What Are Our Limitations?

Do we really live in a world of limitations? We see athletes break records we once thought impossible. We set goals to break our own record sales. We push ourselves until the brink of fatigue and exhaustion. Just how far can we go and still remain healthy?

Physical limitations are probably the ones we will first notice. As we live, we realize that aging is inevitable. We might ache more than you did last year. Our eyes might not focus as well as they did last year. We might not be able to eat the same way you did when you were a twenty-something and expect to maintain a healthy weight. Physical limitations are hard to accept, but truly a part of living and aging.

Our main limitations in life might be:

• Physical - we can’t function without the proper amounts of food, water, and sleep. When we fail to meet our physical needs, our bodies reach points of fatigue and exhaustion. People with occupations that require strenuous physical labor must pay close attention to their physical needs to compensate for the energy expended each day.

• Emotional - our emotional involvement with your family might be too intense in crisis situations for us to truly function at our best. People in caring professions often become too emotionally involved in too many people emotionally, ending up fatigued and exhausted.

• Mental - our mind is used to carrying out both simple and complex thoughts during the day. But we can experience too much information, coming at us too quickly, or information that is too complicated for us to process in a healthy and productive way.

When it comes to emotional and mental limitations, many people ignore their bodies’ calls for help. People have limits—on the number of people they can service; on the number of intelligent decisions they can expect to make; on the amount of time they can devote to a task; on how much new information they can absorb; on how many clients they can deal with. People have needs that must be met in order to remain functional.

Sometimes people look at their limitations in negative ways when viewed through the lens of employment. Some might fear that if they are limited in certain areas in the workplace, they might not excel, get a promotion, be respected, or have the security of employment.

From this standpoint, the issue of limitations becomes a spiritual one. We sometimes fear the future instead of looking to the future with faith. We sometimes fail to involve God in our work. We sometimes separate our lives into compartments—ones for faith, family, and work—and forget to involve God in all we do.

We must learn to rely on God instead of ourselves. He already knows what we are able do on our own. He also knows when to reach out to us with His limitless ability to give us what we need when we need it—as Christians it is already ours we just have to call on God and it will be given. What He will not do is assist us with something that is not His will. Some Christians have a real knack of “thinking up” something good to do for God. Some run ahead of Him in creating something of value to do for Him. Despite good intentions, we can sometimes wear ourselves out while God is waiting for us to do something supernatural with His power.

Is there a game plan for living a balanced life and dealing with our limitations? Yes.

• First, begin your day with Christ, and He will help you order your day with greater clarity than you can alone. Instead of moving quickly from one task to the next, consider how you can begin your day with a quiet time with the Lord. Ask Him to help you determine the priorities of your day. Ask Him for wisdom in dealing with your limitations.

• Second, learn to say no. Fatigued and exhausted set in when you think that something horrible will happen if you turn down an opportunity or say no to someone’s request. Sometimes the most intelligent and best thing you can do is to say no.

• Third, learn to ask for help if you find that you are continually emotionally and mentally drained. Ask others to help you carry the load. Find a mentor, pastor, or Christian friend to help you determine a plan for you to be free of your emotional and mental strain.

• Finally, learn to live in faith, realizing that it is the antidote to fear. We don’t have to fear what might happen if we reduce the load that we carry. God is a good and powerful God who provides for our needs. He cares for us deeply. He knows what we long for, and He knows what we need. We can trust Him to reveal to us what He would have us do and show us what we need to avoid.

So, do we live in a world of limitations? Yes, we do. We have limits, but our Father in heaven is limitless. We must live in faith that God has and will provide what we need when we need it, this is a way that we can live a life of greater abundance each day.