15: You Are a Limited Edition

It’s Wednesday morning, pre-pandemic, and I’ve just made it into the office. All is calm for now, so I take a minute to make myself a hot cup of tea. I haven’t always been a tea drinker, but caffeine has become a necessity. Plus, I really only like fancy coffee that I can’t justify spending money on each morning. So I save my weekly iced mocha latte with almond milk for Fridays and enjoy the caffeine provided by green tea the rest of the time.

As I sit at my desk, letting the tea steep, I decide to look and see what the little tag on the teabag says today. I usually appreciate those tiny fortune-cookie-esque messages each morning. This morning, it reads, “You are unlimited.” In reply, I think to myself, “I wish.”

It’s easy for me to operate as if that statement were true. Because deep down, I want to believe it is. I want to be able to do all the things, for all the people, all the time. And lest you think this comes from a pure, selfless place - it usually does not. It comes from a deeply-rooted need to prove myself, to keep up, to stand out. And admitting I have limitations? Owning the fact that I won’t always measure up? Being okay with inevitably letting people down? Those things usually aren’t my cup of tea. 

But we are limited. Our time is limited, both the hours in our days, and the days in our lives. Our control is limited. Our knowledge is limited. Our capacity is limited. Our bodies are limited. Our resources are limited. Our perspectives are limited. And while my default is usually to try to push against that reality, I’m learning that maybe, my limitations aren’t meant to be a hindrance. Maybe it’s okay to acknowledge them. And maybe there is freedom in learning to live within them. Because our limitations are a reminder that we are not God, and that we can ultimately trust and rely on the One who is. Our limitations help us lean into humility. 

I was reminded of this recently while reading through Psalm 16. It’s a psalm attributed to David, and it’s titled as “a song of trust and security in God.” Beginning in verse 5, it reads,

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage.

In these couple verses, the psalmist is referring to land and property, but the bigger concept carries over into our lives. The boundary lines of our lives, the limitations of our humanity, fall in pleasant places. We don’t have to fight them or be ashamed of them. We can embrace them and live securely within them. Our limitations actually enhance the lives we were meant to live. They help us focus on what we can and should do, meaning living within our limitations is actually an act of faithful stewardship and obedience.

But, as you might have guessed, I often struggle to remember this. And in this struggle, I’m discovering there are a few truths I need to hold onto. 

The first is that our limitations are not identical, and that’s okay. Sure, there are some universal limitations we all have as humans, but the limitations I have are specific to me and the way I’m wired. I need to stay focused on what I can do within my own, instead of distracted by what someone else can do within hers. I know some pretty incredible women who can go, go, go, and just looking at their lists of accomplishments makes me feel exhausted. I will never understand how they fit so much in and that’s because my boundary lines are different right now. I genuinely admire these women, but for me,  I’ve learned through a ton of trial and error that God tends to call me to no more than 2-3 outside commitments at a time. And with God’s help, I commit to doing those very few things as well as I can. Committing to more than that tends to spread me too thin. That doesn’t mean those commitments aren’t challenging or don’t ever stretch me or push me out of my comfort zone. Commitments are rarely a breeze and limitations don’t equal lazy. But they help me remain faithful to and focused on what God has called me to specifically. And I’m learning that I don’t have to be ashamed of that. God is at work in the limitations I’ve been given, even if my territory is smaller than others right now. It’s okay to be a limited edition.

Second, limitations might seem like weakness, but weakness has power in God’s Kingdom. In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul writes, 

“but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power[c] is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

Our limitations work in relationship with God’s limitless nature, and lead to a beautiful dependence on God. In her book, “Glorious Weakness: Discovering God in All We Lack,” author Alia Joy highlights this relationship. In her book, she writes, 

“I know I am called to a small and humble ministry of weakness. Really, we all are. I know empty and weary and broken, but more importantly, Jesus does. What if we started to see weakness not only as something to endure but as our spiritual gift? What if we didn’t fight it so hard? What if we stopped pretending? What if we allowed grace to meet us there and resurrect the broken things? What if we lived as though we actually believe God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness? 

We want God’s perfect strength, but we don't want to live with our constant, gaping need. Everything in me longs to put my hand to the plow and create glory for God until I’m utterly unable and my resources are bare. But God was never interested in my strength; he’s most pleased with my surrender… Weakness is my spiritual gift. In my complete and utter poverty, I give up my illusion of control and my weakness becomes my greatest offering of worship.”

I love the picture of living within our limitations being a form of worship. Our job is not necessarily to go above and beyond, but to make a way through our limitations for God to do what only God can. And that is a beautiful thing.

Last, but certainly not least, we let God lead. We won’t always get it right. There will be seasons where we take on too much, trying to push the limits too far. And there will be other seasons in which we limit ourselves and back away from the actual boundary lines God has for us. There will also be seasons when God expands our limitations, and seasons when God shrinks them back. But no matter the season, God is with us and guides us and loves us, limitations and all. In God’s Kingdom, our worth and value are not tied to what we can or cannot do. So we do our best to follow God’s lead, trusting in God’s ability to go above and beyond, in God’s boundless nature, and in God’s presence each step of the way.  

But really, Psalm 16 in its entirety beautifully sums up what it means to trust God with our limitations and to follow God’s lead within them. Listen now for the word of the Lord:

1 

Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

2 

I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;

I have no good apart from you.”[a]

3 

As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble,

 in whom is all my delight.

4 

Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows;[b]

their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out

or take their names upon my lips.

5 

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;

you hold my lot.

6 

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

I have a goodly heritage.

7 

I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;

in the night also my heart instructs me.

8 

I keep the Lord always before me;

because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

9 

Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;

my body also rests secure.

10 

For you do not give me up to Sheol,

or let your faithful one see the Pit.

11 

You show me the path of life.

In your presence there is fullness of joy;

in your right hand are pleasures forevermore

Today, if you feel pressure to go above and beyond, remember, you are a limited edition. We can trust in God’s ability to work within our limitations and we rest in the promise that God’s power is made perfect in weakness.