Limiting God

 July 7, 2021

“The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle. They did not keep the covenant of God; They refused to walk in His law, And forgot His works And His wonders that He had shown them. Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel.” —Psalm 78:9-11, 41 

There is plenty in this psalm to capture our attention; it is an account of God’s faithfulness contrasted with Israel’s unfaithfulness, both of which receive plenty of attention in the course of 72 verses. These particular verses however, capture the heart of the problem. They had everything they needed to conquer the land, but refused to get into the fight. The end result was that instead of walking in the power and enjoying the blessing God offered them, they actually limited what the Almighty could do. 

Too often we pray for God to work in mighty ways, to demonstrate his power, to perform miracles and open closed doors. Our prayers are fervent and sincere, but lack the one thing necessary—the heart and willpower to actually get in the fight. We have, as Paul says, “the mighty weapons of our warfare,” but putting on the armor of God is not the same as actually wading into the fight till you’re tired and bloodied. Too often, we see the enemy, assess the danger, and decide to turn tail and run. Like any deserter, we mask our failure in fine talk, explaining why it was prudent to avoid conflict, but when God equips us, it is a sin to sit on the sidelines or to retreat from an enemy who has already been defeated at Calvary. 

The world itches for a fight, daring the Christian to stand up and speak up. How shall we stand before our divine Commander-in-Chief if we ignore his battle call and slink away in cowardly fear? How shall we answer him when he tells us all he was prepared to do through us until we by our unfaithfulness tied his hands and limited his power to save?