limitations - chains - lines

‘The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
                          Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.’  Psalm 16:6

Illness brings with it restrictions, limitations, chains, bars, lines.  We hate those lines and we fight against them.  How hard, how very hard it seems to us to be denied this or that.  To have our life stay seemingly in the same place.  To feel we are reduced to little more than a spectator.

‘The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places‘.  -the lines-  The focus here is obviously what these line include but lines of necessity exclude as well.  I had not seen that before.  Every one has lines whether broad or narrow and everyone has something on the other side of his boundary that he would honestly like to have included in his inheritance.  Even the psalmist.  But he refuses to look at what has been denied him and instead looks at what he has been given and declares ‘my heritage is beautiful’.  

Do you call your lot beautiful?  

Now we could assume that the beauty of his inheritance comes from the good things encompassed in the lines.  Perhaps he is looking at some wealth, power, relationship, and exclaiming "life certainly is good" , but I rather doubt it.  Look at the verse that comes directly before this one.  ‘Lord, You are my portion and my cup of blessing; You hold my future.’ Psalm 16:5   It is not the physical blessings that the psalmist rejoices over it is the extraordinary truth that God is his portion.  Who could ask for anything more?

But there is more.  God Almighty who is love, and justice, and truth, who knows the future, who hold his future, has laid down the lines.  What a difference that makes!  Our boundaries do not come from a evil being who is out to destroy us but rather from our heavenly Father whose goal is to transform us into the image of His son Jesus.  

‘Therefore my heart is glad, and my spirit rejoices; my body also rests securely.’ Psalm 16:9

The next time you are tempted to despise your restrictions or be angry at your boundaries remember that they are no accident.  It is not a lie or denial to call our heritage beautiful because, as it comes from God, it truly is!