayer life is like, and I will show you your capacity of growth. You will never grow beyond your prayer life.
Fourth, growing beyond your capacity takes separation. They found their wood at the Jordan River. Jordan is symbolic of separation. You are going to have to sacrifice some things if you are going to grow beyond your capacity. These things may not always be wrong, but they will hinder you from growing beyond your capacity. There will come a point in your life when you will have to determine whether you want to grow or to hang on to some things that will hinder you from growth. You must separate from those things that will hinder growth.
Fifth, it takes hard work to grow beyond your capacity. These young men had to cut down the wood themselves so they could expand. Growth never comes without work. We live in a society that wants everything to be easy, but growth is never easy. You must be willing to work hard if you are going to grow beyond your capacity. If you have a good work ethic, then you have the capacity to grow.
Sixth, you can have no excuses if you are going to grow beyond your capacity. In verse 5, one of the young men lost his axe head, but that didn’t stop him. You are going to face many obstacles that will try to stop you from growing beyond your capacity. What you do with those obstacles determines your growth. If you use them as excuses, then you will stunt your growth. If you turn them into obstacles, you can see tremendous growth.
Every person and organization can grow beyond their capacity if these six things are present. It comes down to what are you going to do when you have reached your capacity. I encourage you to never let capacity stop you, but determine to grow beyond your capacity so the LORD can receive glory through your life.