WHICH BOUNDARY AM I IGNORING?

I'm writing for Five Minute Friday and this week's prompt word is BOUNDARY. 

The Bible is full of boundaries.  

The Ten Commandments are boundaries – do not lie, do not covet, do not steal, do not commit adultery.  

The Word tells us to stay away from certain people – the foolish, the angry, the harmful - that's a boundary.    

We’re told to guard our hearts, because everything flows from it – that’s a boundary.  

Jesus put boundaries on how He interacted with people.   He gave so much and then walked away when He knew that His assignment for that day was done, when they weren’t listening, when they just wanted to argue, when His message wasn’t received, when it wasn’t time.  

Jesus was prepared to disappoint people, even people close to Him, for a higher purpose, because He was listening to the Father.   He knew who He was, and why He was there.  That makes imposing and enforcing a boundary so much easier because the lines aren’t blurred.  

And we do have to enforce our boundaries once we impose them, because there will be resistance, usually by those close to us.    Parents and leaders know this all too well.     

But we often don’t know who we are or what we should be doing, what HE is saying, in a given situation, and so we don’t have good boundaries.  

We often let the fear of man dictate our actions and responses, when the fear of the Lord should be our guide and our guard.   We should be motivated by love for the Lord, and fear of the Lord, not whether saying no will upset someone. 

I’ve heard Christians say that boundaries show that you are rebellious or bitter or deceived.   Jesus wasn’t any of those things.    He had boundaries, but they were His response to the Father’s purpose and leading in His life. His boundaries weren’t determined by opinion or fear, not even His own.  

Are we prepared to do the same? 

Are we living for the audience of One?

Are we prepared to disappoint people by putting boundaries on our time, our submission, our gifts, our resources, our heart?

Do our lives reflect healthy boundaries?  

But often the hardest person to put a boundary on is yourself.  

if you grew up in a strict or negative household, then a boundary can feel like rejection, punishment, withholding of love, needs being ignored, keeping someone stronger than you happy.  But when the Father gives you a boundary, it’s for your good, and for the good of those in your circle of influence.  

When He tells us the truth about something in our lives that needs to stop, or needs to change, what do we do with that? 

Do we ignore His boundary?   Do we just pretend that it’s not a problem?   Do we allow Him to speak truth into our lives about the little things?  These things are often hidden in the heart, though their outworking eventually becomes obvious, though sadly in culturally acceptable or normal ways that we don’t question. 

Which boundary am I ignoring right now because I think it's punishment or a small thing?  

He is generous in His mercy, but mercy can’t land on lies.   It requires truth, and truth itself is a boundary.  

Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed.  Ps 85:10

But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.  Ps 86:15

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face. Ps 89:14

Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart,  Prov 3:3

Can we impose boundaries on ourselves out of love and reverence for the Lord?  Can we come into alignment with the boundaries He is asking of us, for us, in us?  

He Himself gave no less than that for us. 

…though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered,   Heb 5:8

Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.  Heb 12:11

How we view the boundaries He is imposing on us personally, will determine how we respond.   And how we respond will determine the trajectory of our lives – but it always starts in the hidden place.  

Do we see His boundary in any given area as punishment, as rejection, as a limitation, as unimportant - or as the loving pruning of a good Father, so that we can truly live?  

Are we allowing Him to speak the truth to us – as He sees it, not the way we think it is or want it to appear?    

The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those who are planted in the house of the Lord
Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bear fruit in old age;
They shall be fresh and flourishing,
To declare that the Lord is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.  Ps 92:12-15

 

 

Mercy and truth, they guide my heart

Mercy and truth never depart

Through every trial, through every stride,

Mercy and truth give me life

 

When the storm surrounds me

And the night is long

When my strength is failing,

Your love makes me strong

Every promise You’ve spoken,

Every word You proved,

Saves my soul eternally

With mercy and truth