God limits our space, time and money for a divine purpose. They each force us into making choices that show us our priorities. Let’s look at the parameters of each of these three limitations, God’s purpose for each limitation, and the penalty of trying to defy each limitation.
SPACE
The parameter of limited space
None of us live in limitlessly large houses. Our square footage determines the amount of stuff we can have. If we live in a tiny home, we can’t even have a spare bottle of hand lotion. No place to put it. We have to hold the line at one bottle.
If we own a small car, there is only so much stuff we can take on vacation. A further reality is that even if we have a large house or a large car, eventually we will run out of space. We may have unlimited lust for motorcycles, RV’s and four-wheelers to fit into that larger garage. When it comes to personal space, eventually we WILL hit a wall.
This phenomenon of divine limitations to personal space extends to the whole of our “lot” in life. God Himself determines what country we are born into, in what time of history, to what parents, and even the size of our own physical bodies. Everywhere we look, we are “hemmed in” by predetermined structural limitations.
The purpose of limited space
God’s purpose in limiting the size of our living quarters, and even the nature of the neighborhood or circumstances we find ourselves in--for long chapters in our life--is to teach us to “bloom where we are planted.” This is God’s gift. It is a divine picture of the fact that He has prescribed our entire “lot” in life (not just our current terra firma, but our circumstances and our relationships) to free us from the bewilderment of limitlessness.
Having too many decisions to make regarding our external structures, far from being a joyful thing, would become a bottomless vortex. What if we wanted different parents, or different children? Where would it end?
Turbulence over such externals as ever-changing jobs or moves to new and different places to live could become a mental free-for-all if we had to deal with them every day. If we don’t squat on a “lot” (including our lot in life) sometime, daily life becomes a nightmare of relentless discontent. “If only I were over THERE not right here…sigh.”
If some vital parameters in our lives are not stable and fixed for nice long chunks of time, we can’t get down to the business of actually living life, quagmired in infinite structural possibilities every day. No day is safe from totally upsetting our apple cart. No hour is peaceful.
The penalty of trying to defy limited space
Not being content, grateful for our own fixed space/”lot” means we don’t think God is to be trusted to rule the world and arrange a person’s external parameters. Did He choose the wrong continent to put you on? When we are chafing against the good things God has determined for us, we really are making a statement that we prefer a constant state of mental overload and misery.
Not adapting to our square footage means we pile stuff to the ceiling, can’t find anything quickly, and can’t walk, sit or find our bed because we didn’t reckon with fixed space.
TIME
The parameter of limited time
We don’t live forever; what we do with our time can never be undone or done again. Our span of life is not limitless.
The purpose of limited time
Limited time reveals our priorities. What we choose to do with our time helps define us. If we use a certain chunk of time in one way, we don’t have it to use in another way. Time parameters are a good thing. Its limitations reveal to us that God has given us the dignity, the personal autonomy, of real choice.
The penalty of trying to defy limited time
Trying to defy time means we willfully use time poorly. When we choose not to use optimum time for optimum duties, we end up in daily consternation. When we are not punctual, we are not honoring another person’s time. A habit of procrastination eventually ends up with us shirking duties and responsibilities, to our own hurt. This can lead to missing out on our own advances and progress. In short, being irreconciled to the limitations of time results in mental chaos.
Only a Minute
I have only just a minute,
Only sixty seconds in it.
Forced upon me, I can’t refuse it,
Didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it;
But it’s up to me to use it.
I must suffer if I lose it;
Give account if I abuse it.
Just a tiny little minute,
But eternity is in it.
MONEY
The parameter of limited income
Limited income is everyone’s parameter. No one has limitless money. Even very wealthy people have financial limits. They cannot buy a continent. They cannot buy the stars. Eventually we find out that we are not God, who DOES own everything. Financial limitations for humans are real.
The purpose of limited income
How we spend money reveals our priorities. If we spend money for one thing it may not be available for the other thing. By our credit card statement (it used to be the checkbook) we are constantly expressing what is most important to us. We are having to deal with our short-term self-denial in favor of our long-term fiscally sound self. Living within a budget is putting on “correction shoes” to help us find that successful path and to stay on it.
The penalty of trying to defy limited income
A lack of self-denial, either in earning money or in spending it, leads to mismanaging it, which eventually could lead to despair, depression, homelessness, or maybe jail.
Conclusion:
God’s limitations actually are loving fences around our existence, to deliver us from carrying infinite choices in our bosom all the time. True, we can strive to improve those fences, but we must always remember that we started from somewhere with God-given dynamics that are unique to each of us. He is to be praised for His eternal wisdom in picking them. Some day we shall see the reason of it and will agree with Him about the beauty the practiced self-control produced in our soul.
And, just because we have some loving limitations in our life doesn’t mean that all of our life is flanked with limitations. Faith, hope and love can be given and received in infinite dimensions. And there is no stopping such mental enjoyments as employing our imagination, and creativity, as well as toying with expanding our grit through determination and perseverance in countless projects and godly ambitions.
God’s plans for us here and in the hereafter are wonderful in all of their eternal results.
