I despise feeling weak or limited. Yet I am constantly reminded of my weaknesses and limitations. My back hurts. I need to eat. I have to put my books down and sleep. I get sick because I’ve pushed myself too hard. I run out of ideas for how to help a student with challenging behaviors. I can’t solve a problem. I get stumped on a paper. My wrists hurt. My eyes hurt. I can’t string words together in sentences anymore. I am weak. I am limited.
I’ve been teaching my K-3 class at church about the attributes of God. We’ve talked now about several attributes, including omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience. God is all-powerful, all-present, and all-knowing. In contrast to us humans, our God has no limits.
This week I was approached by a friend asking for advice. She said that she feels overwhelmed by all the things she has committed to do and asked what she should do about it. I thought for a moment and then told her that she should re-evaluate her commitments and see if there’s anything she can graciously back out of, and that she needs to make sure she is giving herself time to rest so that she can do the things she has committed to well.
Then I told her that saying no to things and taking time to rest are actually ways that we can honor the Lord. Here’s why: When we try to do everything (as I am often guilty of), we are trying to be God. We are trying to be all-powerful, all-present, all-knowing. And we are trying to be sovereign, ruling over our own lives in the way that only God is intended to rule. We are, in essence, saying that we don’t trust our limitless God to take care of us and to ensure that we have everything we need. But when we say no, when we acknowledge and work within the limitations of our humanity, when we lay down our to-do list to get some sleep, we are acknowledging that God is King and that he can, and will, keep the world spinning.
There’s a Sarah Sparks song that has been speaking volumes to me in the past few weeks. It’s called In the Arms of God We Sleep and it is a soft, soothing song that reminds me that I can, and should, rest in the arms of my God. Here’s the line that is most poignant to me: “As we close our eyes each night, we prove again our God is King.” Our action of taking time out of our day to rest, to sleep, is an act of acknowledging that we are not God, we are not king, only GOD is God.
So when I (or my friend, or you) feel like I am coming to the end of myself and reaching my limits, I should not press on. I should stop. I should eat. I should sleep. And in that I should pause and thank God for being without limits. Because when I have to stop because of my limitations, the world keeps on spinning. God keeps on ruling.
Our limitless God keeps going when I’ve reached the end of myself. Aren’t you glad that’s true?
So good, I needed this reminder today 🤍