By: Debbie Breyman, Director of Curriculum

This past summer, our head of school Brendon O’Dowd asked our staff to read You’re Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God's Design and Why That’s Good News by Dr. Kelly Kapic. I had heard Dr. Kapic speak at a seminar earlier in the year, so I was intrigued and looked forward to diving into the book. However, as I began to read, I quickly realized that the theme of learning to love my limits was going to be a bit challenging for me.

WE ARE FINITE

My family has often said that my name, Debbie (which means “bee” or “busy bee”), is quite accurate since I like to keep busy and really struggle to be inactive and rest. Whether helping and serving others or solving problems and efficiently accomplishing tasks and projects, I am usually “buzzing” around. However, this book reminded me that God created me to be limited. In other words, I am a finite being that has limits on my time, my health, my mobility, etc. Learning that I need to view my human limitations as a gift rather than a deficiency and to stop feeling guilty about not accomplishing enough was quite freeing.

WE ARE POWERLESS

Recognizing the reality of being powerless is another challenging idea that goes hand-in-hand with the certainty of finitude. We know and proclaim that God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient, and we recognize that these are holy attributes belonging only to Him, not us. We proclaim that we are powerless over our sin and declare that Jesus is the only one who has the authority to break our sinful chains. Through Him alone, we have righteousness, forgiveness, and the freedom to love and obey God.

Yet, knowing all of this, we still tend to try to wield our power to control our lives, only to get frustrated and upset when things do not go as we had hoped. The frustration, I believe, really lies in the fact that we as humans are finite and ultimately powerless, and we struggle with the reality of how God created us. He created us this way so that we would recognize our limitations as fallen creatures that must develop humility, faith, and dependency on Him as our infinite, powerful, creator God.

HE IS ALMIGHTY

So, does this mean that we just sit back and do nothing? Of course not.

But As we live our lives, we must live in the tension of releasing our desire to be infinite and all-powerful and embrace who we truly are as finite, powerless people who have an amazing, almighty, infinite, all-powerful God whose love we cannot even begin to fathom.  

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
(Ephesians 3:14-21)