As the God of measure, our God deals with us to lift us up and to lower us down, restricting us and limiting us, so that we may function in our measure and according to the limits He sets, for He is not a God without measure but He has a certain measure to our function, our boast, our work, and our living.
Lord Jesus, we want to remain open to You as You deal with us as the God of measure. May we know You as the God of measure and may we allow You to measure us, even to limit us, so that we may grow in life and function in a proper way. You know, Lord, what our measure is. We want to function in our measure in the Body for the building up of the Body! We fully open our being to You and we take You as our life and our everything today! Amen!
We must see something of the measure of God and realise that our God is a God of measure.
Sometimes today in Christian news or publications you see all these stories about amazing things, healings, miracles, etc, and we do not deny that they happened, but many of them may be too much – there may be some exaggerations.
People like great things, amazing things, even supernatural things, but God is a God of measure.
Many Christians think that, now that they believe in the Lord, God should provide for them, heal them, and do all kinds of things for them.
It is true that God does many things for us, but He is a God of measure. He measures us, He limits us, and He sets certain boundaries to our testimony, our work, and our growth.
We see a vivid example of the God of measure and the measure of God’s rule with the apostle Paul.
He wrote to the Corinthians that he will not boast beyond his measure but according to the measure of the rule which the God of measure has apportioned to him.
He was bold, but he was not bold beyond limit; rather, he had a certain limitation. He lived under the Lord’s restriction.
He boasted, but his boasting was according to the measure of the rule which the God of measure had apportioned to him. Wow!
We need to know the ruling God, the God of measure, and we need to not go beyond our measure in our work for the Lord, our function in the church life, and our living the Christian life and the church life.
May the Lord enlighten us and show us who He is and what He is to us, and may we take Him as our life, our person, and our Head, allowing Him to limit us and restrict us so that we may grow in life properly and function in the Body in a normal way.
The God of Measure Deals with us by Raising us up and Lowering us Down: Remain Open to the Lord and His Dispensing!
When we read concerning Paul in 2 Corinthians 10 that he knew the God of measure and did not boast beyond his measure, we may think that this is an experience that only Paul could have, for he was a leading apostle.
He worked for the Lord, he had a gift, and he did much for God; so we think that such an experience is only for Him.
However, Paul’s God is our God; whether we serve the Lord full time or we just live the normal Christian life, we need to know the measure of God’s rule and realise that our God is a God of measure.
God especially works and deals with the young people, for He restricts them.
The God of measure deals with us by lifting us up and lowering us down; we simply need to remain open to the Lord and His dispensing.
If someone does not have a heart to serve the Lord, God uses many things to help him be stirred up to serve Him.
But once this person has been stirred up, God will limit him, for He does not want him to be too much in his service. We all have experienced this.
Humanly speaking, we don’t like limitation; we don’t like anything to limit us in our activities, our food, our activities, and in the things we do.
But God, when He sees that we’re sleeping spiritually, comes in to stir us up, and when we’re stirred up and become too active, He restricts us.
God’s way is not the quick way; His way is normal growth in life and being perfected in our function. God deals with us by first raising us up and then lowering us down.
After a few such experiences, we realise that the God of measure is dealing with us by these ups and downs, downs and ups.
Many, however, cannot tolerate God’s ups and downs; they may even want to quit, for they want to either be all the time up or all the time down.
No one wants to go up and down, down and up; however, this is how the God of measure deals with us to make us normal believers in Christ and proper functioning members in the Body.
God’s principle in His creation and in nature is up and down, darkness and light, activities and rest. There is no day that lasts forever and there is no night that never ends.
God has His ways to bring us up and to lower us down. We may love the Lord very much and we may be fervently pursuing Him and enjoying Him, and then we may get married; after a few months of being married, we may cool down, for married life cools us down.
Before we got married, we may have enjoyed and testified of the glorious church life, being like an eagle soaring in the air.
But not too long after our wedding, we may not feel that the church life is that glorious. God is using all things, including our marriage, our children, our job, our health, and the things around us, to work out for His purpose (Rom. 8:28-29).
He raises us up and He lowers us down. He stirs us up, and He cools us down. We should not look at the persons whom God uses to lift us up or lower us down, thinking that they have done this or that to us, so we should be upset with them.
Rather, we should be open to the God of measure to perfect us, gain us, and gain what He is after in us according to His purpose.
Sometimes even a leading brother may speak a word to us, with no intention of hurting us or putting us down, but the Lord uses such a word to cool us down, even to lower us down.
God deals with us in this way because He is a God of measure, and He apportions to each one of us a certain measure.
In all these dealings, as He is raising us up and lowering us down, may we remain open to the Lord and allow Him to dispense Himself into us (Psa. 42:5-6).
If our being is open to Him, we will have God wrought into us, and we will be constituted with Him.
We should not allow these things happening to us to bother us or upset us; it is not things, people, and events that deal with us, nor is anything happening by accident, but the God of measure is dealing with us.
We may even say that being up and down is not within our control or management.
We may not want to be down, and we may not want to be up all the time, but it is God who arranges things and allows things to happen, and so many things happening to us and around us are beyond our own control.
May we realise that God is in control and that He has a way to keep us within our measure.
May we keep our inner being open to the Lord as He deals with us so that He may grow in us in a normal way and make us those who function in our measure for the building up of the Body.
Even in the spread of the church and the preaching of the gospel, we may think that God should spread very much and gain entire cities and countries, for the riches in His word are so amazing.
Yet God has a measure to His spread, and the church life does not spread without restriction. May we remain open to the Lord!
