Richard Ray: Don’t restrict God by your limitations

“Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27).

Let me ask you three question: Do you set limits for yourself? Do you set limits on others? Do you set limits on God?

Richard RayMost people set limits on themselves, because they think they know their limitations. My wife always seems to take caution pursuing the unknown. She is one who will investigate, read up and dissect before ever moving forward, unless she is buying something. Why? Because if she does not like it, she can return it. 

In life, once we move forward, we seldom can move back. So, therefore, we will set limits for ourselves to safeguard our lives, even our spiritual lives. We all have set boundaries that we function best within. We set limits for ourselves.

We also often set limits on others. 

When I was growing up, my father set high limits for me when it came to sports. But those limits were set a little lower when it came to my grades in school. Having five children myself, I set limits differently for each of my children. 

Pastors set limits

Pastors set limits on their church families. I pastored for 20 years, and I know I set limits on others, even though it may not have been intentional. We look at believers, and we set our limits or our expectations for them. Who are we to set limits on someone else or even ourselves? 

How about God? Do we set limits on God? 

Sure we do. We do it in how we pray. Instead of praying with the expectation of an answer to our prayer, we pray hoping it will be answered. We often tell God our problem, instead of telling our problem about our God. We allow the problem to set limits in our lives, instead of allowing God to free us from these limits. When God gives us a vision or a direction to go, we often discuss it, plan for it but never pursue it. We do not always serve and go in haste, because of the limits we set on God.

We need to remember God does not have boundaries. He does not have limits. When the Israelites were fleeing from Pharaoh’s army, God was not restricted by the Red Sea. When Bartimaeus was begging by the roadside, Jesus was not restricted by his disability. Peter was not restricted by the water when Jesus called him out of the boat. “All things are possible with God.” Sometimes, we forget this. We must not restrict God by our limitations. God can and does do the “impossible.”

Experiencing the impossible

I have experienced the impossible in my life, and you have experienced the impossible in your own life—the moment God saved your soul. Salvation is the gift of the impossible, as Jesus was crucified in death, and through his impossible resurrection, we could be saved. Everything about Jesus is impossible if we try to explain it. Let us not explain it but experience it in faith, in how we live, in how we serve and in how we share. “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.’”

We are here to serve you as you serve the Lord. Remember, the Lord has called you to serve, but he has not called you to serve alone. Visit our website (www.bivocational.com) for more information on how the Bivocational/Small Church Association can minister to and serve you. For more information, contact me at brother_ray@juno.com.

Richard Ray is executive director of the Bivocational/Small Church Association and director of missions for the Tri-Rivers Baptist Area.