Powerful Limitations
Jaguar Land Rover’s performance arm is up to good work these days. Known as Special Vehicle Operations, these speed freaks first left their mark on the Land Rover Range Rover SVR. Yes, 575-horsepower Jaguars would come later and make wonderful sounds while reaching 200 mph, but their first project was a 550-horsepower, 5,093-lb SUV. What a time to be alive.
The Range Rover SVR has components found on most performance cars – a supercharged 5.0-liter V8, 15-inch front disc brakes, an optional carbon fiber hood – plus things you won’t find in your average Corvette: four-wheel-drive, lane-keep assist, and an optional 29-speaker, 1700-watt sound system. But nothing demonstrates the Range Rover SVR’s split personalities better than its 176-mph top speed, and its automatic speed limiter that can limit speed to a certain velocity above the detected speed limit. You can set “LIM” to exactly 4 mph above the speed limit, floor the gas pedal, and chug along at just 64 mph on most highways.
Yes, you can spend $114,000 for a truck that accelerates to 60 mph in four seconds flat, and then stops accelerating almost immediately. It’s not a bad idea, really. If you want that much power in your life, maybe some limitations are necessary.
God promises power far beyond a supercharged V8, but he loves you too much to let you use it however you want. You have to submit to his limitations and his guidance. This may take some unusual forms. God may uproot you and send you into a foreign land without much explanation (as he did with Abram – see Genesis 12:1-5), or lead you to throw away your reputation by giving all your love and affection to someone that society deems worthless (as he did with Hosea – see Hosea 3:1), or upend your retirement plans by introducing new purpose – and a wonderful child – into your life in your old age (as he did with Elizabeth – see Luke 1:13-17).
Submitting yourself to such uncertainty would be crazy without the certainty of God’s undying love. His movement always moves people closer to him, his correction always comes with love, and his plan always ends in restoration. Consider the following:
“Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)
“Fear (or respect, or submission) of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” (Proverbs 1:7)
“[Jesus said] My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29)
God’s limitations or corrections will seem restrictive as long as you think your way is better. Preacher and theologian Oswald Chambers said it this way: “Always be in a state of expectancy, and see that you leave room for God to come in as He likes.”
A good practice is asking for God’s direction – and even limitation – as earnestly as you ask for his power. Things in your life may not match your expectations, or even your plans. It may be a little scary. But there’s no limitation to the measure of love he gives to you, and the loving action he can bring to broken people in your life. Imagine praying for that unlimited power, and seeing it fulfilled in God’s timing.
Jaguar Land Rover used the Range Rover SVR to announce Special Vehicle Operations. The SVR also had an SVO badge, conjuring images of turbocharged 1980s Mustangs. Which, of course, the SVR could dust with no problem. With 550 horsepower, there’s not much it can’t do. It can even save you from driving at stupid speeds, if you’re smart enough to submit to a little limitation.
