Loving Your Limitations

Let’s talk about limitations — physical and spiritual. I hope it's a real gift to you, for us, to get out of a mode of comparison of seeing ourselves as not enough. Let me start out with a story on the subject of physical limitation. When I was in second grade, I was picked to be in the advanced reading group. I wasn't a particularly good reader but I was articulate and I must have done something right. They had an event where they were going to show this new kind of teaching in front of the school board, the city council, teachers, parents, and some members of the community. I was selected to be a poster child for this new technique.

They didn't coach me and I went into the evening unprepared. I remember right where it was, what school it was at, and right where I was seated. They proceeded with questions and one by one, I got them wrong. And after the first one, the gentleman said, “You know, kids can get nervous.” And then I proceeded to blow it on the second and the third question. And eventually, I was replaced by Debbie Wilcox and told to go be seated. It’s funny that I can remember this all these years later. 

This could be a great story for me to talk about shame, but what I want you to know today is that I've never been a good reader since then. I've never been interested in reading as much since that experience. Isn’t that crazy? Somewhere in there, I made a decision that I'm not an intellect, so I went the route of class clown which I think I did very well. But what I didn't have back then was the understanding that God is not glorified in my innate talents and strengths. 

God is glorified by trusting Him in my inherent limitations. 

All of us have limitations. It is how we get loved. Remember, I was created with limitations so that I could be loved. If I have no limitations, you can like me, you can respect me, but you can't love me because love is the process of meeting needs, and limitations are the vehicle of my needs. I never had a chance really to fulfill my potential intellectually. I've been told that I'm bright, but I have shied away from a lot of academic things. As we move forward, I want us to know that in our new identity, God has not made a mistake. 

God is not ashamed, disgusted, or disappointed with you. 

He knows what our starting points are and He says, “If you get to know this person, World, you're going to love her, you're going to love him, because I've made them innately lovable.” It makes me think of some of the people that I trust most in my life, that I know best in my life. Some of them are made with limitations in appearance, talent, or skills — it doesn't matter. It's this thing that God has put inside where they have trusted God with their limitations and they have received His love and that has made them beautiful. 

All right, that's enough for today. Next time we're going to talk about spiritual limitations, maturity, and starting points. Remember, God is not interested in our starting points. He's interested in what we'll let Him do to move us into maturity, health, and the blessing of others as we receive His love.