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The day is yours, and yours also the night;
you established the sun and moon.
It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth;
you made both summer and winter.
—Psalm 74:16–18
In the Northeast, this past winter’s boundaries seemed stretched, with snowstorms in late October and late April (and virtually no snow in between). In early March, winter turned downright freaky, with temperatures in the 80s throughout much of the northern part of the nation and in the 30s in places like Arizona.
Yet God still sets the boundaries of the seasons. After that strange winter, here we are in summer, and we can expect that winter will come around again.
God sets boundaries for us as human beings too. We all know that children feel secure and loved if parents set limits. Likewise, it’s much better for us if we acknowledge God’s loving control. King David writes this in Psalm 16:
Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
you have made my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
Many of us fail to rest secure in the boundaries God has set for us. Just as children test the limits parents set for them, so we try to take control of our own lives.
How does that work out? Not well, in my experience. I spent many years in darkness, testing God’s limits. Wonderful for me, He was there in the darkness. Even when I didn’t want it, His grace followed me, protected me, and kept me from straying so far that I couldn’t find my way home.
Since I surrendered my will to Jesus, my boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places. Look at me on that swing. I’m in the midst of a Hawaiian hilltop garden with warm, fragrant air flowing all around me. That’s what it’s like to live within the will of God.
The people featured in this issue have found that place of peace and joy. For some, it took a long time and a lot of running. For others, it was simply a sweet surrender that they always knew would come.
They have found a “delightful inheritance.” Have you?
Linda
Editor
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