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Our commitment will overcome our limitations

As no one has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has power over the time of their death.

As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.

Ecclesiastes 8:8

We all have limitations. I use my limitations to a great extent in self-deprecating humor. I made peace with who I am and understand my condition. You see I am not what you would call tall. Depending on the shoes that I wear I am maybe 5’4 but I don’t let that hold me back. In the ninth grade I was in good shape and I could jump up and touch the middle of the basketball net. I was working to get to a point where I would be able to touch the rim. I never quite got there though.

I know what you are thinking, with me being vertically challenged I would not have ever touched the rim. I was getting closer in 10th grade, I could touch near the top of the net. I was about 50 pounds lighter than I am today, worked out and ran about 20 hours total each week. I was very athletic.

I knew if I kept working at it and maybe grew my finger nails out about an inch or two, I would be able to touch the rim. My gym teacher asked why I kept jumping at that hoop. He saw in me a limitation that I might not overcome. But I disagreed, my limitation was not my height, in this matter. I was really close and getting closer over time. My limitation was not one of stature but was one of commitment.

My high school athletic career ended with two concussions during one football practice and my athletic abilities slowly faded over time. I was no longer committed to my goal so I started getting further away from that rim as time passed on and in my current condition I do not believe I could jump up and touch the net.

The point that I am trying to make is that we all have limitations and that is just a part of being human. But we sometimes blame our circumstance on what seems to be the obvious disadvantage and thus overlooking our real impediment to success or better circumstance.

This verse starts out referencing the fact that no one has the power over wind. On a warm breezy day, the wind is rejuvenating and appreciated. When we are at a picnic and the wind is blowing our picnic items all around the wind is a nuisance and unwelcome. On a 90 degree day, working in the yard with humidity and no wind, we beg for a breeze.

The wind can also represent the worst in nature. Tornados, hurricanes, straight line winds all have devastating power that can destroy anything in its path. When we are faced with this type of situation, we hide in fear. We cannot stop the effects of the storm nor calm the wind, we can only pray and position ourselves in the safest place that we can find.

It is the same with death, we can do nothing to stop it. When our time arrives, it is our time. We can’t reschedule or postpone it. We cannot stop it and we are powerless in our attempts to control it. This is one of our many limitations.

This verse goes on to remind us that when we practice the ways of evil we cannot overcome its enslaving power by ourselves. This is another one of our limitations. This basic truth is why we need to avoid all appearance of evil. We cannot fool around with temptation. Wickedness does not voluntarily release those that it has imprisoned. It holds on to them as if they were more precious than gold. Wickedness places great value on the wicked to serve its evil purpose. Does it not?

We have to open our eyes to sin and understand that there is a war going on and we are a part of this war. Life is a battleground and not a playground. We will not be discharged from this war as there is no neutral, we cannot be like Switzerland in the matter.

Satan declared war on man in the Garden of Eden. He is like a lion that will toy with its prey and once he is ready he will devour it. We cannot be like a fool and think for a minute that we can dabble in sin. We often think we can dabble in sin, but when we try to walk away we find that we can’t break free from its grip on our life. This is the trap of Satan, letting us believe that we can walk away when we want to.

We need to be like the wise and understand our limitations; the limitations of the flesh. We have to understand that wickedness is sin and aside from God’s salvation through Christ, it is inescapable. We are a part of an ongoing war.

The battle of Antietam in 1862 was the bloodiest day of the Civil War. In 12 hours, there were 10,000 Confederate casualties and even more on the Union side. “At last the sun went down and the battle ended, smoke heavy in the air, the twilight quivering with the anguished cries of thousands of wounded men,” wrote one historian.

Though the battle appeared to be a draw, Union General George McClellan was able to end Robert E. Lee’s advances into Maryland, forcing him to retreat across the Potomac. This was possible because two Union soldiers found a copy of Lee’s battle plans and delivered them to McClellan before the battle.

In some respects, we are no match for our adversary, Satan due to our limitations. But as with General McClellan, our enemy’s plans have fallen into our hands. We know his strategies to entice us with lies, lust, greed, and such. With this knowledge, given to us by God’s Word, and God’s Spirit within, we too can resist the enemy’s advances.

The key to our victory is commitment, staying obedient to God’s commandments and being a faithful servant to Christ. In my earlier pursuit my hope was in the fact that Muggsy Bogues (5’3, 15 NBA seasons) and Spud Webb (5’7, 1986 NBA Slam dunk contest winner) could do what I was working towards. Fortunately for me, my goal in life has changed and all of my hope for victory and achievement rest solely in our Lord and Savor Jesus Christ.

P.S. I still play basketball, at the Milsop Community Center in the mornings, with no hope of dunking!

(“From the Pulpit” is a weekly sermon provided by the clergy members of The Weirton Ministerial Association)

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