Don't Let Limitations Limit Vision - Friday oct 18

God will not only use your gifts to fulfill your destiny, he'll also use your limitations.

Consider Queen Esther: She had several big limitations that made her perfect for the role God wanted her to fulfill. She was an orphan adopted by Mordecai; she was a minority, a Jew living in a Persian country; and she was a single woman.

And God used all of these things, along with the gifts of her beauty, brains, and personality, to fulfill her destiny. Sometimes what looks like a disaster in your life is part of a much bigger plan. But you will never fulfill your destiny if you are having a pity party.

Esther could have just said, "If only I hadn't been chosen, if only I wasn't Jewish, if only I was like someone else." A lot of people do that. They live their lives in resentment, always looking at people and saying, "Well it must be nice to be them."

If you have that attitude you will never fulfill your destiny. You have to realize that the unpleasant obstacles in your life are often God-ordained opportunities to make a difference.

You might be in a situation right now where everything is going wrong and you can't figure it out. But God knows. Nothing in your life is accidental. The pleasures and pains, the opportunities and obstacles, God can use it all. There is nothing God cannot use for good in your life if you'll hand it over to him - and then trust him.

This devotional really helped me reinforce some ideas I had about how God works in my life. I've always believed that anything that God does in my life isn't arbitrary, isn't a coincidence, God does everything for a reason, even though we may not be able to see it. Just because we are not able to see the immediate evidence of the reason why God does what does in our lives, doesn't mean that the purpose for how our life is fabricated by God isn't good. God lets everything work for the greater good for those who love, hope, and trust in Him, and I think that's one of the most essential things to develop in our relationship with God.
Our limitations can be frustrating and irritating. We question why God gave us them: "Why can't I be better at this? Why can I not be as good as ____ at this?" For me personally, I always find myself comparing myself to others, wondering why God didn't allow certain limitations upon them, while I have all these limitations that I wish i didn't have. I can't understand His plan, but I know something that is possible which is for me to trust in God's plan and accept it. God can take any broken situation and fix it, so that it's ten times better than it ever was before. God is the only One who can cultivate something so damaged and unwanted into something that is working and something that can be so treasured. Trust in Him and let God take over.

10 Those who know your name trust in you,
   for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
Psalm 9:10

14 Wait for the Lord;
   be strong and take heart
   and wait for the Lord.
Psalm 27:14

Today's devotional made me think about something my dad always says, "We are God's masterpieces". Every characteristic, physical, or internal, was designed by God. Because God knows everything about us and what we will do for His Kingdom while on earth, our limitations will not hinder us from God's will and His plan for us. In my life I've seen this first hand with a youth group teacher back in Chicago. He told us how he was like as a child- shy, awkward, and not comfortable around others, but how God used him is the perfect example of what this devo is trying to teach us. God knew this teacher's weaknesses and shortcomings, yet he used him as a youth group teacher, transforming his personality and touching the hearts of many youth through him. I know back when he was a teenager the last thing he wanted or thought he would be doing was speaking to a large amount of people, but God's plan overcame his shy personality and used him in a wonderful way.

So, I have a destiny to fulfill.
I know God gave us strengths to fulfil our destinies, but that doesn't come as easily; there will be barriers and difficulties.
I think limitations are there to make us stronger as we overcome them on our way towards fulfilling our destiny.
God uses our strengths, but I think he specializes in using the weak and the limitations for His glory.
After all, the weak in the Bible, Moses, Joshua, Jeremiah, Paul (Saul), etc., truly understood this and willingly gave up their lives for and to God.

When God told Paul, “My strength (power) is made perfect in weakness,” Paul said
“Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For when I am weak, then I am strong”
2 Corinthians 12:9-10