Limitations
Note: Song lyrics after the jump
This song reveals the reasons for our limitations and struggles as human beings on planet earth. Simply put, just like we are God’s creation, He also created our limitations. He placed the limitations on us. The hook of the song states this plainly:
This is the way that life will be, limitless You put limits on me;
By Your grace, help us see, this is Your design; This is the way that life will be, infinite You made finite me;
By Your grace, help us see, this is the way this is the way that life will be.
By Your grace, help us see, this is Your design; This is the way that life will be, infinite You made finite me;
By Your grace, help us see, this is the way this is the way that life will be.
So why did God place these limitations on man? Going back to the first chapter of Genesis we read in verse 27 “...God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” In God’s image means that man did not have limitations at first because God Himself did not. Man was given power by God to fill the earth and subdue it (Genesis 1:28). Man was given ownership over everything and all things at his disposal with one condition, he was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). Since God is bound by His word, man had dominion and free will. Adam and Eve chose to eat from that tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:6) and thus were given a harsh punishment. Woman would be subject to severe pains in childbearing (3:16) and man would be forced to toil by the sweat of his brow in order to eat from the land (3:17-19). The ground that was once created and called good by God; the same land that produce food for Adam was now cursed because of their actions. In this came the limitation of man. He now had a separation from the Lord that was not there before.
What does all this mean for us? As Trip Lee discusses in the song how many of us have goals and aspirations that just always seem out of reach. The line that gripped me was when Trip said “And I can see all the books that I like to read at twice the speed, and all the folks that I'd like to reach, I like to speak, but I'm limited my might is weak.” Although Paul was one of the greatest missionaries ever, he noted in Romans 7:15-19 “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me....For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” Paul also noted in 2 Corinthians 12:7 “....Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.” Paul is honest about his struggles. Why does he have these struggles? We can look back to Genesis on how he got them. The why I believe can be explained in Paul’s confession “in order to keep me from becoming conceited.” Let’s think for a second what could have happened if Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden went unpunished. More than likely they would have kept on sinning and thus would no longer obey God. God gave us these limitations to keep us humbly seeking Him. I believe His heart was to give man everything that man desired and to have a close fellowship with man. However, when man sinned, it became complicated. So these limitations are given to us so that we would want to keep a close relationship with God. Paul pleaded with God three times to take away the thorn in Paul’s flesh (2 Corinthians 12:8). Here was God’s response and Paul’s conclusion in verse 9, “’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
What does all this mean for us? As Trip Lee discusses in the song how many of us have goals and aspirations that just always seem out of reach. The line that gripped me was when Trip said “And I can see all the books that I like to read at twice the speed, and all the folks that I'd like to reach, I like to speak, but I'm limited my might is weak.” Although Paul was one of the greatest missionaries ever, he noted in Romans 7:15-19 “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me....For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” Paul also noted in 2 Corinthians 12:7 “....Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.” Paul is honest about his struggles. Why does he have these struggles? We can look back to Genesis on how he got them. The why I believe can be explained in Paul’s confession “in order to keep me from becoming conceited.” Let’s think for a second what could have happened if Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden went unpunished. More than likely they would have kept on sinning and thus would no longer obey God. God gave us these limitations to keep us humbly seeking Him. I believe His heart was to give man everything that man desired and to have a close fellowship with man. However, when man sinned, it became complicated. So these limitations are given to us so that we would want to keep a close relationship with God. Paul pleaded with God three times to take away the thorn in Paul’s flesh (2 Corinthians 12:8). Here was God’s response and Paul’s conclusion in verse 9, “’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
There are a lot of questions we can ask of why the story of humanity played out this way. The answer is for God to know and for us to know only when He chooses to reveal it to us. In the end, we must seek God to find out for what purpose He created. An advantage of our weaknesses is that they quickly can show us when we are not operating in our gifts and callings. By us having a clear understanding of who we are in God and our purpose, our limitations can be limited to a tool to keep us humbled before God. Without this understanding, our limitations can become something that will constantly torment and frustrate us to the point we risk living unfruitful and wasteful lives. So instead of complaining about these limitations, seek God, and be thankful that we serve a God that loves us so much, He did any and everything He had to do to have a meaningful relationship with us.
