Get Jack Out of the Box

There is something strangely fascinating and creepy about a jack in the box. I don’t know who invented the thing, but it’s sheer brilliance in its ability to capture and frighten at the same time. Anticipation builds as the crank is turned and the music plays. We know what’s going to happen, yet we continue to turn the crank, knowing we’re about to jump out of our skin. The interesting thing about it is that Jack was never intended to live inside the box. It’s purpose is not fulfilled until Jack comes out of the box. What Jack was intended for is fully realized when he pops out of his cage.

We weren’t designed to live in a box either. So many people sell themselves short because they don’t get out of the box. What is the box? The box is limitations. People settle for things that are OK or even good, when God wants them to have the best. But they believe the lies and never break out of the box. How do we do it?

We limit ourselves to the expectations of others. Especially if we have a track record of failure. I can’t tell you how many teenagers’ parents tell them they’ll never amount to anything. They aren’t smart enough, disciplined enough, popular enough, driven enough, good enough to really stand out. And so they settle. They believe what they are constantly told, instead of getting in with God and finding out what He says about them.

Gideon did this when God showed up in the wine press and told him to go and rescue Israel.

“But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh,
Judges 6.15

He quoted back to God the lie that he had heard! His family was the weakest in the entire tribe! Maybe he heard that his family were weak and couldn’t stand up for themselves. Maybe he heard that since his family was small, they wouldn’t do anything significant. Maybe he heard that his family always backs down from a fight, or are incredibly needy. Whatever he heard about his family, he believed it. He was limited by the expectations of others.

…and I am the least in my entire family!”
Judges 6.15b

Gideon also believed the expectations he had of himself. He believed the lie that said his family was the weakest. And he also believed that he was the weakest of the weakest! These usually come when we play the comparison game. We compare to people around us who are better, more gifted, more talented at something, and we think that we don’t have anything to offer.The expectations we carry for ourselves are far more dangerous than those of others. Mostly because no one sees the battles that take place inside of us, except God. Everyone deals with expectations of ourselves. When we believe the lies we put on ourselves, we end up settling for less than what God has for us.

God speaks big things over his people. But just because He spoke it doesn’t mean it will happen. There is a huge part of that equation called “free will.” We have to choose to do what’s necessary to walk in the promise that God spoke. Most people settle because they don’t break out of the box.

There’s another story of someone who had a promise from God and settled. That choice would have ramifications all the way to today. God shows up to Abram and Sarai and tell them that they will have a child and that child would birth a nation of God’s chosen people. The big deal about this is that they were both very old when God made this promise. 25 years later, the promise happens. That’s a long time to wait. I’m sure Abram tried to figure out how God was going to do it. In fact, I know he did, because we find an interesting story in Genesis 16.

1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. 3 So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.) 4 So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant.

Sarai thought it would be a good idea to help God. Abram went along with this. they both settled for less than what God promised. “We’re too old to make this happen, so we’ll do something else instead.” They limited themselves and God. They put themselves in a box. They eventually listened to God and received the child of promise. But not before the consequences of selling themselves short of God’s full promise.

Hagar gave birth to Ishmael. Ishmael would become the birthplace of Islam. The end result is one of the fastest growing religions in the world today was started because someone limited God and themselves.

God is sending out a call to people who won’t settle, who will break out of the box. Those who won’t be bound by the expectations of others or of their own expectations. These are the people that will receive and walk in the full promise of God. God didn’t call us to settle, to stay in the box. But He called us to leave the box and follow his lead.

So, what are you limited by?

Pastor Tony