God Has No Limits
By Kristin Gong
This devotional is inspired by and is referenced from Jen Wilkin's book, None Like Him , Chapter 1, “Infinite: God of No Limits”. Highly recommended.
There are no limits of God or on God. He is unbound by limits; he defies measurement of any kind. God’s limitlessness underlies all of his attributes, his power, knowledge, love, mercy, etc. No one can measure any aspect of who God is.
We measure everything. Babies are measured and weighed when they are born, and every single package of food we have has every kind of measurement on it. Our clocks tell us how much time we have until dinner. Our bank accounts tell us how much we can spend. Facebook or Instagram tells us how many friends or followers we have. And during this COVID-19 crisis, even a trip to Costco will tell us that we can only buy ONE box of eggs, or ONE package of toilet paper.
By measuring things or limiting things, we tend to think that we can to some degree, control things. This can also bring a certain amount of comfort to us - that we have a sense of control of things when we can take the measure of something. If there is anything I have learned in the past month of rising crisis statistics and mandated limitations, it’s that I am definitely not in control of anything.
In comparison, the God of the Bible is infinite, immeasurable, unquantifiable, and uncontainable, utterly without limit. We cannot confine him to a physical or mental boundary; we cannot control him. Psalm 145:3 says, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.” King Solomon speaks of the temple that had just been built for God: “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27)
Jen Wilkin points out that paradoxically, he is who immeasurable is himself the measure of all things. Isaiah 40:12-14 says, “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?”
Who has measured everything? God has. Who has measured God? No one. God has no rivals, and he has lovingly put upon us limits and boundaries, to remind us that we are not him, and neither is anything or anyone else. Exodus 15:11 says “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?”
Our limits teach us the fear of the Lord. They remind us that we are not God. Only God is God. The God that we worship is infinite, the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. This is the God we worship. And rightfully so. Can you imagine a limited person, limited in knowledge and wisdom, having infinite abilities (infinite power, infinite knowledge, infinite resources)? Imagine if that person could also be everywhere and anywhere all the time. That would be terrifying if that power were given to anyone but God. But thankfully, we do not have to fear, because God, our perfect, holy, heavenly Father, is also infinitely merciful, just, loving, good and gracious.
He can count our sorrows. Psalm 56:8 says, “You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?” But thankfully his mercies never come to an end. He can measure our sins, but thankfully, because of his Son Jesus Christ, and his perfect sacrifice upon the cross, and his resurrection, God’s grace is never ending. Even death for us believers is not an end. Our physical life may be limited, but we can have eternal life with God.
In this time when so many limits are put upon us - when we are limited in how much groceries we can buy at the store, how many people we can gather together, and even by how far apart we can stand, let us together worship our infinite God. He is limitless, and immeasurable. His goodness, lovingkindness, knowledge and power is without limit. He is not limited on who he is or what he can do.
This devotional was originally shared in longer verbal form during the women’s devotional time on April 1. We are meeting live online on Wednesdays at 7:30pm. To join our next meeting, contact Kristin Gong kgong@wintersburg.org or Cami Chang cchang@wintersburg.org.