Our God is a God of measure. He doesn’t do things wildly, and He doesn’t increase the work without measure and without limitation. Yes, He can do a lot of things, and He can fill the whole earth, but He has a measure within which He works through man.
We need to see that, just as the Apostle Paul did, we should move and act only as much as God has measured to us, staying within the limits of God’s ruling, His measuring (see 2 Cor. 10:13).
Even when we give a testimony for the Lord about our enjoyment of Him, our experience of Him, and our work for the Lord, we need to testify only within the measure that He gave us.
learning to be under God’s restriction
On the one hand, we should not be passive, staying away from the work of the Lord, and on the other hand we should not be too much when we work for the Lord, but we should work within our measure. We are expecting the work to spread and for the Lord to bless our work for Him, but at the same time we need to learn how to be under God’s restriction.
Under God’s restriction and His limitation, we should not expect that the spread of our work would be without measure (2 Cor. 10:13-15). As if with a measuring rod, a rule, God has apportioned to us a certain measure in our work for Him, and He will let us know when we have gone too far.
The Apostle Paul was apportioned by God to go to Europe, and he had Achaia and Macedonia assigned to him by God (Acts 16). He didn’t go beyond his measure but he stayed within the limits of the work that God has apportioned to him, unlike the Judaizers who went everywhere – sometimes even following the Apostle Paul – to disturb the work and the saints.
If we work according to the Spirit, there will be a limit to our work. Inwardly, there will be a consciousness that the Lord wants to spread only to a certain extent, and that we shouldn’t go somewhere or touch some matters. Also, outwardly, the environment is an indicator when the Lord doesn’t allow us to go past a particular boundary line.
in working for God and with God there’s always a limit
We may think that since God is so great and the work is so vast, when we work for God we should be involved in everything and work night and day until the Lord accomplishes what He desires. But we need to learn that in serving the Lord and in working for God and with God there is always a limit.
Our God is really the God of measure – He measures us personally in a daily way so that the flow of the divine life would increase in us, and He measures also our work for Him, allowing us to work for Him only THIS MUCH.
In our serving in the church we must realize that God has only measured us so much, and we shouldn’t overstep or overstretch ourselves.
There’s a restriction in the Body, and the Lord is faithful to remind you – in His own way – when you go too far. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to work for the Lord and take care of the existing need in the church, but the God of measure may have assigned and apportioned certain areas and matters to someone else.
Like the Apostle Paul, we need to move and act within our limit, according to our rule, according only to how much God has measured to us.
When a member of the Body overfunctions, it becomes a problem for the whole body. When a member does not function, the whole body works together to help him function. We need to stay within the measure, within the limit, in our work for the Lord.
are you doing things within your measure?
We always need to ask ourselves this question, Lord, am I doing this within my measure? Lord, what is the measure that You have given me in the Body?
Our natural man – even in serving the Lord and doing things for Him – wants to be without measure and without limitation. But God knows our problem, and He sets up boundaries and restrictions so that we may stay within the measure that He Himself has apportioned to us. This restriction and limitation is very practical in dealing with our wild natural man and with our unrestricted flesh.
If we allow the Lord to limit us even in our work for Him, so that we would stay in our measure and limitation sovereignly given to us by God, our work will be for the building up of the Body!
In working for the Lord and with the Lord we need to learn to be one with Him and allow Him within us to limit us.
Inwardly, if we overstretch ourselves, we will have the consciousness that the Lord intends to spread the work ONLY to a certain extent – we don’t have the peace to spread the work beyond a certain point. Outwardly, the sovereign God arranges the environment to cause certain matters to restrict the spread of the work.
What a mercy it is not only to work with the Lord and for the Lord, but also to be within the measure given to us by God, functioning in the Body in a normal way for the building up!
Thank You Lord for the restriction in the Body. Thank You for the measure of work You have apportioned to us. Cause us to know our measure, Lord, and to work only within the limit. Have Your way to deal with our natural man and our flesh even in working for You. Thank You for Your mercy that we can work together with You to advance Your kingdom and build up Your church! Grant us such an awareness of our measure in the Body!
References and Further Reading
- Sharing inspired from, Life-study of 2 Corinthians (msg. 51), as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Taking the Lead as Elders and Responsible Ones, week 7.
- Buy the morning revival book online via LSM.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Measure us, measure us, measure every day; / Measure us, measure more, measure all the way.
# Serve and work within the Body, / This the Lord doth signify.
# In the stream! in the stream! let us work / with the Lord / In the flow of the Spirit, as taught by / His Word. - Picture source: taking the narrow path.
We need to be restricted in the measure in the body, just like hands cannot be the head, and the eyes cannot be the brain! It's a very good message to all of us that we need to be dealt with in our wild natural life, so that the Lord can balance us to be a normal functioning member in life, in the Body.
Lord, defeat us and limit us and don't let us think highly we ought to think. We just want to be content as who we are as a member in the body