Embracing Limitations: Finding God in Our Weakness

 

Summary

In this season of Advent, we are invited to embrace the concept of radical acceptance, particularly of our limitations. As we journey through life, we often encounter areas where we feel inadequate or frustrated by our limitations, whether they be physical, intellectual, or emotional. The world often tells us to transcend these limitations by trying harder, but the truth is that our limitations are not obstacles to God. Instead, they are opportunities for us to meet God and experience His power and grace.

Throughout scripture, we see examples of God using individuals who were acutely aware of their limitations. Moses, Gideon, Jeremiah, and Abraham all expressed their inadequacies, yet God chose them for His purposes. Our limitations do not limit God; rather, they can become the very place where we encounter Him. This humility and openness to God allow us to experience something greater than ourselves, something sublime.

The Advent story itself is filled with individuals who were limited in various ways. Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the Magi all had their own limitations, yet they played crucial roles in the story of Jesus' birth. In contrast, Herod, who had power and wealth, missed out on the true essence of the story. Advent is a time when we meet Jesus in our limitations and discover the sublime story of Christmas.

The incarnation of Jesus is the ultimate example of God embracing limitation. God became flesh, experiencing hunger, fatigue, and even death. This act of limitation was not a sign of weakness but a profound expression of love. It is through this limitation that heaven and earth come together, creating a liminal space where we can encounter God.

As we reflect on our own limitations, we are encouraged to offer them to God, trusting that He knows what He is doing. Just as Jesus embraced human limitation, we too can accept our limitations as the place where we will meet with God. In doing so, we hold the treasure of God's presence in our "jars of clay," recognizing that the surpassing greatness is His and not ours.

Key Takeaways:

- Embracing our limitations allows us to meet God in profound ways. Our limitations are not obstacles but opportunities for divine encounters. By acknowledging our inadequacies, we open ourselves to God's power and grace. [05:09]

- The Advent story highlights individuals who were limited yet played crucial roles in the birth of Jesus. Their limitations did not hinder God's plan but were integral to it. This reminds us that God can use us despite our perceived inadequacies. [08:06]

- The incarnation of Jesus is the ultimate example of God embracing limitation. By becoming human, God demonstrated that true love and power are found in humility and self-limitation. This act invites us to accept our own limitations as a place of divine encounter. [10:16]

- Our culture often encourages us to transcend our limitations through effort and determination. However, true transformation comes from offering our limitations to God and allowing Him to work through them. [03:48]

- The concept of the sublime is tied to our limitations and humility. It is in recognizing our smallness that we can experience the grandeur of God. This Advent, let us embrace our limitations as a pathway to experiencing the sublime presence of God. [06:43]

Youtube Chapters:

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:24] - Radical Acceptance
- [00:40] - Accepting Limitations
- [01:05] - Personal Limitations
- [02:19] - Scale of Acceptance
- [02:59] - Transcending Limitations
- [03:48] - Offering Limitations to God
- [04:04] - Biblical Examples of Limitation
- [05:24] - The Sublime and Humility
- [06:43] - Experiencing the Sublime
- [07:26] - Advent and Limitation
- [08:47] - Liminal Spaces
- [09:15] - The Incarnation
- [10:33] - Treasure in Jars of Clay
- [11:21] - Embracing Our Limitations

Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide: Embracing Limitations During Advent

Bible Reading:
- 2 Corinthians 4:6-7
- Exodus 4:10-12 (Moses' limitation)
- Judges 6:14-16 (Gideon's limitation)

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Observation Questions:

1. In 2 Corinthians 4:6-7, what does Paul mean by "treasure in jars of clay"? How does this relate to the concept of limitations discussed in the sermon?
2. How did Moses respond to God's call in Exodus 4:10-12, and what was God's response to his perceived limitation? [04:04]
3. What was Gideon's initial reaction to God's calling in Judges 6:14-16, and how does this reflect the theme of embracing limitations? [04:17]
4. According to the sermon, how do the limitations of Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds play a role in the Advent story? [08:06]

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Interpretation Questions:

1. How does the concept of "radical acceptance" of our limitations challenge the cultural narrative of self-improvement and overcoming obstacles? [02:59]
2. In what ways does the sermon suggest that our limitations can become opportunities for divine encounters? [05:09]
3. How does the incarnation of Jesus serve as the ultimate example of God embracing limitation, and what does this teach us about humility and love? [10:16]
4. Why might God choose to work through individuals who are acutely aware of their limitations, as seen in the examples of Moses, Gideon, and others? [04:55]

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Application Questions:

1. Reflect on a personal limitation that frustrates you. How can you begin to see this limitation as an opportunity to meet God rather than an obstacle? [01:05]
2. The sermon mentions a "scale of acceptance" from rejection to embrace. Where do you find yourself on this scale regarding your limitations, and what steps can you take to move towards embracing them? [02:19]
3. How can the Advent story inspire you to play a crucial role in God's plan despite your perceived inadequacies? [08:06]
4. In what ways can you practice humility and openness to God's power and grace in your daily life, especially in areas where you feel limited? [05:09]
5. Consider the idea that true transformation comes from offering our limitations to God. What practical steps can you take this week to offer your limitations to Him? [03:48]
6. How can you cultivate a sense of wonder and awe in your life, recognizing the sublime presence of God in your limitations? [06:43]
7. Reflect on the incarnation of Jesus as an act of divine limitation. How does this perspective change the way you view your own limitations and the love of God? [10:16]

Devotional

Day 1: Embracing Limitations as Divine Opportunities
Our limitations are often seen as obstacles, but they can be profound opportunities for divine encounters. When we acknowledge our inadequacies, we open ourselves to God's power and grace. Throughout scripture, God used individuals who were aware of their limitations, such as Moses, Gideon, and Jeremiah. These figures were not hindered by their perceived inadequacies; instead, their limitations became the very place where they encountered God. This Advent season, we are invited to embrace our limitations, trusting that they are not barriers but pathways to experiencing God's presence. [05:09]

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (ESV): "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Reflection: Identify a limitation you often struggle with. How can you invite God into this area and see it as an opportunity for His power to be revealed?


