I spent part of my childhood as a missionary’s kid in Lima, Peru. And a couple of times, I got to travel to Cusco, a city in the Andes Mountains located more than two miles (10,800 feet) above sea level.

To avoid getting altitude sickness, it is recommended that visitors rest on their first day in Cusco to let their bodies adjust to the decreased oxygen levels. I always tried to rest, but I was a fairly active child and could not resist exerting some energy. Of course, I always paid for it, and I experienced a day or two of altitude sickness every time I visited Cusco.

I knew what the limits were, but I pushed them. Because I did not want to rest on the first day, I was always physically forced to rest on the next day.

MINISTRY LESSON
If you push yourself past your limits, you will have to pay for it sooner or later.

It is good to maximize your life, but you need to know your limits and stop when you reach them. It is good to be a hard worker, but if you push past your limits, you will burn yourself out. This concept is easy to understand in financial terms. If you spend money past your financial limitations, you will get yourself into a pit of debt and potentially lose all that you have.

If you spend energy past your personal limitations, you will have to pay for it somehow - illness, burnout, a bad marriage, suffering relationships.

The Israelites learned this lesson the hard way in Leviticus 25:4-5 when God commanded them to let the land rest on every seventh year. Unfortunately, they did not obey this commandment for 490 years (missed 70 Sabbath years), and consequently, they paid for it during the 70 years of Babylonian captivity mentioned in Jeremiah 25:11.

If life is a marathon, don’t ruin it by sprinting your hardest from the starting line. Know your limits. Pace yourself.

For Discussion:
- How do you keep yourself from pushing past your limits?

Other MK Ministry Lessons
1. Speaking Another Language
2. Big Numbered Intis
3. Timoteo’s Fly Eye Kaleidoscope
4. Christmas Tacos
5. Worm Pills
6. The Presence of Guns