Boundaries

Job was blamed for breaking the hedge around him. He broke the boundary of protection that had been placed by God to insulate him.

‘For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, And what I dreaded has happened to me.’ Job 3:25

This statement that he mentions proves that even if it seems like God permitted the devil to tamper with the hedge, Job made it easier for the enemy by having the expectation of ‘something bad’.

If you’ve read Job’s story, he always sacrificed sin offerings for his children. He thought they committed evil deeds wherever they were, so when they died, I’m sure part of his thoughts blamed it on his children’s deeds. What he ‘dreaded’ was that they’d die for that, thus, that’s why he says ‘what I dreaded happened to me…’

Though I have begun with a sad note, I have grown to realize that there are very many boundaries all around us … and even if boundaries seem to be a bad thing, they are advantages to boundaries too. Take a brick fence for example, with electric wires atop. Here in Africa, it is highly recommended for security.

Many chults (child-adults) that I have interacted with propose the notion of moving out of their parents’ homes without calculating the costs of rent and starting life on their own yet they stay in the city where they can ably commute to work and back. The reason they want to move is because of boundaries. They want to come out of the house anytime they want. They want to get back anytime they want.

I’m always laughed at when I mention I have curfew at home (where I stay with my relatives). Those are things they hate. Little do they know that such are for accountability and protection. It’s also to instill in them a culture of boundaries, where one learns to say, ‘I can do that … I can not do that. My limits are here … I can’t cross that line.’

If people like Eve had mastered this art & culture, then the forbidden fruit would not have been eaten. We’d all have been born in the garden of Eden — who knows! The fruit of good and evil was a boundary she broke.

There are two types of boundaries. Those that are inflicted and those that are invented. The inflicted are those which are already existent. The invented ones are those that can be created especially by us.

In high school, we had the inflicted. These included school rules and school fence boundaries that had many students escape over them but were punished when caught. The invented are those that are incumbent on someone’s behaviour, integrity or choice. These could be; no sex before marriage, or no wearing clothes that are erotic or indecent.

Sadly, many people disrespect boundaries. The state declares that one mustn’t drink and drive. Some adults choose to do the opposite, and before they know it, they have had their lives taken from them. If some survive, they’d become handicapped. As you see, once a boundary is broken, especially if its purpose was to protect, there’s a big loss in some way.

Eve had to be kicked out of the garden. Lucifer had to leave paradise. The Israelites who worshipped other gods lost their lives. Samson lost his strength; the secret of its dwelling was a boundary, but he breached it and the enemy brought him down.

Ananias and Sapphira had the boundary of integrity. They didn’t know that it was guarded by the Holy Spirit. When they lied, they died. The disciples had breached the boundary of prayer. Jesus had said to them to pray lest they fell into temptation. It’s no wonder Simon denied him three times.

I strongly believe that every aspect of life ought to have some boundaries. In marriage, I’m sure there are. Even in our relationships, there are some ways we can’t treat our parents. There’s a THICK line to show what we can’t do with our friends and do with someone else’s spouse. Take for example; I do not call a married man or woman beyond 9pm, unless it’s him who calls me first.

What if he or she is … you know — busy with the other party!

Other boundaries could be; time keeping, restricting oneself from changing their gender (as many think they can in today’s society — which to me feels like counting God a fool to have made you male or female), etiquette (waiting to be told where to sit at a venue in order not to be embarrassed…) And so much more.

Of course not every boundary is for our good. Some are limitations instead of being boundaries. Let’s not mix the two.

The basic boundaries are those that God set up for us, (inflicted), but from Him, we can make our own (invented) due to His standard of holiness and righteousness. These include; using not perverse language, honoring our fathers and mothers, not worrying about anything but making our requests known unto Him, being joyful always, and observing His word — meditating on it day and night.

We find that if we know God’s boundaries for us, we’ll prosper and be at peace. We’ll be preserved and protected from evil. If we don’t, the enemy, like he did for Job, gets the upper hand.

How?

If we don’t observe the law of tithe for example, the devil devours our fruit, making us have miscarriages and losses in all areas, from physical health to finances.

I have come to realize however, that once a boundary is observed long enough, and its purpose is respected, the boundary allows you liberties. It guarantees you freedom having the assurance that you’ve become a great & disciplined person and that you don’t need it to monitor your progress any longer.

How do I mean?

During the lockdowns due to Covid, the curfew was 7pm. Army officers were allocated power to implement this law, and those that were out later than 7 faced some consequences. After months and months of being indoors, when the country was opened up again, it was hard to find cars still moving on the streets by 8pm.

The boundary of the officers created earlier, molded all of us into a time frame that we felt uncomfortable being out at a particular hour. Now the liberty I’m talking about is; there are no more officers to ensure we are off the streets by 7, but citizens find themselves back in. They are free to do whatever they want, but within them, the intuition to be home by 7 speaks!

Another boundary enforcer I’d give is how parents (here in the African setting) used not to ‘spare the rod’. O they’d whoop us. They’d whoop us when we played till late in the dark and when we didn’t greet them in the morning.

Growing up, I thought that showed they hated me, but now I realize they were instilling boundaries. Boundaries of good behavior. One time my dad bought a coil. I placed a polythene bag on it and it burnt causing a stench in the whole house. It was electric, and I’d have as well gone on to play with a fork next to its socket. His whooping, made me understand that playing with a fork in the socket is dangerous. And now I don’t need to be beaten to relearn that.

In other cases we observe boundaries without enforcers. Perhaps for your case your parents weren’t around while you played with the metal inside a live socket. When that zap shook through your hand and cast you feet away, you learnt that it’s a no go area. God, after warning us in vain, many times, usually let’s life teach us the same way, so that we inflict that boundary on ourselves…

But why? Why boundaries?

As I have mentioned before; to live peacefully and to be preserved. Get fish out of the water boundary, and its life is jeopardized. Tell a monkey to swim and it’ll drown. Take man above the ozone layer, and he’ll need a big fat white suit and an oxygen tank to breathe.

Secondly, boundaries instill self control. They are practice fields for self control; To control self from pursuing danger & trouble. One time I was at ‘insufficient funds’ and I wanted to borrow money. I heard God say, ‘but I said you’d lend to nations and not borrow…’

That was a boundary!

I can not borrow. It was a huge amount of cash I sought to get, and I had no plans of replacing it. After being a little more patient, God made a way miraculously. If I had borrowed that cash however, I’d have broken his hedge. Perhaps I’d be borrowing again to pay the borrowed cash. That’d be a lot of trouble! I’m glad I listened.

I pray that God shows you the boundaries He’s placed in your life for your good, and that He’ll keep you (or others) from breaking them, just like He helped me as well.

•

Psalms 16:6-7 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. (NIV)

Notice that the counsel and instruction that the writer receives are from God: To protect him, and to lead him to places of pleasantry.