Free to Roam

“Boundaries are the space in which one can be free.”

Loren Thornburg

I enjoy getting away to new places when I can.  The thing about places that are new is that you don’t always know what is safe.  As I ventured off in a new space I was thankful for the fences that marked that which I was free to roam.  Now for some of us this is very limiting and at times I would have to agree.  Yet in this moment I came to appreciate the fences seeing them not as that which was keeping me from seeing more, but that which was freeing me to enjoy the space I was given.  I can’t say that I always feel this way and never question the amount of space that I am given to be free.  I wrestle with the limits of my health, the boundaries that healthy relationships call for, the ways I feel fenced in by my weaknesses and failures , and on and on.   What if instead of limits we saw freedom?  What if instead of boundaries we saw safety?  What if we saw our fences for what they give us instead of what they are keeping us from?  Enjoy the space you’ve been given even if the fences aren’t where you wish they would be.  

“The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup;  You support my lot.  The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.”

Psalm 16:5-6 NASB

When the Lord is in it, the lines are always pleasant.  He is a god of giving, not of taking away.  Yet, sometimes we can miss that if we don’t see the bigger picture of what He is doing.  Recently I have felt the weight of what seems like things being taken away, not realizing that what God is doing is making room for more.  It isn’t that He wants to take away your fun, your desires, or the things you enjoy, but He wants to make more room in your heart for you to really experience true joy.  He is a god of purpose and of great plans for you.  Wherever your lines and boundaries have fallen they are pleasant when He is in them.  Paul found freedom in chains.  He still saw his lines had fallen in pleasant places.  He is more than enough freedom for any space, no matter how small it seems.  Find freedom in the space He has given you.