Can Man Limit God?
By Egoeh Seth Gogo

Greetings to you in the name that is above all names, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

I bring you good tidings from the favourite book of Psalms. Today, we shall be looking at whether it is possible to limit God’s power in our lives. All scripture verses are taken from the Authorized King James Version (KJV) unless otherwise stated.

As I opened my Bible (Psalms 78) for my daily devotional study in fulfillment of God’s command to the Christian (Joshua 1:8), I came across a verse that stunned me.  To be true to you, there were quite a number of verses in Psalms 78 that kept me asking myself a lot of questions. For example, Asaph said that the children of Israel flattered God with their mouth – and I said within myself, how can it be possible for man to flatter God? That shall be another discussion later.  But the one that really touched me is verse 41. Let’s look at how the King James Version of the Holy Bible puts it:

“Yea, they turned back and  tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel”
Psalm 78:41

Actually, the whole chapter of Psalms 78 written by Asaph, one of the three men who was King David’s chief musician (1 Chronicles 15:17). He was credited for writing Psalms 50 and 73 through 83. So, you will understand that Asaph was close to David and being close to David knew God.

Now, Asaph explicitly talked about the wrath of God in this chapter. He listed all the miracles and wonders that God performed during the 40 years that the Children of Israel spent in the wilderness. This is the beauty about the Bible. Asaph did not miss even one miracle as written in the book of Exodus. You can cross check it.

So, how did the children of Israel limit God? How can one limit God? And what does it mean to limit God?

According to Asaph, the children of Israel limit God through their unbelief. Asaph will outline the miracles and all that God did for the children of Israel, and at the end of those wondrous works, he will explain that they still provoked Him to anger (Psalm 78:17-18). More often than not, God will perform a miracle among the children of Israel, then later after they encountered a problem they will not trust God. They will pour all their frustration on Moses. We all know how this behaviour of them made Moses to sin and for that matter not able to visit the promise land. God hates unbelief.

The same thing applies to us. We can also limit God’s power in our life if we don’t put our total faith in Him. It is reasonable for God to expect that from us keeping in mind that He was the one who created us. Our wellbeing and everything comes from Him. Just imagine how we most often feel unhappy when we are not appreciated for what we did for people? If we feel unhappy about the little things we did for people simply because they did not appreciate it, how much more God.

We should know that everyday of our lives is a miracle. I don’t have to remind us about the air we are breathing, and the good health we are enjoying among others. Do we know that Jesus was not able to perform mighty miracle in his own town, just because they did not believe him?

“And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went about the villages teaching.”
Mark 6:5-6

So, folks, we can unleash the power of God’s love upon our lives irrespective of where we live. Let us hold fast the love of God and keep trusting Him. God never promised us that problems will not confront us; but what He did promise is that He will be with us even in those challenging times (Isaiah 43:2).  Let us know this: God is not a man that He should lie; neither the son of man that he should repent: has he said, and shall he not do it? or has he spoken, and shall he not make it good? (Numbers 23:19)

Finally, I want to encourage us not be weak in the faith that we have. Challenges will come our way, but we should know that God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). His promises are sure and His plans will always be to the best of our wellbeing.

May the Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us; and may our steps be ordered in God’s word.
AMEN!