Knowing Our Limits

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Updated January 13, 2023

PLUS

Sometimes it takes a horrible night’s sleep to catch up with the Lord. Wandering down to the hotel lobby at 3:36 AM, sure the smell from whomever stayed in the room before me would surely be stuck in my clothes just as sure as it burned my eyes, I laid my head on my Bible and tried to compose myself. Lack of sleep makes me emotional, and in that moment I wanted to go home.

We are not always willing to accept His offer of life. I believe these words carry weight beyond our initial salvation, the saving moment where we come to Christ and submit our lives. It also captures our daily battle with the enemy’s distraction, and the pull of the world on our sinfulness. It’s the reason Paul was writing to the Romans, the Corinthians, and all the other churches recorded in the New Testament – and I’m sure beyond what’s accessible for us to read. We need to be reminded of who God is and who we are all of the time, lest we become unwilling to follow, listen, and obey the formula to a full and satisfying life. We want a full life, even if it looks nothing like the picture the world paints.

“Of course, I have no need of human witnesses,” Jesus said, “but I say these things so you might be saved” (John 5:34). God doesn’t need us to execute His will in the world. Jesus didn’t accept His death on the cross because He had to. God wants us, and Jesus chose to obey the will of His Father to save us. It’s out of love the Holy Spirit comes to reside in us, fulfilling the promise “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.”

True faith isn’t forced, but a willing acceptance to be loved and respond in obedience and trust to that love. “Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life,” John recorded in John 5:40. The will of the Father is to bring every single one of His children home to Him in heaven. He leaves the 99 to look for the one. Our only limits are the ones we put on our willingness to allow the power of God to manifest His purpose for us fully in our lives. Leave the smelly hotel room and wake yourself up. He’s trying to create space. God desires a relationship with us, and the more willingly we come to Him, the more we want to spend time, and our whole lives, with Him, too.

Sources

Meg Bucher Meg writes about everyday life within the love of Christ at megbucher.com. She is the author of “Friends with Everyone, Friendship within the Love of Christ,” “Surface, Unlocking the Gift of Sensitivity,” “Glory Up, The Everyday Pursuit of Praise,” “Home, Finding Our Identity in Christ,” and "Sent, Faith in Motion." Meg earned a Marketing/PR degree from Ashland University but stepped out of the business world to stay home and raise her two daughters …which led her to pursue her writing passion. A contributing writer for Salem Web Network since 2016, Meg is now thrilled to be a part of the editorial team at Salem Web Network. Meg loves being involved in her community and local church, leads Bible study, and serves as a youth leader for teen girls.

Knowing Our Limits

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