Song Lyrics
You know we feelin like we cant move many times
So we waitin for a break through at any time
So many things that we cant do, we really fine
That any climb can be strangled n any grind
Can get tangled we get behind
And in the end they find, we feelin trapped like prison time
Got big vision, we're beginning tryin
But ain't grinnin when we gettin to the finish line
And we all feelin like we been tryin for too long
This day been racin through my mind for too long
I can't be runnin in place, do i need to save face and move on?I watched friends fall short, i've seen many crimes
I watched my dad breath his last, we are really dyin
If I can grasp in my past, I see many times
When I was really tryin, but was limited by His designThis is the way that life will be, limitless You put limits on me
By Your grace, help us see, this is Your design This is the way that life will be, infinite You made finite meBy Your grace, help us see, this is the way this is the way that life will be
So many things that we wanna get our hands on
So many heights we wanna reach that we planned on
And we was thinkin we just missed our chance homes
But our reach ain't long enough no matter what we stand on
I'll never be the kind of rapper that I like to be (yea, yea)
And I can see all the books that I like to read (yea, yea)
And twice the speed all the folks that i'd like to reach
I like to speak, but i'm limited my might is weak
Though God was pleased with the creation of man
We still gotta understand the limitations of manMany of us stuck in the days of the trance
Man, thinking we can do some things that we cantYou may be thinkin you beast but believe me
You still gotta sleep in the evening,
Ya you still gotta eat, need heat when its freezing
You peak for a season, but peep what we speakin
This is the way that life will be, limitless You put limits on me
By Your grace, help us see, this is Your design
This is the way that life will be, infinite You made finite me
By Your grace, help us see, this is the way this is the way that life will be
I know some folks who aint poor they crusin
We can work hard but if the Lord aint movin
No fruit in store man before they ruinThey should trust God who supports they doin
We not in control of the earth He's the owner
One day we get work, next day we a goner
Humanity's not getting any stronger, so we shouldn't front any longerBehold the God of wonders, He has no hunger
Never does He sleep or He slumber
He's never limited, no enemies can ever come up
We're the victory He's got the one up, He runs us (He runs us)
So let's submit to that King who's in the skies
This is something that we cant do in our pride
Humble yourself under His name dude He is God
All powerful until the end of time
This is the way that life will be, limitless You put limits on me
By Your grace, help us see, this is Your design
This is the way that life will be, infinite You made finite me
By Your grace, help us see, this is the way this is the way that life will be
This is the way that life will be, limitless You put limits on me
By Your grace, help us see, this is Your design
This is the way that life will be, infinite You made finite me
By Your grace, help us see, this is the way this is the way that life will be
So we waitin for a break through at any time
So many things that we cant do, we really fine
That any climb can be strangled n any grind
Can get tangled we get behind
And in the end they find, we feelin trapped like prison time
Got big vision, we're beginning tryin
But ain't grinnin when we gettin to the finish line
And we all feelin like we been tryin for too long
This day been racin through my mind for too long
I can't be runnin in place, do i need to save face and move on?I watched friends fall short, i've seen many crimes
I watched my dad breath his last, we are really dyin
If I can grasp in my past, I see many times
When I was really tryin, but was limited by His designThis is the way that life will be, limitless You put limits on me
By Your grace, help us see, this is Your design This is the way that life will be, infinite You made finite meBy Your grace, help us see, this is the way this is the way that life will be
So many things that we wanna get our hands on
So many heights we wanna reach that we planned on
And we was thinkin we just missed our chance homes
But our reach ain't long enough no matter what we stand on
I'll never be the kind of rapper that I like to be (yea, yea)
And I can see all the books that I like to read (yea, yea)
And twice the speed all the folks that i'd like to reach
I like to speak, but i'm limited my might is weak
Though God was pleased with the creation of man
We still gotta understand the limitations of manMany of us stuck in the days of the trance
Man, thinking we can do some things that we cantYou may be thinkin you beast but believe me
You still gotta sleep in the evening,
Ya you still gotta eat, need heat when its freezing
You peak for a season, but peep what we speakin
This is the way that life will be, limitless You put limits on me
By Your grace, help us see, this is Your design
This is the way that life will be, infinite You made finite me
By Your grace, help us see, this is the way this is the way that life will be
I know some folks who aint poor they crusin
We can work hard but if the Lord aint movin
No fruit in store man before they ruinThey should trust God who supports they doin
We not in control of the earth He's the owner
One day we get work, next day we a goner
Humanity's not getting any stronger, so we shouldn't front any longerBehold the God of wonders, He has no hunger
Never does He sleep or He slumber
He's never limited, no enemies can ever come up
We're the victory He's got the one up, He runs us (He runs us)
So let's submit to that King who's in the skies
This is something that we cant do in our pride
Humble yourself under His name dude He is God
All powerful until the end of time
This is the way that life will be, limitless You put limits on me
By Your grace, help us see, this is Your design
This is the way that life will be, infinite You made finite me
By Your grace, help us see, this is the way this is the way that life will be
This is the way that life will be, limitless You put limits on me
By Your grace, help us see, this is Your design
This is the way that life will be, infinite You made finite me
By Your grace, help us see, this is the way this is the way that life will be
Note: All scriptures were quoted from the New International Version of the Bible.
No comments:
Post a Comment