Hudson Taylor, as a missionary in China, endured many difficult years serving the Lord. On one particular journey from village to village everything seemed to be going wrong. After days of traveling with sore feet and no food, he began to take matters into his own hands. In a doubtful and bitter attitude he questioned why God was allowing each miserable circumstance. Looking back he says that he realized it wasn't that God couldn't have saved the day, it was that he was too focused on doing things his own way that he missed the sovereignty of God.

When Hudson Taylor depended on himself to overcome the difficulties, he denied the ability and sovereignty of God. From a human perspective, Hudson Taylor wasn't limiting himself he was limiting what God could do.

It reminds me of another man who struggled between a faith in God to do anything and a doubt that God could ever use him to do anything. "When evening came, He(Jesus) was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw Him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.

"But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." "Lord, if it's you, " Peter replied, "tell me to come to You on the water." "Come," he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

There are days when looking at my abilities and strengths compared to my imperfections and weakness, I feel hopelessly limited. In reality, on my own I am limited. But Christ has brought about a miraculous change in my life to give me limitlessness. In Christ we have no limits. We should have complete hope and assurance that we can overcome any difficulty. "For with God nothing is impossible." (Luke 1:37)

As Peter gets out of the boat the only thing on his mind was that Jesus was limitless. His faith was focused on the miraculous power of Christ and his ability to supersede even human limitations. But when Peter took his focus off of Christ, he was confronted by human reality. The reality that in a battle between himself and the storm there would be only one outcome, catastrophe. It was not that he was limiting himself, it was that he was limiting what God could do through him.

As you are confronted by your limits as a human, don't allow that thinking to limit the power of God within you.

"For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

-Josh