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My last blog asked “What’s keeping us in Lo-Debar?” In this blog, however, I want to discuss what happens when we finally leave.

Occasionally, we hear personal testimonies of dramatic transformation through faith in Christ. For example, Michael W. Smith, a famous singer/songwriter of contemporary Christian music, reports a miraculous deliverance from drug addiction. Alice Cooper, a “hard rock/heavy metal” singer from the 1970s and 1980s similarly talks about deliverance and healing from drug and alcohol addiction through faith in Christ.

But there is a reason these stories make the news. They are not very common. Yes, God will always dramatically change our hearts, minds, and lives when we truly place our faith and trust in Jesus, but He does not always change our circumstances.

As you remember from our story, in 2 Samuel 4:4, “Jonathan, son of Saul, had a son who was lame in both feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel. His nurse picked him up and fled, but as she hurried to leave, he fell and became disabled. His name was Mephibosheth.”

When we meet Mephibosheth again in 2 Samuel 9, we learn that King David shows mercy to him because of David’s covenant relationship with Jonathan. David brings Mephibosheth out of the barren Lo-Debar and gives him a place at the king’s table. But verse 13 states, “And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet.”

You see, King David changed Mephibosheth's place, but he did not change his feet.
David showed love and mercy to Mephibosheth. He granted him favor and gave him a permanent place at the king’s table. But Mephibosheth was not healed of his disability. In the same way, God can love us, show us favor, and call us to something greater without necessarily taking away the things that hinder us.
We see this again in the New Testament. Paul says, “I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me . . .” (2 Corinthians 12:7, NIV). Three times Paul pleaded with the Lord to take it away. But God did not remove the metaphorical thorn. Instead, He told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV).
What an important reminder! Sometimes we assume that since God loves us, He will heal the hurt, anxiety, or disability, or take away whatever “thorn” makes life difficult. Sometimes He does. But sometimes (and I would argue more often) He does not.

Mephibosheth still had lame feet when he sat at the king’s table, but David loved him. Paul still had his thorn when he carried out his calling, but God loved him. Their limitations did not mean they had been forgotten or forsaken by God. The presence of a limitation does not mean the absence of God’s favor. On the contrary, sometimes God uses our weaknesses to highlight His strength.

Being “Called Higher” does not always mean leaving our limitations behind. Sometimes it means not allowing those limitations to determine where we belong, what God can do through us, or whether we will answer His call.

God does not promise us the “high life” when He calls us higher. Sometimes our feet will still be lame. Sometimes the thorn will still hurt. But His grace is sufficient, and His calling remains. Will you answer it?