God is almost never limited by our lack.
We can lack money and yet God can provide the means for whatever He calls us to do. My thoughts run to a little boy with two fish and five loaves on a remote hillside with Jesus and a crowd of thousands, hungry after a day of teaching and healing.
We can lack strength and yet Paul passes on what Jesus said to Him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” (2Cor 12:9)
We can lack intellect, but God can still use us. I have been in a number of situations where I did not know “the answer” and yet the answer has always come.
But I realized the other day that there is one definite lack on our part that can constrain God… the lack of humility! The lack of humility is powerful, ugly, and spiritually deadly.
There is value in specifically saying “lack of humility” and not simply calling it pride. Being proud of your children, your country, your church can all stray into an unhealthy region, but for the most part these do not capture the attitude that the bible means when it says in a number of places, “God opposes the proud” (James 4:6). The lack of humility is that kind of proud. It is a cancer that sucks the life out of relationships, beginning with our relationship with the Father.
God loves us and He wants us to live in intimacy with Him. The level of intimacy God desires is predicated upon mutual love, trust, and honesty. Coming clean about every aspect of our life – from acts done or not done, words uttered or not uttered, even thoughts we’ve harbored requires a humility and honesty that does not come easily to us. In fact it often requires a degree of divine support to achieve. But He is near to us to lend us this help if we but bend our hearts toward Him in humility.
As I consider what this humility looks like several pictures come to mind. A child listening in rapt attention and a teachable spirit… a parent returning from deployment falling on their knees and embracing their family… a “terminally” ill patient who is given a new lease on life. God is the giver of all good gifts. As He gives what He desires (which is always better than what we deserve) we should recognize the opportunity to give thanks and receive with humility all that the Lord wants for us. Often, it is in these moments that He will speak wisdom into our lives that we can’t hear otherwise.
This morning I awoke with a very clear picture of what the lack of humility looks like. It is one of the formational stories of the nation of Israel and it is found in the 2nd book of the bible, Exodus. What had begun as a flight to sanctuary at the end of the Genesis had become servitude and slavery 400 years later. The Pharaoh’s government had become a hard task-master and the people of Israel were crying out for deliverance. God raised up Moses to serve as His human voice. The message to Pharaoh was simple, “Let my people go.” But Pharaoh, who was considered a god in that culture, refused. Time and again God sent signs of His power and authority to convince Pharaoh and give Him the opportunity to bend His will to the Lord Almighty. But Pharaoh would not. The bible says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.
Friends, this is a vital spiritual truth. The longer and harder we resist the Lord, the more difficult it becomes to respond to Him. It is not that God’s love is not there nor is it that He won’t accept us. The issue is that until we are humble enough to acknowledge that He is God and we are not, we can’t bend our knee to Him and submit to the foundational truth of faith that God is the great “I AM”, the wholly, Holy Other. While I am thrilled that my heavenly Father loves me and desires to fellowship with me, it never changes the fact that He is the LORD God Almighty, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
The lack of humility can keep a person from accepting Christ, God’s provision to reconcile fallen humans with Himself. But it can also rear it’s ugly head after conversion and stifle the spiritual growth the Lord intends for His children. When I consider my faith walk, I can see how the lack of humility was a key factor in many of the lulls.
The message of today’s post is simple. Take a moment to examine your life. Do you have a deficit of humility that is limiting your relationship with God and others? Are you thankful for the small gifts of grace you receive or are you disappointed because you feel slighted in some way? Is God actively speaking to you and using you for positive change or is it quiet when you call out to Him? If any of these answers make you realize that you have a deficit of humility, congratulations! Recognizing this is the hardest step. Turn to God with your whole heart, acknowledge your sin (if you haven’t already figured it out, the lack of humility is a sin), accept His Lordship over you, and begin to walk in fresh fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
The limits of our intellect do not in any way limit God’s ability to use us. The limits of our humility constrain how, and how much God can work in and through us. Choose humility and throw off those constraints. Reach for the Father’s hand and talk a walk with the One Who loves you to the uttermost. You will be so happy that you did.
Be blessed my friend and be a blessing to those the Lord puts in your life today.
I like your article, but “God is almost never limited by our lack” you should though remove the, “almost,” because God is never limited in anything it is us, who are limited.
God is truly limitless – intellect, power, love, He is limitless in myriad ways. In my experience and as best I can interpret from His Word, He has put some constraints upon Himself that He allows us to trigger. What I have tried to highlight here is our lack of humility is deleterious to our relationship with God. It impedes our receiving of so many blessings that He wants to give us… love, wisdom, protection, security, the list of His blessings is also unlimited. Ultimately our lack does not limit God’s desire or ability to do, but our lack of humility puts us into a position where we won’t / can’t receive what He freely offers.
You are right man does truly have a great capacity for a lack of humility. However, a constraint does not indicate, “God is almost limitless,” in His power to do as He pleases. It only means He has chosen to do or not.