Jesus, the Word of God: Boundaries as Blessings
by Audrey Frank @AudreyCFrank
Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me (Psalm 16:5-7).
A boundary is a way of saying “no.”
I used to watch our youngest son fly down the driveway on his scooter, so enamored with the thrill of speed that he forgot again and again to stop before dashing into the street. I tried putting cones up, and he crashed through them. I tied a rope from a tree to the mailbox. He bent the tree. I finally put myself there, squaring up my feet and blowing a whistle when he got close. It took only three blasts to startle him into trained attention.
Ignoring boundaries can be dangerous. But my son survived his childhood, and so did I.
Throughout the Old Testament, God placed boundaries in the lives of His people for their good. They crashed through them time and time again, bringing destruction upon the generations that followed. You and I are suffering today from their refusal to pay attention to boundaries. But eventually, God placed Himself as a boundary, standing between us and certain death. On the cross, God said no. His goal was to save our lives.
David may be the only writer ever to describe boundaries as pleasant. Boundaries in the form of red slashes across our beloved manuscript may feel acutely unpleasant. A disappointing rejection could be a pleasant boundary in disguise. Health crises that stop us in our tracks may be the Lord’s whistle saying Slow down now before something truly unpleasant happens!
The pleasantness of our boundaries is directly related to the counsel to which we are listening. David understood that he could trust the Lord’s counsel. As a result, his boundaries fell in pleasant places, and his inheritance was delightful to him.
Whose counsel are you listening to today? What advice rolls around in your head during the night watches when you can’t sleep because you're thinking about your project?
Boundaries interrupt us. They stop our momentum. They might even cause us a few bumps and bruises. But we can be sure they are for our good if our chief desire is the counsel of our good God, the one who put Himself between us and destruction.
The challenge for me with my son was teaching him to pay attention. Once I had his attention, he adapted his behavior and enjoyed long afternoons doing what he loved. Paying attention to God’s boundaries is a spiritual practice. Simply slowing down and attending can change our entire outlook.
The psalmist describes the boundaries in his life in joyful terms. Grateful, even. How did a boundary become a blessing?
When we slow down and pay attention to the cones and whistles God places in our lives, we may come to rejoice in the pleasant lines God has drawn around our writing endeavors. God is good, and He has good plans for you and me. He has a delightful inheritance in store for us. He will counsel us and show us the way, even as He stands and guards it.
Lord, I am paying attention today. Counsel me, and shape my outlook about the boundaries You’ve allowed in my writing life. Amen.
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Audrey is the author of Covered Glory: The Face of Honor and Shame in the Muslim World (Harvest House Publishers), an outpouring of Audrey’s heart to introduce others to the God of Instead. Shame is not unique to the developing world, the plight of the women behind veils, young girls trafficked across borders; shame is lurking in hearts everywhere. Through powerful stories from women around the world, Covered Glory illuminates the power of the Gospel to remove shame, giving honor instead. Available at favorite booksellers: BARNES & NOBLE, BOOKS A MILLION, AMAZON.
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