We’re very good at putting limits on ourselves. We might not always realise we’re doing it. It might be something as simple as seeing a job advert, and immediately thinking ‘I couldn't apply, they probably want someone with more experience.’ Or maybe we’ve not done as well as we’d hoped in exams, and now we’re almost afraid of trying to learn anything new in case we fail. Or we have a dream or idea, but people tell us it’s impossible and can’t be done, so we just give up on it. The problem is, we can get so used to self-imposed limitations and telling ourselves, ‘I can’t do that,’ we might start to think we can’t do anything. It’s almost like we’ve stored up all that negativity and used it to build a box that we can’t escape from. This happened to the Israelites too. When others saw giants in the Promised Land, they wanted to give up and return to Egypt. But Caleb refused to be limited by the opinions of others, and said, ‘The LORD…will bring us safely into that land and give it to us.’ At that point two things happened. ‘The whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. Then the glorious presence of the LORD appeared to all the Israelites at the Tabernacle’ (Numbers 14:10 NLT). God said yes to Caleb, and that was all the approval he needed. The truth is, it doesn’t matter how many people are saying no to us, or what limits we put on ourselves. When God says we can do something, with His guidance, we can, and will do it. God doesn’t box us in - we just need to make the decision to break out and follow His guidance.

What now?

Make a note of how many times you say ‘I can’t’ today. Tonight, thing back over each one, and honestly ask yourself if it was legitimate, or if you said it because of self-imposed limits.