Boundaries

Carolyn Lewis
Posted 6/26/20

Psalm 16:6 (NAS) “The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.”

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Boundaries

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Psalm 16:6 (NAS) “The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.” 

When I read that verse years ago, my first thought was of the lines I was seeing in the mirror every morning, and I didn’t think that was such a pleasant place! Some mornings I wasn’t even sure that was really me! 

But as I began to think about it, I realized that I didn’t mind those lines at all, it represented my life. I am certainly old enough to deserve lines, and with some of the experiences we’ve gone through I could really own them. But I decided that in the future, I wanted all my lines to be laugh lines; those are the best kind of lines. 

With God in control of my life I can relax and know that I can enjoy each day no matter what is happening because He is working on it. And laughter really is a great medicine! The heck with botox, I’ve got my Bible!

Then I was considering the other boundaries in our life. We lost our farmland back in the 80’s and worked for seven years to pay off all our farm debt. Then God prompted me to start looking for a house to buy. I looked at several, but they just weren’t right for us. 

One day the realtor said, “Well, there is one more I could show you, but it needs a lot of work.” As I walked through that house I just felt at home, and I knew that was the house for us. When we prayed about it and decided to buy it, God began to provide all we needed for the financing and the work it needed to make it into our home. 

Those boundary lines are still our pleasant place, and we know that we are in the home God had planned for us. 

The other day I was reading in Acts 17:26, “From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.” (NIV). We are in the exact place God intended for us to live and we thank Him daily for our “Happy Place.” These boundary lines have fallen to us in pleasant places indeed.

A boundary is a fixed limit, or extent. The Bible is my teacher in knowing the boundaries for my personal life also. God’s boundaries are there for our protection and our safety, and there are consequences to extending them into areas He doesn’t want us to go. 

We have learned many times over the years that there are consequences to the choices we make in life. There are many “worldly advisors” to tell us what they think is the right thing to do in our life, but we have learned to be very discerning about what is right for us. I’ve learned to pray for God’s plan for us in many situations, and I will not proceed until He gives me a peace about it. I watch what He is teaching me in my daily Quiet Time with Him, and wait for His timing.

When we think of boundaries, we sometimes think of it limiting our lives, taking all the fun out, not allowing us to buy what we want, or losing our freedom. God’s boundaries actually serve the opposite purpose in our lives. They are for our protection and meant to enrich our lives and give us more freedom. When we are living within our means and making wise choices, we are relaxed and able to enjoy our lives much more fully without worry and stress. 

John 15:10,11 “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”

 There’s nothing in the world that can top that! And there are no boundaries to God’s love for us. What freedom we receive when we “stay within the lines.”