Image credit:  Sj.jamali, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A lot of prayer requests regard finances.  On the flip side of that, there are various sermons and admonitions to “take the limits off of God.”  What does that mean?

It can mean several things, one of which is to not limit God as to how a prayer is answered.  It is possible to have a pre-conceived idea of how an answer will come and when it does not come that way, to be disappointed and to perhaps even blame God.  Definitively, the problem is never with God but always with man.  Either there is an inability or refusal to hear or obey or follow to obtain the answer, or with trying to put God in a box as to how things will go, but the problem is never with God.   And only a seeking of the Lord will yield understanding in any individual case.

Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

A good example is the crossing of the Red Sea.  No military commander or leader would lead people up to the edge of a sea with the enemy following and no way  of escape.  But, because God is a supernatural God, at the Lord’s direction, Moses stretched out his rod over the Red Sea, the sea parted, and the nation went through.  The limits had been taken off of God with how the escape was possible with Moses’s obedience.  And Moses did have inside information from the Lord that the Lord was going to reveal his power to Pharoah and the nation … I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.

Moses did not know exactly what God was going to do, but he obeyed the Lord and found out.

Exodus 14:1 (KJV) And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea.

3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.

4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. And they did so.

5 And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?

6 And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him:

7 And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.

8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand.

9 But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon.

10 And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord.

11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?

12 Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.

13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.

14 The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

15 And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:

16 But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

17 And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.

18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten me honour upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.

19 And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:

20 And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

21 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

22 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

23 And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

24 And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,

25 And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians.

26 And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.

27 And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.

29 But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.

31 And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord, and his servant Moses.

In this economy there is a lot of economic hurt.  The question is, what to do?   It takes expanding the mind, the borders of the mind, to have new and creative ideas of what is possible, and to be open to ideas from the Lord. And then, to follow up and take action on those ideas or directions.

James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

James 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

One thing that is possible is to get training in a non-four-year-college-degree occupation.  I was listening to an interview with Mike Rowe (of Dirty Jobs TV fame).

The point was made that there are 7 million unfilled jobs. There are not enough people with the correct skills to fill them. The bill-of-sale has been that a 4-year (or more) degree is the only way to a viable career. The bridge between unfilled jobs and people looking for jobs is getting the skills necessary … and it is possible to obtain those skills outside of traditional college education with its huge debt load.

Mike Rowe has been giving a lot of interviews lately on this theme, so you might catch him on a business channel or another channel.

To learn more go to:  MikeRoweWorks.org (link below)

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