Running on Full Capacity

I noticed for about two or three weeks that the driver-side window in my car would not go all the way down.  It would stop about five inches above the normal closed position.  Then, while out of town, I experienced the car’s lights and electrical system would come on, but it would not crank.  I jumped the car, took it to get the battery checked, only to find out that the battery did not have enough power to crank the car.  It was running at a diminished capacity.  Some things would function, while others would not.  After replacing the battery, all the functions were restored to full operation.

THIS MADE ME WONDER, IN WHAT AREAS ARE WE NOT RUNNING ON FULL CAPACITY?

“How many of us are calling our dysfunction, normal?” – Pastor Billy Johnson

 

Exodus 18:13–27 (NKJV)

¹³And so it was, on the next day, that Moses sat to judge the people; and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening.

¹⁴So when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit, and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?”

¹⁵And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God.

¹⁶When they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another; and I make known the statutes of God and His laws.”

¹⁷So Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good.

¹⁸Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself.

¹⁹Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you: Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God.

²⁰And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do.

²¹Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

²²And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you.

²³If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace.”

²⁴So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.

²⁵And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

²⁶So they judged the people at all times; the hard cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.

²⁷Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way to his own land.

Observations:

DIMINISHED CAPACITY

• Moses was operating on DIMINSHED CAPACITY. He was doing it all by himself.

 

Exodus 18:17-18

¹⁷So Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good.

¹⁸Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself.

DIFFERENT CAPACITY

• Those selected had the SAME CHARACTER QUALITIES, but they each had a DIFFERENT CAPACITY.
• Everybody’s capacity is different.

 

Exodus 18:21

²¹Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

CHARACTER QUALITIES

• Able
• Fear God
• Men of Truth
• Hating Covetousness

CAPACITY

• Rulers of Thousands
• Rulers of Hundreds
• Rulers of Fifties
• Rulers of Tens

 

 

DYNAMIC CAPACITY

• When everybody was functioning within their capacity all the people’s needs were met.

Exodus 18:24-26

²⁴So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.

²⁵And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

²⁶So they judged the people at all times; the hard cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.

WHAT NOT TO DO:

DON’T COMPARE YOUR CAPACITY

2 Corinthians 10:12 (NKJV)

¹²For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

DON’T COMPROMISE YOUR CAPACITY

You compromise your capacity by doing things that will cause EROSION to happen in your life. Erosion is the gradual disintegration of something.

DON’T COMPLAIN ABOUT YOUR CAPACITY

To complain about your capacity is to insult the intelligence of God’s design of you.

 

Psalm 139:13–16 (NKJV)

¹³For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.

¹⁵My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

¹⁶Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.

 

 

WHAT TO DO:

BE CLEAR ON YOUR CAPACITY

• Take the time to understand what you can and cannot do.
• You must discover your capacity.
• Sometimes that discovery only happens when demands are placed on you.

“There is nothing wrong with understanding the boundaries.” – Pastor Billy Johnson

APPRECIATE YOUR CAPACITY

• Practice giving God praise for what he put in you.

“Sometimes we can’t appreciate our capacity because we haven’t discovered it yet.”

FUNCTION IN YOUR CAPACITY

• Be willing to serve where he placed you.

My Capacity is my God-given ability to produce at the level I was created to produce.  I have the capacity to handle what is on my plate now.  If the capacity is not present it is not mine to handle.

You have the capacity to take what you have been given and increase it.

“Go ahead and function unapologetically for what God has done.” – Pastor Billy Johnson

 

“If it comes your way and you can’t handle it – delegate it.” – Pastor Billy Johnson