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According to 2 Corinthians 12:9, “Three different times I (Paul) begged the Lord to take it (the thorn) away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”
God’s calling isn’t for the perfect people; God is willing to work with us while we grow to do good things to change us and other people’s lives.
According to Isaiah 1:18, “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
We see this with the disciples. Jesus didn’t take the elite, richest, and smartest people. In fact, he took ordinary people with limitations and weaknesses, like fishermen, tax collectors.
Examples Of People With Limitations That God Worked With.
- God called Abraham, even though he was too old
- Jacob, was a deceiver.
- Moses was a stutterer.
- David was an adulterer.
- Gideon was insecure.
- Jonah ran from God.
- Jeremiah was too young.
- Sarah was impatient.
- Thomas was a doubter.
- Paul was a murderer.
- Zacchaeus was short
- Lazarus, he was dead
- And even you
So, what’s your excuse, limitation? Why is it that you think you can’t do something great for God? If God can use all those kinds of people, even those with limitations who did all those bad things, why can’t he use you?
According to 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, “Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.“
God allows some of our limitations to bring us closer to Him. For instance, we read in the book of Exodus 14:4, “And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.”
Did you know that men throw broken things away, but God never ever uses anything or anybody until they are first broken. For instance, we see in the book of Luke 9:16 that God took a little boy’s lunch, broke it and fed the multitudes. By breaking it, he was taking away the limitation. God will never allow your limitations to crush you but will make you stronger.
God can use us, despite our limitations. We all have shortcomings, faults, weaknesses, and other things that we may consider to be personal handicaps. we’re not smart enough, don’t make enough money, and something’s wrong with our body These are excuses for accepting mediocrity in our lives. You got to do your part and get in agreement with God.
According to Luke 19:2-4, “There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way“.
what Zacchaeus thought was his greatest liability (limitation) turned out to be his greatest asset from God. Remember that God doesn’t make any mistakes? Your size, your personality? Your gifts, your skin color—nothing about you is by accident. You have been fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).
If you needed a different personality, God would have given you what you needed. God told Jeremiah that he was going to be a prophet to the nation, that he was going to do great things. Jeremiah said, God, I can’t do that. I’m too young. I wouldn’t know what to say. I’ve got these limitations. God answered back quickly.
Brethren, quit talking about your limitations. Quit thinking you don’t have what it takes. Don’t settle for mediocrity.
If God chose us just based on our background, our past performance, or even our talents and abilities, then none of us would have a chance. He doesn’t choose us because of who we are. He chooses us because of what we can become.
The reality is, there’s nothing you’ve done in your life that has disqualified you from doing great things. You just have to learn to see yourself the way God sees you. He sees you as a work in progress. The Bible even says that we are “God’s handiwork (workmanship or creation or masterpiece) created in Christ Jesus to do good works, as he prepared us in advance to do so.” (Ephesians 2:10).
You may feel weak, but God says, Take the strength you have (in short, use the limitations you have), and you will succeed. You may feel unprepared. God says, Well, you’re equipped. I gave you what you needed to win this battle.
Start seeing yourself the way God does, seeing yourself with all your good qualities. We all have good things in us, but too much of our time is spent focusing on the negative limitations. Use those strengths that you have to do great things. If you focus on your positives, you will do great things despite your limitations.
It is only when you challenge your capacity that you discover your capability. Don’t be content with your capacity. Remember that you serve a God who is unlimited and can do immeasurably more than you can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). The man at the gate called Beautiful begged for alms because he wasn’t able to walk, so he said to himself that I might be unable to walk but I could beg. So, he learned to beg. In short, he learned to survive off on what other people gave him.
Then one day, according to Acts 3:6, “But Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!” Taking him by the right hand, Peter helped him up, and at once the man’s feet and ankles were made strong.…”
Peter and John were willing to reach down and show him what he could do that he never knew he had inside of them. You know, church is a place where you don’t just come to be comforted. A lot of people come to church to be comforted in their dysfunction. What if he wants to challenge you beyond your dysfunction, make you new and give you the power to do what you never knew you can do?
But how will you even know your capacity (Limitations) if you insist on your comfort?
You start with what you have and see, the Macedonian church didn’t have much. But when they gave within their capacity, God increased their capacity, and all of us come to church and come in faith with this little box called church of what God can do and what we can do. And we bring God, our limitations. And when we are met at the level of our own low expectations, we become disappointed and assume that God is limited, when in fact it was us who kept us from seeing what God could do through us.
Ecclesiastes 11:4 Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. Don’t wait for conditions to align before you take a step of faith and commit yourself, how many people are conditional in their faith. I would if I could. I would if I could I mean, …
I believe God wants to increase your faith and your capacity. The woman said, I don’t have any oil in the book of 1 King 17:12. Prophet Elisha said, go get some Jars. She said, I don’t need jar’s, I need oil. But he said, until you increase your capacity, God cannot release provisions. You’ve got to make room to move in your life.
Your ability to believe will never catch up with God’s ability to perform. God is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine.(Ephesians 3:20).
What do you think you can be, become, or do? And I suggest that the current limitations in your life might not be a result of your capacity, but your conditioning. Your mental conditioning, your spiritual conditioning. You may not be where you want to be, but you’re not where you used to be. Thank God for that and keep matching on towards your greatness.
Pastor Nathaniel
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