God gives you boundaries for your life – not to restrict you but to protect you. His intention is always for your good. So stay within his protective care, and do not stray from his side!
I grew up on a farm in Maryland, and it taught me lots of lessons.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and God used horses on that farm to teach me more than a few of life’s lessons. Take, for instance, my sister’s two horses. There was Shotgun and his best buddy Reds. Okay, now, the goal in life for Reds was to weasel his way through the pasture fence so he could get out, while Shotgun was content to remain behind.
I’m telling you, almost every night, Reds would find a way of escape through the fence. He was a clever horse, he was, and he even knew how to tiptoe his way over the cattle crossing. He’d put one foot in front of the other and tightrope his way along the edge of the cattle grating. Either that, or he’d find a loose fence board and nudge it until it fell a notch. Then he could easily step over it. This was his routine. It was also part of the routine when a neighbor from the farm over the hill would make a late-night phone call to my sister. She would then have to climb out of bed, hunt down her horse with a flashlight – usually finding Reds standing placidly on the yellow line of our country road, munching weeds, and being target practice for oncoming cars. She’d lead him back, always finding Shotgun in the pasture, waiting for his buddy to come home.
You know, I think one of the reasons God gave us animals is that he might teach us lessons through them. Because I have been a lot like Reds. For the longest time in my early years, I was restless, unhappy with the restrictions placed on my life. I was looking for life’s loopholes to crawl through. But for what? Greener pastures? Well, it didn’t turn out that way. No, all I found was life’s weeds. Obedient horses like Shotgun, they know their place behind the barriers – those fences are there to keep them safe; barriers deter wild animals from getting in; and if the pastures are large enough, a fence can give clarity to one’s freedoms. But no two horses are alike, and after a couple of weeks of these shenanigans, Reds was sadly relieved of his pasture privileges. From then on out, he had to spend his night in the barn. You know what, if we want to be safe, we had better learn a lesson from these horses! And that lesson is best described in Isaiah 1:3: “Even the animals—the donkey and the ox—know their owner and appreciate his care for them, but not my people Israel. No matter what I do for them, they still don’t care.”
Despite having an Owner and Master, the fact remains that we are not always content with God’s control or satisfied with his provisions. We sneak beyond the limits he has set for us. But to know our Savior Jesus is to appreciate his intentions for us, as well as his care for our safety. God has given you boundaries – in your marriage, boundaries in your friendship; he has put a firm barrier when it comes to your knowledge of evil. There are even borders for your desires and fences to corral your emotions. Oh, friend, part of becoming mature in Christ, part of growing up is to reinterpret those boundaries in your life; because they’re not there to keep you from being free; no, God gives them for your protection. So stop searching all along the fence lines of your thoughts to find a way of escape. Stay within the boundaries that God has placed around you; these are your fences of protection. And hopefully, these are hopeful words in your hardship today – remember, God is for you; he is never against you. So stay within his protective care, and do not stray from his side. That would probably be a life lesson that Shotgun, if he could speak, would share with you.
© Joni and Friends