Hold fast to instruction, let her not go; keep her, for she is thy life. – Proverbs 4:13

Some years ago, I was in a halfway house on an ankle monitor with very little freedom to go where I wished to go.

My situation then was the direct result of some very poor choices I had made in my life in earlier years.

Although I came to see it as an extension Of Mercy years later, it was a very miserable position to be in at the time.

I couldn’t go “when” I wanted to go… I couldn’t go “where” I wanted to go… And if I did go, I would be tracked every step of the way.

One day I got really frustrated with God about the circumstance that “I earned” for myself and wondered How such restrictions could be of any benefit to my life.

After all, if He truly loved me then He wouldn’t allow me to stay “stuck” like this.

At the same moment that I had these thoughts running through my mind, I witnessed a mother across the street letting her children out of the house to play in the yard.

Even though I couldn’t hear her speaking to them, I could see her shaking her finger at them, and I just knew that she was telling them not to leave the yard or else.

As cars were racing up and down that street, it dawned on me that the restriction put on those children by their mother was more so for their safety and protection than anything else.

I got it!!

At that point, I came to clearly understand that the boundaries set for me were more so for my good than anything else. And God, out of His Infinite Love and concern for me allowed certain restrictions to be a “Protector” and “Keeper” until I didn’t warrant that anymore.

Sometimes we tend to feel like rules are there to restrict us to the point of making us miss out on “what’s best”…. But when it’s a boundary issued forth from the Father’s heart, it is ultimately placed there to ensure that we miss out on “the mess”.

His instructions truly are for our Good, and it’s only by them that we can truly enjoy “Life”.

Father, help us to embrace your instruction in every way for what they were intended to be in our lives…. a blessing and a benefit. Grant that we Heed them, by the power of Your Grace.

In Christ’s Love,

Pastor Lowe