06.24.23
by Tim Hargrove

I grew up in Roswell, New Mexico with a brittle bone disease called osteogenesis impefecta. This genetic disease caused me to have over 40 fractures by age 13 and put me in a wheelchair for the first 16 years of my life. 

Here are the three limiting beliefs that have shown up in my life many times. By the way, you may recognize them in your life as well. 

 

The first limiting belief I’ve struggled with is Scarcity Mindset – the belief that “There’s not enough.” It’s a common view of life that says, “Hey, resources are limited,” so you better not take any unnecessary risks that could bring a loss of time, energy, and especially money into your life. 

 

In my life, it seems that much of what I have felt called to do has put me in a place of significant financial risk. For example, in 1996 God blessed my wife and I with twin girls through the miracle of adoption. My wife and I had been trying to adopt for about 8 years when Pastor John Morgan came into our lives as the new lead pastor of the church I served in as an associate pastor. When he heard our story, he offered to help us move forward by raising the money ($6000 at the time) to do a home study and apply with an adoption agency. That happened in 1995, the girls were born in 1996. The whole experience was risky, expensive, but oh so worth it. But that’s not the end of the story. 

 

In 1997, I began to sense that God was leading to start a new church… in a different country! Just the thought of it was terrifying, not because of moving to a different country or living in a different culture, or because of the challenge of doing the work itself. My greatest fear was, “How on earth are we going to pull it off financially?” How are we going to live? How are we going to pay all the ministry expenses? In 1998, Kelly and I and our 2 year-old twin girls moved to a suburb of Vancouver, BC. The whole experience was risky, it was expensive, but oh so worth it. 

 

Now it’s 2023, and the work I do now with PPI requires me to raise financial support to fund my life, my family, and this important work that God has called me to do in high poverty places around the world. When I look back over the last 36 years, I have come to the realization that giving in to Scarcity mindset could have easily held me back from fulfilling God’s purpose for my life and from experiencing His greatest blessings. 

 

The second limiting belief I’ve struggled with is Insecurity – the belief that “I’m not enough.” Insecurity is the belief that your abilities, talents, and strengths are deficient in some way. It makes us say things like, “I’m not smart enough, not talented enough, not good enough.” “I can’t, because I’m not enough.” 

 

In elementary school, middle school, and high school, I was the only student in the school that was in a wheelchair. I was always the smallest. I was the school cripple. Today, I understand that God created me different for a reason. But at the time, being different felt like a curse. 

 

You can imagine what was running through my mind when I began to sense that God was calling me into some kind of ministry leadership role, like being a pastor! I didn’t even like our pastor. Why would I ever want to do anything like that? Pastors have to live perfect lives and follow all kinds of crazy rules. And worst of all, pastors have to stand in front of people and deliver sermons multiple times every week! Of all the things that I would never want to do with my life, public speaking would have been number one on my list! I don’t know for sure how many times I’ve delivered lessons, sermons, and presentations over the last 36 years, but I know the number is far beyond 5000 speaking engagements. How crazy is that. 

 

Today, I see insecurity as a trap that wants to hold me back from being the person God created me to be. How? By holding me hostage to the fears of failure and rejection. By causing me to live in a state of constant comparison to other people. And by blinding me to my true God-given abilities and potential. I still struggle with insecurity at times, but by the grace of God, I am no longer a hostage to the lies that come with insecurity. 

 

The third limiting belief I’ve struggled with is what I refer to as Powerlessness – the belief that “I can’t do enough.” This belief comes from the lie that we have no ability to change our situation or affect the world around us in a positive way. It makes us say things like, “The problem is too big,” and “No matter what I do, it won’t be enough.” 

 

There are many examples in Scripture of people who battled with the enemy of powerlessness. But the classic story is the story of David and Goliath. Why has this story inspired so many people? I think it’s because every man, woman, and child on earth faces a Goliath at some point in their life.  Every person faces a situation or problem that seems too big to defeat. 

 

Like you, I have had to face many Goliath sized problems in my life. But I have to say, growing up with osteogenesis imperfecta, hearing the bones in my arms and legs snap over and over again, and dealing with the physical and emotional pain for weeks, months, and years at a time is still near the top of my Goliath sized problem list for me personally. 

 

Do I still have the O.I. bone disease? Yes. Has it limited me physically? Yes. Do I have physical weaknesses because of it? Yes. Do I remember the pain and suffering? Yes. Does that mean I’m powerless? No. I am not powerless. We are not powerless. We are not damsels in distress. We are not timid little children hiding from the school bully. We all have limitations, yes. But that does not mean that we are powerless. 

 

Please hear my words. If you are a follower of Christ, if you have His Word, if you have been redeemed by His grace, and you have been infused with His Spirit. You are not powerless. We are not powerless. 

 

What we are is created in God’s image with the power to create good in this world. We are redeemed and gifted to do redeeming work. And we are responsible to serve God and others according to God’s will and purpose for our lives. 

 

It is clear in Scripture that God created all people with a free will. What does that mean? It means we have a choice. We can choose good or bad, right or wrong, life or death. It means we have a choice in how we respond to problems and to pain. The Scripture is also clear on this powerful truth: Life is defined by the choices we make… not our problems, not our past, and not even our pain. 

 

When I start feeling like Goliath might be winning the battle in my mind, I read these four statements of truth and preach them to myself as often as I need: 

 
“Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect.” – Eleanor Roosevelt