Overcoming your own limitations is a difficult process to go through. None of us are filled with all the supernatural ability and power that we could ever need, which means every day, we’re all forced to wake up and accept the fact that we have limitations. While you may never be able to completely rid yourself of these limits, you don’t have to live your entire existence bound to them. Find out how to push past your own limitations today.
Most of us don’t like the idea of accepting that we have limitations. Conversely, there are some of us who latch onto those limitations and believe that there is nothing we can do to ever push past them. Ultimately, the truth typically resides somewhere in the middle.
There are some limitations that you’re probably not going to be able to overcome. For example, if you’re 5’7” tall, you’re probably not going to carve out a career for yourself in the NBA. While there have been a few players in history who weren’t exactly tall, those examples are few and far between. That’s an example of a limitation that you may simply have to accept.
However, there are times where our limitations are not defining parts of our lives, and instead, they are there to give us something to work through. Perhaps you’ve always considered yourself an introvert, but you feel the nudging of the Holy Spirit to share your faith with someone. As an introvert, the idea of having a conversation with someone else, especially about a topic so personal, may seem terrifying. However, when God urges you to step out of your comfort zone in the name of sharing your faith, it’s important that you push past your own limits to fulfill God’s calling on your life.
We’re going to primarily look at a familiar story about an Old Testament hero who had his fair share of limitations, many of which were his own fault.
Judges 16:3 (ESV)
But Samson lay till midnight, and at midnight, he arose and took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts, and pulled them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that is in front of Hebron.
Samson was by no means a perfect individual. However, God continued to choose to use Samson to fulfill a powerful purpose in the lives of His people. In fact, when we see Samson at the beginning of Judges 16, he had been drawn to the area where he spent the night because he “saw a prostitute.” This occurs well after Samson had made the sinful mistake of marrying a woman from the Philistines. Their marriage ended when she wound up choosing one of Samson’s closest friends, driving Samson into a rage in which he killed many of the Philistines.
When Samson found himself in Gaza, he did so because he had seen a prostitute and he “went into her” (Judges 16:1). When the people of Gaza heard that Samson was there, they set an ambush around the gate of the city. This man had been ruling in Israel for many years, but through his own lapse in moral judgement, he found himself surrounded by the Gazites.
What he did at midnight was the result of two things. First, God had promised to endue Samson with a supernatural physical strength as long as he didn’t cut his hair off, a sign of obedience and commitment to God. Secondly, it was a display of God’s faithfulness to His people, even when we miss the mark. Samson rose up at midnight and instead of being trapped in the gates that he was inside, he picked them up on his shoulders and carried them away.
The very thing that was meant to hold him back was being carried away by the strength that God allowed him to have. Child of God, you have access to a strength that does not make sense in the natural realm. You have access to a strength that lives inside you that cannot be explained in human terms. The power of the Holy Spirit that rested on Samson on the night that he carried the gates up the hill lives inside you because You have professed your belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Your gates are gone, just like Samson’s were.
However, we don’t really have to worry about being trapped in a city like Samson did. There’s a pretty good chance that you’re not reading today’s study while you find yourself surrounded by citizens of another country that want to kill you and take over your nation. However, you still may find yourself facing limitations, just like Samson was. In the same way that he pushed past his gates, you can push past yours. Your gates are gone because the same Holy Spirit that empowered Samson lives inside you.
Pushing Past the Past
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
One of the biggest “gates” that we’re forced to deal with is the gates of our past. Many of us carry the scars of bad decisions that we made, just like Samson. Samson’s life was far from perfect even before he put himself in the sinful situation that we read about in Judges 16. However, unlike Samson, we don’t have to put ourselves in a position to continue repeating those same, dangerous, decisions.
One of the most powerful things that you will ever do as a Christian is to fully and completely embrace the forgiveness that God has extended to you. Instead of viewing yourself through the lens of the decisions that you’ve made in the past, embrace the powerful truth that declares that you are a new creation!
Pushing Past Temptation
1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV)
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
“The devil made me do it.” That line is typically spewed out shortly after we do something that we know is sinful. Unfortunately, it’s not only a faulty excuse, but also simply bad theology. The devil does not have the power to make us do anything. Instead, he can only tempt us, and the Bible declares that with every temptation, God provides a way of escape.
Our temptations often limit us, but they do not have to. Instead, you can pick up your temptations, just like Samson picked up his gates, and carry them to the foot of the cross. When we commit our ways to the Lord, He sees us, hears us, and moves on our behalf.
Pushing Past Labels
Romans 4:17-18 (NIV)
As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed-the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Finally, you can push past your labels that try to hold you in place like Samson’s gates did him. Abraham had longed for a child, but he did not have one. However, when God promised him that he would become the “father of many nations,” Abraham believed that promise.
What God calls us is greater than anything that we can call ourselves. Moreover, it’s more powerful than any labels that society puts on us. The gates of your labels are gone! You are defined by the living God who has called you and keeps you.
A Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, help me to move past the things in my life that I allow to hold me back. While I know that not everything is within my control, I know that I am not a victim, but I am a victor. Help me to embrace the life of victory that You have promised. In Christ’s name, Amen.