Life Within Limits

Preparation always comes before the product.

Healthy life cannot be sustained without limitations.

Genesis 2:15-17 ESV

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Creation is a story of life and limits – two truths dancing in harmony.

Life requires limits.

Genesis 3:1-5 ESV

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Matthew 26:36-39 ESV

36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Limitations are embraced – not endured.

Limits That Are Being Provided:

1. struggles

Limits are not a sign of our sin but of our humanity.

Limits That Are Being Provided:

1. struggles

2. spiritual gifts

1 Corinthians 12:12 ESV

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.

Limits That Are Being Provided:

1. struggles

2. spiritual gifts

3. seasons of life

Ecclesiastes 3:1 ESV

1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

"Live deliberately." - Henry David Thoreau

Limitations aren't only limiting; they reveal opportunities.

Limitations Reveal:

1. God's goodness

Matthew 11:30 ESV

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Limitations Reveal:

1. God's goodness

2. what to sow into and what to grow out of

3. barriers only God can break

"Limits are places we encounter God in ways that would otherwise be impossible." - Peter Scazzero

Not "first things first" – but "best things best"