by: Shannon Foote
“Limiting the limitless?” I know, that sounds like an impossible task, but I believe it is something that most of us have done on a regular basis
I am sure that we can all agree that God can do anything, and that if you or I were to get in a wrestling match with Him neither of us would stand a chance. The Bible tells us in Matthew 28:18, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” How then can we, mere mortals, limit the ability of Almighty God to do whatever He decides to do? He spoke the world into existence and formed man from the dust of the Earth. Again, how could we alter anything He has done or will do? I seem to remember that an angel called by the name Lucifer, made some statements about becoming greater than God, and that hasn’t worked out so well for him. So, why would there be any mention of this notion written in the Word of God? Psalms 78:41 says, “Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.”
We know, based on what this verse says, that it is a definite achievement by the Hebrew people; because, the children of Israel were said to have “Limited the Holy One of Israel” while they were in the wilderness on their extended journey from Egypt to Canaan. The Hebrew children, by their actions, caused God’s blessing and provision for them to be held back. The God of Heaven, who miraculously delivered these people from bondage and then brought them through the Red Sea, is now being forced by those same people to hold back the blessings He so greatly desired to give to them. Why, you ask? God is bound by His Word, and He cannot bless people or answer the prayers of those who are living deliberately contrary to His will and the Bible. We find this recorded for us in Psalm 66:18 when it says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:” It seems to me, God will have a very difficult time answering a prayer that He will not even hear. Unfortunately, we can force God to not only withhold blessings and answers to prayer from us, but we can also require Him to bring us through times of chastening if our poor behavior continues. All too often, we as believers fail or refuse to take responsibility for placing restraints on the magnificent goodness of our loving Lord.
We look at this Bible story and say to ourselves, “I would never do that. All they had to do is obey God and follow Moses; then everything would have worked out just fine.” In reality, we have the same tendency in our lives today as the Hebrews did during that time. Is it not true that all we too must do is obey God and follow our authority? We do not always enjoy living by faith, and waiting on the Lord to help us; we would rather just take care of the situation ourselves. Sadly, this is a common mistake that we make, and in so doing, we limit the limitless power of God in our lives.
I believe, good Christian folks will set out to live for God and to keep His commandments, but these well-meaning people make this common mistake of maintaining complete control of their lives rather than allowing the Lord to have His rightful place in their lives. They work hard to do everything just as God would want them to, and they try to treat everyone the way they would want to be treated, but they never pass God’s tests. You see, God created us to depend on Him, and when we attempt to live our lives in our own power we are destined to fail. He tells us in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” “Through Christ” is the part of that Scripture that is often quoted, yet sadly it is rarely lived.
It is a special place to be for a Christian to have done all that he can do and to have prayed as long as he can pray for a given situation, because he is about to see the hand of an Almighty God at work. I plead with you, my friends, not to make the mistake of taking over at the last second. We will always get what our God can give us. The question is, “Who is truly the God of our lives?” I submit to you that the one who is trusted to make the major decisions and the one who is pleased most by our actions is the God of our lives. Who is that “One” in your life? Is it you, or is it your loving heavenly Father? You see, when we are in control of our lives, we rob ourselves of the power and ability of God, and we become guilty of, LIMITING the Limitless.
Shannon Foote
Pastor
Grace Baptist Church
Marrerro, LA