PROVERBS 30:7. "Enough is Enough"

Proverbs 30:7     Two things I request of You (Deprive me not before I die):
8     Remove falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches. 
Feed me with the food allotted to me,
9     Lest I be full and deny You, And say, “Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God.

Proverbs 30: 7-9.  One of our dilemmas here in the “1^st world” of Western civilization is deciding how much we want versus how much we can handle.

More cake?  Will I really work this of at the gym?

Another degree?  Can I handle the extra course work?
Buy a (bigger) house?  Can we make the higher mortgage?
Take on this new ministry?  Can we sustain it over the long run?
Try for the promotion?  Will I be as successful with the greater responsibility?
Pop the question?  Am I ready for that kind of commitment?

On the one hand, don’t sell yourself short.  The fullness of God’s destiny for you will force you beyond your comfort zone and into the place where you have to depend on God rather than yourself.   God’s grace is sufficient to deliver victory though you’ve reached the limits of your own strength (2 Corinthians 12: 9; Philippians 4: 13). 

On the one hand: Ambition?   On the other hand: Ability?

On the other hand, we have to be careful not to think more highly of what we will/can do that we should (Romans 12: 3). Some battles are not ours to fight, and therefore not ours to win.  King David felt capable of building the 1^st temple, but God said that it wasn’t his to build (2 Samuel 7).   Rehoboam had it in his heart to reunite the kingdom of Israel, but God told him, “No” (2 Chronicles 11: 1-4).

It’s a lie when anyone or anything tells you to settle short of the greatness to which God has called you.  It is equally a falsehood when someone or something pushes you up to pursue what God never meant for you to have.

Falling for either lie will lead you to sin because your ambition/ your desires will rest outside of God’s will.  And outside God’s will is where you find sin.

The solution is to seek what Agur sought in Proverbs 30: 7-9, to pray as Jesus taught in Luke 11: 3; to plan  as James explained in James 4: 13-16. 

Lord, don’t let me fall for the lies.  Give me each day what you want me to have.  Show me day by day what you want me to seek.  Speak to my spirit so that I don’t sell myself short or exalt myself beyond what I should.  Give me all that I need, but never more than I should have. 

If I should ever overreach beyond what you have given me to bear, then provide me with the way of escape that you promised. (1 Corinthians 10: 13)

If I should ever shrink below what you’ve called me to do, then light a fire under me/ in me/ around me so that I have to move up to what you called me to ( Jeremiah 20: 9; Exodus 3: 2, 3).

The answer to Ambition vs. Ability is the same answer:  Develop your relationship with Jesus.  Listen to Him.  Grow in Christ and learn how to let the Holy Spirit lead you.  Then your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.  (Isaiah 30:21)

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama.

Call  334-288-0577
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