ICS Daily Devotions
God Can Stretch Us Beyond Our Limits
Isaiah 54:2-3 (NKJV) Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.3 For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited.
1 Chron 4:10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.
Folks, there is nothing wrong with wanting the best that God has for you and there is nothing wrong with praying for God to place His richest of blessings upon your life. God granted Jabez’s prayer because He honors prayer that honors Him.
One of Jabez’s first prayer was for God to bless him. Jabez’s prayer for blessing is two-fold. First, he prays for the Lord’s fullest blessings upon his life. Then, he prays for his boundaries to be extended or enlarged. He wants his territory to be expanded. It appears that Jabez was not satisfied with his status quo.
He asked For God’s Blessing – in praying for his borders to be enlarged – Jabez is asking the Lord to increase his influence in the world. God is raising up movers and shakers for Him in every sphere of society. It seems that Jabez is not content to dwell in his comfort zone. He wants to break out and do more for the Lord. Will you expand your capacity to do more for the Lord?
Perhaps, you are feeling barren, desolate and that the Lord cannot use you. Have you placed limits on your life that God has not placed? Have you closed in on yourself, thinking that life is all about work and having few friends and nothing else? Well, God has a vision for you to be enormously fruitful.
To prepare for spiritual fruitfulness, first of all we need to enlarge our vision, to think bigger thoughts about God and what He can do through us. Then we need to see if there’s some way in which this faith can inspire action. It’s quite likely that this action will take you beyond the current borders of your life.
Go someplace you haven’t gone before. Do something you haven’t done before. Enter a realm that scares you. Make some more room in your life. You’ll be surprised how much room there is if you make room for the right things.
Take on a new ministry. Spare not—don’t hold back. This will require a certain diligence and discipline. As you enlarge, stretch and lengthen yourself, you will find that you will need to do one more thing. Just as Jerusalem was called to strengthen its tent pegs, you’ll need to strengthen yourself. You’ll need to hammer your pegs deeper into the Lord and become more firmly established in him. Going beyond our means is depending on something beyond ourselves. You’ll need to be stronger in the Lord. Such actions will prepare you to be spiritually fruitful.
Jerusalem was going to spread out to the right and the left, and her seed was to possess nations. Jesus launched this invasion. It’s one that He calls us to participate in.
When God enlarges, He can stretch our spiritual capacity beyond our natural limits. God knows how much we can handle. He can open our hearts wider in order to mold us into the image of Christ. God can also enlarge us with strength, wisdom, knowledge, strategies, energy, ideas, innovation, rest, ability, help and whatever we need. Once we press through the building of our spiritual strength and character, we will have the capacity to move into the next season that He’s called us to serve in. This is will lead us towards the fulfillment of our deepest desires.
Isn’t it wonderful to know God and trust Him to enlarge our capacity for each season?
Sermon Series: Grace for the Pace (Part 4)
