“Nothing shall be impossible unto you.” (Matthew 17:20)
In this scripture Jesus was rebuking his disciples for their unbelief. They couldn’t perform a healing and were perplexed. Jesus named their problem and at the same time encouraged them that miracles awaited them. Positive thinker Rev. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale (The Power of Positive Thinking) has encouraging words for us in a little booklet called ‘How To Handle Tough Times (1991.)’ He tells us in chapter 3: Un-Limit Yourself. Most of us live under self-imposed limitations, somehow collected through our life journey. Whether from family of origin or life experience, somehow the final message that repeats in our heads is: “You can’t do it. You’re just not capable. It will never happen to me. I’m just a loser.” Where and how the message got stuck in our head and life is not really important. What is important is to change that message and replace it with one that is God-inspired and God-honoring. If God says to us: “Nothing shall be impossible to you.” Who are we then to contradict? Dr. Peale writes that many people settle for less than God’s best for themselves. Their self-imposed limitations become habits which freeze them from moving forward and beyond into their God-given potential. Have you taken time to discover what is your God-given potential and gifting? Do you know that you were fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) for a special plan and purpose from God? God told his own disciples and tells us that nothing is impossible. Do we believe it? Or do our perceived limitations block this possibility? There are many kinds of self-imposed limitations. But a very common one is about growing older. Dr. Peale quotes some findings by medical specialists at a Midwestern clinic published in a newspaper story titled: Time Is Not Toxic.“Anyone who thinks that because he or she is getting along in years and expects to experience loss of vigor, debilities, or degenerative disorders, is suffering from a time neurosis, which may be more effective than physical conditions in producing the effect they fear.” Dr. Peale considers this a self-imposed limitation, the idea that you have to become old and infirm. Even the Bible seems to suggest that by fearing something we actually may be attracting that very thing. Job tells us in 3:25: “Truly the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me.” Here is Dr. Peale’s suggestion: Break the Limitation Barrier. “Whatever you do, don’t spend your life telling the world and yourself that you do not have within you the capacity to live a good life. We cannot conquer the big limitations by our own unaided strength. Faith in God will set us free.” God can free from self-doubt, feelings of inferiority, shyness, being overwhelmed by life’s difficulties, dishonesties, negative self-talk, from sins, from all kinds of limitations. What is it that is holding you back? What are you captive and slave to? Name it. Then turn it and your life over to God. Surrender it all to God, and God will truly set you free to be your best self and unleash your full potential. This Lenten Season, explore and identify your limitations, and God will reveal and unleash your potential. Dr. Peale leaves this positive affirmation with us: “God never willed that you should be less than you can be.”
Rev. Yvonne Miloyevich