Is The Lord's Power Limited?

by Rita Langeland
© 2003 Hidden With Christ Ministries

The Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not.” (Numbers 11:23 NASB)

In Numbers chapter 11 we find Moses and the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness. God had been supernaturally supplying their food in the form of manna on a daily basis. The people began to demand a change of menu from Moses! They wanted some meat. Moses had a talk with the Lord about this. Moses told the Lord that he couldn’t imagine how God could provide the huge group of people (estimated at nearly 3 million) he was leading, enough meat to feed them all. God answered Moses with this rhetorical question: Is the Lord’s power limited?

The word “limit” or “limited” means to confine or restrict within a boundary or bounds. The word “confine” suggests imprisonment, restraint, or impediment. God’s power is not limited, but we often limit, restrict or confine Him within our self-imposed boundaries.

I have observed a beautiful animal known as the African impala both in the wild in East Africa and in the San Diego Zoo. This amazing animal can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance of greater than 30 feet. Yet these magnificent creatures can be kept in an enclosure in any zoo with a 3-foot wall. The animals will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will fall. Faith is the ability to trust what we cannot see. When we cannot see how God can accomplish something in our lives, we are sorely tempted (just like Moses) to assume it cannot be done. Yet God asks us the question, “Is the Lord’s power limited?”

Years ago a new missionary arriving at his mission station, was assigned a car that would not start without a push. He proceeded for the next two years to always arrange to either park on a hill or leave the engine running when he made his rounds. A new missionary came to relieve him of his duties and the veteran missionary explained to him about the idiosyncrasies of the car. The new man took a look under the hood and before long discovered the trouble. A simple loose cable was tightened. After stepping into the car, he attempted to start the engine and it roared to life. The power was there all the time, but a loose connection needlessly kept him struggling for two years.

Many times in our lives “a loose connection” with God’s power keeps us in the struggling mode unnecessarily. A further look at Moses and the children of Israel will give us some insight into what is limiting God’s power in our lives.

Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the LORD; and when the LORD heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. The people therefore cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the LORD and the fire died out. So the name of that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD burned among them. The rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, " Who will give us meat to eat? "We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna."
(Numbers 11:1-6 NASB)

Take a close look at what transpired in these verses. The Israelites were ungrateful for what God had provided thus far. They grumbled and complained about their lack instead of trusting in God’s power. This angered God and restricted the flow of His power to them and released His judgment against them.

A spirit of ungratefulness and complaining will cut off the flow of power into your difficult situation. And yet it is very easy to fall into this trap when you are experiencing pressures. A few weeks after I shared this message in our church, a young lady in the congregation told me this story. Her work situation had gotten very difficult and it was affecting the productivity in the office, which in turn affected her commissions. She had begun to complain and grumble about the management decisions and every other natural thing that she felt was causing the problem. After hearing these scriptures, she realized she needed to repent for her complaining attitude in order to restore the power flow from the Lord, so that He could begin to work in her situation. The very next day when she returned to the office, the situation began to turn around. Within three weeks, the productivity level was greater than it had ever been in the history of that office. Is the Lord’s power limited? Only if we limit Him.

Now Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, each man at the doorway of his tent; and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly, and Moses was displeased. So Moses said to the LORD, "Why have You been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all this people on me?  "Was it I who conceived all this people? Was it I who brought them forth, that You should say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which You swore to their fathers'? "Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me, saying, 'Give us meat that we may eat!'  "I alone am not able to carry all this people, because it is too burdensome for me. " So if You are going to deal thus with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness." (Numbers 11:10-15 NASB)

Moses was so frustrated that he was asking God to kill him! What drove him to such a desperate point? Moses was limiting God to what Moses could do in his own strength. He wrongly assumed God expected him to be Israel’s leader in his own power. So he told God, “Just kill me…because I can’t do it!”

He couldn’t see God’s ability…only His own lack of ability… "I alone am not able to carry all this people, because it is too burdensome for me. " Depending on your own strength will tire you out, burn you out, and overwhelm you very fast!!!

George Muller once said, “Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man's power ends.” God can do and wants to do so much more in our lives than we can accomplish in our own natural strength and abilities regardless of how talented we may be. Zechariah 4:6 reminds us: Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord. Attempting to do God’s will in your own strength cuts off the flow of God’s power just as it did for Moses. We are then limited to what we can accomplish on our own. God wants us to operate at a higher level which we can tap into through faith.

This reminds me of a true story I heard about a teacher who worked with mentally handicapped teenagers. The medical community and the education system had labeled them with many “limitations”. However this teacher was determined to see them operating at a higher level than those limitations. He taught them to play chess, to restore furniture and to repair electrical appliances. One student proved how well he had embraced this lesson. One day he brought in a broken toaster to repair. He carried the toaster tucked under one arm, and a half-loaf of bread under the other. His “faith” that he could operate above his limitations became action. He fully expected that he would be enabled to repair that toaster and eat the fruit of it that very day! God wants us to have more faith in God’s greater ability to work through us than in our own inabilities.

A third way that we limit God’s power in our lives is through focusing on how big the problem is rather than how big our God is. Consider what Moses told the Lord in Numbers chapter 11: "But Moses said, "The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 on foot; yet You have said, 'I will give them meat, so that they may eat for a whole month.' "Should flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Or should all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?"

The Lord promised Moses: “I will give you meat.” Moses felt compelled to tell God how big his problem was….600,000 people to feed! (That did not include women and children.) Moses could not figure out how God could possibly supply a bar-b-que for that many people out in the wilderness! Focusing on the problem rather than the promise of God can stop the flow of God’s power to you.

Hudson Taylor was one of the first missionaries to inland China in the 1800’s. He faced tremendous obstacles while opening a mission station in the interior of China. During an especially trying time in the work of his China Inland Mission, Hudson Taylor wrote to his wife, "We have twenty-five cents--and all the promises of God.” He had more faith in God’s promises than he did in the enormity of the challenges he was facing, though they were very real. This is the same faith-filled focus God wants each believer to have. Is the Lord’s power limited? Only if we limit Him.

Remember these important lessons from Number chapter 11:

1) DON’T LIMIT GOD’S POWER IN YOUR LIFE THROUGH COMPLAINING OR INGRATITUDE ABOUT YOUR PRESENT CONDITIONS

2) DON’T LIMIT GOD TO WHAT YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH IN YOUR OWN STRENGTH

3) DON’T LIMIT GOD’S POWER BY FOCUSING ON HOW BIG THE PROBLEM IS…RATHER THAN HOW BIG GOD IS!!!!

Is the Lord’s power limited? Only if we limit Him!

How tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God. (Ephesians 1:19-20 J. B. Phillips)

(this message is available on CD or mp3)

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