Setting Boundaries

This weekend I participated in a virtual women’s conference – Desperate for Jesus – out of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship hosted by Chrystal Hurst and Priscilla Shirer. Many years ago, their mother started the conference at their church for the women there and now it is held annually and it was virtual as well for the past two years. So I attended the conference from the comfort of my kitchen and the Holy Spirit really moved.  As a note, the conference was so good – from the speakers to the worship to the prayer – I highly recommend it as you can participate from your computer at home if you don’t want to travel. So one of the speakers, Lysa TerKeurst, spoke on the need to have boundaries and it gave me a new perspective that I want to share with you. 

We often think setting boundaries with those around us can be mean or somehow unfair to them. However, we have to understand that within boundaries we find freedom. She taught from Gen 2 and the message really provided some insight into how boundaries allow us to move freely within them. In Gen 2:16-17, God gave Adam instruction that he could eat from any tree except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This was Adam’s only boundary in the Garden of Eden. Of everything else, he had free reign. He could eat from any other edible plant or tree and he could go anywhere in the Garden. There was freedom within his boundaries. It’s when we violate the boundaries that we get adverse or bad consequences. God never intended for us to know good from evil, He wanted us to be obedient so we wouldn’t have to. With obedience, comes the blessing (Luke 11:28).

Ever had or seen a dog with an invisible fence? Once he/she learns the boundaries of the fence, they are free to run and play with no issues. That fence is there to protect them and others from the harm that can come from them running loose and having no rules or order. That is what God does for us. He sets boundaries for our own good where we can roam and run in safety. When we step outside them, the harm comes.  

When I think about my own life, whenever I have stepped outside the boundaries set for me as a child or an adult, it has never fared well. God is one of order (1 Cor 14:33) as seen by the oneness of His own person – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He sets a path for us through His word and we choose to stay within His boundaries or we don’t. When we operate within His boundaries, there is liberty and we are free to move as we will. It’s hard to remember that we are not in control. God created us and the entire world. He’s gets to set the parameters for us (Prov 19:21). It’s always in those moments we want to set our own that we get in trouble. Stay inside God’s boundaries. He’s never wrong (Rom 8:28).