No More Limits, Only Temporar y Barriers ( 3)

Micah 2: 13 reads, “The breaker ( the Messiah, who opens the way) shall go up before them ( liberating them). They will break out, pass through the gate and go out; So their King goes on before them, The Lord at their head” ( AMP).

J ESUS is our barrier breaker; he has opened the gates of life for all who are in bondage to escape. He leads in the way for us to follow him.

The text above pictures many in the kingdom who are trapped in self- imposed fear that hinders their progress. They are unaware that the Messiah has opened the way and broken through the gates of freedom and obtained liberty for them to soar and ascend in life. All those who desire to attain their Godgiven destiny must be ready to break out of their self- imposed cocoons.

Ruth is a testimony of one whose life is without limits. The Moabitess broke through several limitations around her to become the progenitor of Jesus Christ. She overcame the emotional barrier of widowhood, then she overcame the cultural barrier by identifying with the God of the Jews, and at Bethlehem, she overcame the barrier of economic limitations and lastly, she overcame the social and marital barrier to marry Boaz, and thereafter, became a great ancestor of the Lord Jesus, something she never anticipated.

As she struggled through the adversities and limitations imposed by her bereavement, little did she know what providence held in store for her. The death of her husband and father- in- law must have shattered whatever dreams Ruth had about life. But she did not allow those to hold her down. Arising from the ashes of her broken world, she forged ahead not certain of where her courage would lead her to.

The first barrier she overcame was the psychological limitation. Bereavement comes with grief, pain and discouragement for its victim. But Ruth rose out of the impositions of her predicament with optimism and courage believing that there was a future ahead of her.

Next was the cultural barrier. Both culturally and legally, the Moabites were distinct and separate from the Jews. But Ruth discountenanced all that. She refused to be held back by her past and what the law says. Against the fervent persuasions of her mother- inlaw, she insisted she would go with her to Bethlehem. “And she said, “Look, your sister- inlaw has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister- in- law.”

But Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.” When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her” ( Ruth 1: 15- 18 - NKJV). Ruth exhibited what it takes to be a barrier breaker; courage, persistence and determination. She possessed the stubborn streak of someone who was unstoppable. As Ruth 1: 18 says, “When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her.”

Many of us have to deal with certain phobias we have in life to progress. The phobia for Mathematics, the phobia for marriage, the phobia for height or driving, timidity in life, lack of confidence, and the cultural phobia of life. These are impediments that limit our growth and progress in life. Contact: Pastoracukachi@gmail.com