Day 2: God's Plan Through Our Inadequacies
The Advent story is filled with individuals who, despite their limitations, played crucial roles in the birth of Jesus. Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the Magi all had their own limitations, yet they were integral to God's plan. This reminds us that God can use us despite our perceived inadequacies. Our limitations do not hinder God's purposes; rather, they are woven into His divine plan. As we reflect on the Advent story, we are encouraged to see our limitations as part of God's greater narrative. [08:06]

1 Corinthians 1:27-29 (ESV): "But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God."

Reflection: Think of a time when you felt inadequate but were still used by God. How can this experience encourage you to trust in His plan despite your limitations?


Day 3: The Incarnation as a Model of Humility
The incarnation of Jesus is the ultimate example of God embracing limitation. By becoming human, God demonstrated that true love and power are found in humility and self-limitation. Jesus experienced hunger, fatigue, and even death, showing that limitation is not a sign of weakness but a profound expression of love. This act invites us to accept our own limitations as a place of divine encounter, where heaven and earth meet. [10:16]

Philippians 2:6-8 (ESV): "Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

Reflection: In what ways can you practice humility by embracing your limitations as Jesus did? How might this change your perspective on power and love?


Day 4: Offering Limitations to God for Transformation
Our culture often encourages us to transcend our limitations through effort and determination. However, true transformation comes from offering our limitations to God and allowing Him to work through them. When we surrender our inadequacies to God, we create space for His transformative power to operate in our lives. This Advent, let us shift our focus from self-reliance to divine reliance, trusting that God can use our limitations for His glory. [03:48]

Isaiah 40:29-31 (ESV): "He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."

Reflection: What is one limitation you are trying to overcome on your own? How can you offer this limitation to God and trust Him to work through it?


Day 5: Experiencing the Sublime Through Humility
The concept of the sublime is tied to our limitations and humility. It is in recognizing our smallness that we can experience the grandeur of God. The Advent season invites us to embrace our limitations as a pathway to experiencing the sublime presence of God. By acknowledging our smallness, we open ourselves to the vastness of God's love and grace. This Advent, let us find beauty in our limitations and discover the divine encounters they offer. [06:43]

Psalm 8:3-4 (ESV): "When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?"

Reflection: How can recognizing your own smallness lead you to a greater appreciation of God's grandeur? What steps can you take to embrace humility and experience the sublime presence of God today?

Quotes

"I want to start by inviting you to think about some area in your life where you have a limitation that frustrates you. I think about when I was growing up I would look at somebody else who is more athletically gifted and feel like my lack of greater coordination or strength or speed was frustrating to me." [00:01:03]

"Generally in our world what we're told a lot especially in our culture in our society is you can transcend your limitations never be limited by any part of you just try harder and motivational speakers will tell stories of great athletes like Michael Jordan who was cut from his high school basketball team." [00:02:57]

"And actually what we're invited to do instead by God is to offer him our limitations and to say God you have made me finite a creature and I'm also broken by sin so I'm limited in many ways and the wonderful news is that our limitations do not limit God." [00:03:45]

"Very often in scripture we will find God coming to somebody and wanting to use them, and they will object because of their limitations. God comes to Moses go and speak to Pharaoh and Moses says but I'm slow of speech and slow of tongue I'm not good at that sort of thing I'm not a good public speaker." [00:04:02]

"Not only do our limitations not limit God, our limitations can become a place where we can meet God. It is people with a keen sense of their own limitations and their own fallibility and their own inadequacy that have a kind of humility to be open to God." [00:04:57]

"The sensation of feeling enriched by way of feeling diminished. In other words it's my limitations and the humility that they bring that open me up to experiencing something grander than myself and that's why buying a ticket for half a million dollars to go into outer space that a very carefully controlled flight whether champagne at the end of it is not likely to evoke that sense of wonder awe and the sublime that we're searching for because we're not in charge of it we can't buy it and sell it it is not a commodity." [00:06:49]

"Advent is a time where we meet Jesus in our limitations and we discovered the sublime story of Christmas. Subliminal liminal spaces we talk about sometimes in our day and those are quite literally those in between spaces a hallway in a house the liminal is a word that's associated with the word for limits or subliminal sublime." [00:08:06]

"God became flesh and the incarnation was not God expanding himself the incarnation was God limiting himself. God took on a human body, God became poor for us. In the incarnation, Jesus knew what it was to be hungry, to be tired, to be weak, to have to work as a carpenter." [00:09:31]

"God's greatest expression of love came not through expansion but through limitation. God's most sublime gift of love came when God the creator of everything chose to limit himself and so now all of heaven and earth can be a liminal space where heaven penetrates earth." [00:10:10]

"Paul says the same God who said let there be light it comes up again every day he did it with great beauty in the creation that God also caused his light to shine in our hearts so that we could see the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." [00:10:50]

"Whatever your limitation is, a body of intellect a background of experience of personality, don't deny it, don't resist it, don't live in frustration offer it to God God you knew what you were doing thank you that you made me me and just as Jesus in the incarnation embraced accepted human limitation and used that to live and die on a cross and become one with us." [00:11:22]

"So God I now humbly receive my limitation as the place where I will meet with you I will have this treasure in my jar of clay." [00:11:56]

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Transcript
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