Lord Jesus, keep our being open to Your divine dispensing as You are raising us up and lowering us down as the God of measure. May we know You and experience You as the God of measure. May we know the measure of God’s rule and learn to function in our measure. Oh Lord Jesus, thank You for working out all things and all events for our benefit, for us to grow in life unto maturity and be prepared to function in the Body. Release our function in the Body. Keep us within our measure in functioning in the meetings of the church. Lord Jesus, may we know the measure of God’s rule in our work for the Lord, our function in the church, and in doing everything for God. We open to You. We open to Your divine dispensing as we are up and down, down and up. Have Your way in us. Gain what You are after in us. Make us members of the Body who function in a normal way, in their measure, for the building up of the church. Amen, Lord, we are open to You: do in us what You want to do and gain in us what You are after! Amen!
God is Ruling and Measuring: we must Stay within the Limits of God’s Ruling and Know the Measure of God’s Rule
If we read the book of Acts and also the Epistles of Paul we see how Paul was full of zeal for God in a natural way, so much so that he went so far as to go to another city to arrest the dissidents from Judaism, the followers of Jesus.
However, the Lord Jesus Himself met him on the way to Damascus, knocked him down, and ushered him into the reality of Christ the Head and the Body.
After his conversion, Paul again was very full of zeal, but this time he was for the Lord, for His work and for His spread.
He got into a lot of trouble, however, for wherever he went, the Jews persecuted him and even followed him from city to city to stir up the people against him. Wow!
First, Paul was down, but the Lord stirred him up for His interest; then, when Paul was so fervent for the Lord, the Lord allowed much opposition and persecution to arise against him.
Our God is a God of measure, and He has a “measuring rod” (2 Cor. 10:13) according to which and with which He measures all things. God allots to each one of us just so much for our work and experience.
We need to see that there is One who is ruling and measuring – the God of measure, the God who rules. When we see this, we will stay within the limits of God’s ruling, of God’s measuring (2 Cor. 10:15-16).
We will know the measure of God’s rule. We may be burdened to serve the Lord, and He has put in us a certain ability and desire to serve Him.
As we serve the Lord, however, there are all kinds of limitations, for God measures our service.
He doesn’t want to have one prominent and excellent serving one; He wants to gain a blended group of saints who serve together, where none of them stands out but are all under the measure of God’s rule.
The age of spiritual giants is over; the age in which one person did everything and went everywhere for the gospel is no longer here.
Even though the advancement in technology makes us more connected than ever, giving us the ability to reach many more people and travel much faster, we still need to know the measure of God’s rule and accept the Lord’s raising us up and lowering us down.
In relation to God’s work, we should not expect that we will have a prevailing gospel preaching and the church will spread without measure; such a spreading would certainly not be within the limit of a walk according to the Spirit.
May we walk according to the Spirit day by day (Gal. 5:16, 25), and may we remain within the limits God sets for us, the measure of God’s rule.
We may not know our measure, and we may not know what the limit is; however, if we remain open to the Lord, opening our vessel to Him for Him to work in us what He wants to do, we will know the measure of God’s rule.
The key is to be an open vessel. We cannot control or influence what is happening around us; God is in control, He works out all things, and He restricts us and limits us.
He opens the doors and He shuts them. He leads us inwardly and He removes His presence from us.
In all the things we do, wherever we are, and whatever our situation is, may we remain open to the Lord.
He gives us an inner sense of life and peace (Rom. 8:6), which is also confirmed in the Body, and He arranges our environment in such a way that we know what our measure is. How wonderful!
He is the God of measure, and He is also our life; we simply need to remain open to His divine dispensing, and take His leading in all things.
Lord Jesus, may we know the measure of God’s rule and may we function in our measure. Thank You for regenerating us with Your life to make us children of God growing in life to be sons of God who function in the church. Release our function in the Body. May we function in our measure for the building up of the Body. Amen, Lord, we exercise our spirit and turn to You. We set our mind on our spirit. We want to follow the inner sense of life and peace. Thank You for being so real, so intimate, and so present with us, leading us in all things by Your very smile. Oh Lord Jesus, we love You! We want to pay attention to our spirit and also allow the environment to limit us, being open to You to be restricted by You. Grant us the grace to take the ups and downs, the dealings from the God of measure. Grant us to be those who function not without measure but within the measure of God’s rule. Amen, Lord, we just open to You: our vessel is open to be filled with You and to flow You out! Amen!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers on this topic, and portions from, Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 441-442 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Ministry of the Word and God’s Dispensing for God’s Economy (2026 March ITERO), week 4, “The Measure of God’s Rule and Ministry on Spiritual Warfare” – day 2.
- Hymns on this topic:
– I dwell with the King for His work, / The work, it is His and not mine; / He plans and prepares it for me / And fills me with power divine. / So duty is changed to delight, / And prayer into praise as I sing; / I dwell with my King for His work / And work in the strength of my King. (Hymns #904 stanza 4)
– Lord Jesus, I long in Thy presence to live, / From morning to evening my one world Thou art; / O let not my heart be contented or rest / When loving or seeking what with Thee doth part. / Each moment, each day, throughout suff’ring and pain, / When nought in the world can give comfort or cheer, / When sighing and weeping encompasses me, / Lord, still all my sighing and wipe every tear. (Hymns #389 stanza 1)
– Deal with me and make me balanced, / As in preaching, so in prayer; / Leading others oft in praying, / As Thy Word I too declare. / Only serving by our praying / Will our spirits mingled be; / Stressing prayer as much as preaching— / Thus the church is built for Thee. (Hymns #848 stanzas 6-7)
