“No limits,” he lied.

The worst liar I ever knew was my athletic trainer, though I doubt he meant to lie. He had been taught a series of slogans which he would break out at the drop of a barbell. . . and I dropped barbells frequently. One of my least favorite mottos he had was: no limits.

I am not sure what he meant by this, but I am very, very sure that all the possible meanings were very wrong. When it came to the weight room, I had many limits and was going to go on having many limits. In fact, with one of his mighty arms, this beast of a man could have hurled more iron across the room than my aging body could have ever lifted. More fit? That was possible. Buff and young again? That was impossible.

My body had, has, and will have increasing limits. My mind had, has, and will have limits and those too will change and increase. This is only depressing if you believed the lie at the start that there are no limits to what a man can do.

Someone out there is going to suggest that this attitude will limit my creativity. Aren’t things accomplished when a “crazy” person refuses to accept limits? This is true if the limits are imposed by society and not by Nature or Nature’s God. When culture said “women are weak,” we could look to our great-grandmothers, hoeing corn, tarring roofs, killing snakes, and see that fainting was not necessary to womankind. When culture said African-Americans were cursed, we could look to church history and Ethiopia to see God’s blessing and a mighty Christian nation.

We should defy society’s limits, but I cannot defy the person God made me to be. I am just a fifty-two year old guy with a limited talent set. Those limits (not counting one’s caused by sin) are good  because they make me fit to receive good things from other people. This allows others to give and that is a blessed state. If I had no need, then I would never be in a position to receive.

Who hasn’t known leaders who attempted to jump the limits imposed by God and nature? These folk think they are dreamers, but to those unfortunate enough to hear the siren song they sing, their dream is a nightmare. They build an empire to self on the talents of other people. Not content to be Emperor of the French, Napoleon must start a land war in Asia. Many of us cannot be content with our local church, but imagine that we are one good Sunday sermon from being the Patriarch of Sugar Land while actually starting a church split in Texas.

You defy limits when you embrace things you never would have embraced in order to “win.” This is the man who will use an unborn baby to give him parts for research To stay youth. This is the man who will do a deal with devilish men to do good. This is the man who will run over friends to achieve his goals.

This can be, but must not be me.

Our bodies give us possibilities, but also grant us limits and those limits allow (demand!) that we rest. There is an end to striving and hope for being able to say: “I have done the best I can.”

We live in a tension in this time between what could be (if the world was as it should be) and what is. We are not what we should be or even what we will be in Paradise. This creates a discontent and a longing for Paradise that never dies in an adult, but it also allows for rest. We are on a journey, but the end is not yet: ever until death.