From its beginning the world has been limited in significant ways. God imposed limits on vast bodies of water, for instance, to keep their destructive power in check. When challenged by his servant Job, the Lord asked him in Job 38:4-11: “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb? When I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, ‘This far you may come and no further; here is where your proud waves halt’?” Throughout chapters 38 through 41 of Job, God describes how He fashioned the boundaries for the earth’s diverse creatures, its weather patterns, and the heavenly constellations and their movements. All are under His sovereign power and control.

Do we rejoice in this revelation? Or do we squirm under the truth that our autonomy and power are limited by Another? There’s something in our sinful makeup that rebels against any restrictions on what we can do and be. This impulse is driving the recent push in America to determine what roles people can play in society, what sex we want to be, and what rights we can exercise, regardless of how they impact someone else. It’s the real motivation behind the push towards AI. The CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai, summarized the intentions behind developing Artificial Intelligence in this way: “The future of AI is not about replacing humans; it’s about augmenting human capabilities.”

To suggest that anyone, even a divine being, can put limits on our pursuit of personal fulfillment is not something we welcome or readily acknowledge. However, Scripture is clear on the point: Only the Creator of all has perfect knowledge, wisdom, and power. Psalm 147:5 declares, “His understanding has no limit.”  Even though mankind was made in His image and invited to co-rule with Him on earth, we have our limits. When challenged by Him Job cried out, “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know” (Job 42:3). The test in the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve concerning the forbidden tree was necessary, to prove whether they could be trusted with the responsibility God had given them or not. Would they bow to His superior wisdom and power, or would they put their trust in themselves? This question still haunts us today.

When society is operating in the right order, children bow to their parents’ desires for them because they recognize that their understanding of the world is greater than their own. If the relationship between them is good, they also trust that their parents’ decrees are for their long-term good, not just a ploy to push their parental weight around. When trust is broken, this dynamic breaks down of course, and everyone suffers as a result. The same is true for us adults. When we can recognize the goodness of our heavenly Father and trust that He knows what will best prosper and enrich our lives, we’ll humble ourselves before Him and choose to bow to His decrees.

I still remember that day when I was around eight years old. I clearly understood my mom’s instructions when she left to run errands. My friends and I were NOT to go outside because the ground was still wet and muddy from last night’s rain. But once she was gone, I figured we could still go out to play… if we were careful! Once outside, we tiptoed at first, thinking this would keep us from sinking into the mud. This only lasted a few minutes. Soon we were running around, oblivious to the enormous cake of mud collecting on the bottom of our shoes. I made sure we returned to the house before she got back, but one look at our shoes forced us to abandon them at the door. They were a glaring testimony to our disobedience. We did our best to clean them up, but the task was beyond our ability. We weren’t as smart as we thought. I should have listened and obeyed. It would have saved me a lot of grief.  

Submitting to another’s wishes is hard for everyone, no matter how old we are. And Christians aren’t exempt from the temptation to go our own way. Although we receive a new nature when we’re born again, we still struggle with the desires of our sinful flesh. But (and this is a HUGE but), we have a resource the world doesn’t have: the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. He enables us to make good choices when temptations appear by reminding us of God’s instructions. Over time, as we yield to Him, our hearts are changed, and we begin to see God’s Word in a new light. We say with the psalmist, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path” (Psalm 119:103-104).

I’m not advocating a legalistic approach to our relationship with God. His kingdom is holy and righteous without being rigid, judgmental, or puritanical. Jesus said that all God’s commands can be boiled down to: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. [And] Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37). His summary, of course, covers a lot of ground that includes both outward actions and right motives. But if our greatest desire is to please the Lord, we’ll repent and make things right whenever the Holy Spirit brings conviction to our hearts. We’ll let the wisdom of our Father teach us what is right and good, so we aren’t left with messes to try to clean up in our own strength.    

As we cheerfully embrace His limitations for our lives, we’ll discover the truth of 1 John 5:3-4. “This is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world.”

Heavenly Father, I need your help as I seek to conform my life to what Jesus lived and taught. I want to get to the place where I can see your commands and promptings as something to rejoice in, not a limitation on my freedom. Thank you for loving us, being merciful when we mess up, guiding us, and protecting us from the evil one. We need your power, wisdom, and lovingkindness every day of our lives! In Jesus’ holy name I pray, Amen.