Based on Luke 19: 1-10
There’s an old allegory, which is a bit like a parable, about a baby elephant that is tied to a fence post. The baby elephant tugs and pulls to try to break free but it fails to break the fence or break the rope. Eventually, it gives up and makes peace with the thought that they will never break free, they could never break the fence or break the rope.
But eventually, the elephant grows up and becomes a big, adult elephant with massive legs, huge tusks and long trunk and it could easily walk away from the fence, it could easily break the fence or the rope. But the elephant believes that the fence is some immovable thing, so the adult elephant remains tied to it, falsely believing it can never get away.
This false belief is a limiting belief.
Limiting beliefs are false beliefs that can prevent us from achieving our goals, hold us back from being the person that, deep down, we always hoped we would be, the person God wants us to be. These false beliefs can keep us from living life, as promised by Christ, in all it’s fullness.
Zacchaeus was a short man. Being short is something I can definitely relate to. For my 50th birthday I was given a card which read ‘Now you have reached 50 that growth spurt is looking increasingly unlikely!’
Zacchaeus was a short man. Rarely is there any mention of someone’s physical appearance in the gospels, we have no description of what Jesus looked like, but Zacchaeus’ height is central to the story. He is not prepared to let his lack of height prevent him from achieving his goal. He is committed to seeing Jesus.
We don’t know why Zacchaeus was so keen to see Jesus. Had he heard about him? If so, what had he heard that caught his interest? Had he been thinking about Jesus for a while? Had he felt uncomfortable about his life for some time – perhaps wanting to make changes? We don’t know but nothing was going to hold him back from encountering Jesus. He was willing to climb a tree – a rich tax collector, how undignified! He was willing to scramble up that tree and draw attention to his, literal, short comings. He took a risk and sacrificed his dignity as nothing was going to hold him back from encountering Jesus.
And the reward was immediate. Jesus looks up and sees him and and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ And the impact of that encounter was also immediate , Zacchaeus stood there and said, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ The encounter with Jesus immediately, and completely, transformed him.
Nothing held Zacchaeus back from this encounter with Jesus. No limiting belief got in the way….and so the thought comes to mind – Do we think we have limitations that are holding us back from being the person, deep down, we always hoped we would be, the person God wants us to be. What do you think limits your potential? Is it a true belief or a limiting belief, a false belief.
I’ll give you an example. I love maths, I’m rubbish at English, so I thought I could never write a sermon and be a local preacher. Well, you’ve invited me back a fair so the sermons can’t be that bad!
Limiting beliefs can keep us from doing important things. Our beliefs put boundaries and limitations on what we do. Some limiting beliefs unnecessarily hold us back from who we want to become. Like the elephant that remains stuck to the fence post, for no reason. He could break away from that fence at any time, it is only his thoughts, his past experiences, his past failure to break away from that fence, that keeps him tied to that fence. These limiting beliefs keep us in place without us even realising it.
Let’s turn to scripture to see what it says about limiting beliefs. Let’s call in the big guns….
- Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” All things. Not some things. With God ALL things are possible.
- Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Since our identity is no longer ours but is in Christ, we can step into our calling secure in who we are. Christ lives in us.
- 2 Corinthians 12:9: “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” We do not need to be strong. In our weakness, we get to witness the strength of God.
- And even in the Great Commission comes the promise that we are not alone. Matthew 28: 18-20. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
God hasn’t promised us easy, but he has promised us that we are not alone. ‘I am with you always’. - And the prayer from Hebrews 13: 20-21, ‘Now may the God of peace …. equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him.
He will ‘equip you with everything good for doing his will’.
I could go on but I won’t and I feel I’ve hardly started with the unlimited power of the Holy Spirit that, of course, resides within us.
Nothing held Zacchaeus back from his encounter with Jesus. No limiting beliefs.
Is there anything holding you back from the next step, from that calling, that deep down knowing of where or what you should be, or even that feeling that you are slightly off-track and you need to move back to your true alignment?
What do you think limits your potential? Bring those potential limitations to mind now. What comes to mind?
First, you need to ask yourself. Is this true? What If I’m Wrong?
Limiting beliefs lose their power as soon as we consider that they may not be true. So in my example, ok my GCSE results show that English isn’t my strong point, but are my teachers comments over 30 years ago still ringing true? What about the reports I wrote at work, what about the talks I gave at networking events. I have changed. And my faith, do I now have faith that I write not from my own ability but with God’s help. When the Lord Calls, He Equips!
If there is a something that you believe is holding you back from fulfilling your God given potential, you first ask, Is this true? What If I’m Wrong?
Secondly, ask Yourself, “How Is This Belief Serving Me?” We often hold beliefs because they served us as some time in the past. For example, the baby elephant believing that they could not break free served it from hurting itself further from the strain of pulling on the rope. But is the belief still true, is it still serving you? If not, change it, choose a new belief. Get in to the habit of prayerfully questioning, looking to scripture for guidance, and trying out new beliefs.
Moses was a good example. We can take great comfort in knowing what God achieved through Moses despite his limiting beliefs. God called Moses to approach Pharaoh and insist that he set the nation of Israel free from slavery. Moses was full of arguments. His questions were, Who am I? What shall I say? What if they do not believe me?
Just listen to his limiting beliefs in this reading from Exodus chapter 4 – Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
Moses of course then begs God to send someone else and his brother Aaron is used as his voice but I wonder…. The Lord said, Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” Even Moses’ potential could have been held back by his limiting beliefs but God worked through it with Moses.
We are all human after all BUT we are also ever-changing people, just look at the example of Zacchaeus if you don’t believe that. Here was a man, a rich man, a chief tax collector, not just any old tax collector, but a chief tax collector who by his own admission had been a fraudster. He says to Jesus, ‘if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’
He may have believed it too late to change his ways, his habits ingrained, his love of money too prominent but he immediately changed.
BUT and the the big but is that he didn’t do it all by himself. He encountered Jesus. His transformation was not a coincidence. He took risks and made sacrifices to to see Jesus. He put his head above the parapet and Jesus saw him. Immediately he changed, a small miracle in itself. Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’
We are ever-changing people, transformed by Christ. Is there anything currently holding you back at the moment from achieving a burning desire that you feel God is calling you to? What is holding you back? Could it be a limiting belief, a false belief? Prayerfully reflect on it. Is this true? What If I’m Wrong? Is the belief still serving you? If not, change it.
Look to scripture. We confidently step into God’s call for our lives by laying our lives at the feet of Jesus and reminding ourselves of what Scripture says about who we are and who God is. We must rely on him and, in our weakness, we will see his strength. Bring all of this to God in prayer.
Let’s not let anything hold us back from being the people of God that we and God wants us to be. Excuses be gone! Take the risks, make the sacrifices. Because who wants to be on life’s merry-go-round, that just goes round and round. Let’s have life, life in all it’s fullness. Amen.
Photo by Iswanto Arif on Unsplash
Debbie Story 