Boundary Lines in Pleasant Places
“The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.”
Psalm 16:6a
One morning I awakened with a Scripture phrase running through my head, “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.” A quick keyword search brought me to Psalm 16. As I read the psalm, my attention was drawn to the middle of the last verse: “In Your presence there is fullness of joy.” It became a balm to my heart as I meditated on it throughout the day.
Even so, I continued to wrestle with the phrases. Boundary lines. Pleasant places.
I recalled times in Scripture when boundary lines were drawn for the people of God. A single tree was out of bounds in the Garden of Eden. The ark was a boundary for Noah and his family. The law of Moses prescribed boundary lines for personal and corporate conduct. Then, there was Elijah.
With no preamble or introduction, Elijah appeared in I Kings 17. He had just prophesied to King Ahab to expect a persistent drought. To protect him from Ahab’s ensuing wrath, the Lord directed Elijah to take refuge at a wadi (a creek bed that only has water during the rainy season). There, the Lord kept Elijah safe, fed and hydrated. After a time, the wadi ran dry. The Lord then sent him to Zarephath, to the home of a poor widow and her son. Because of the drought and lack of food, she expected they would soon die.
As you may recall from the story, Elijah took up residence with them. The widow used the last of her pantry staples and made Elijah the equivalent of a small pita bread. Elijah’s presence was blessed by God and the food supplies were never depleted. The widow’s son died and was revived when Elijah cried out to God on the child’s behalf.
Elijah was still under threat from Ahab, still in a parched land among Baal worshipers. The difference for Elijah? The Holy One was with him. The life-giving Presence brought the fullness of joy. His boundary lines fell in pleasant places.
Elijah’s willingness to stay within the boundaries became a blessing to himself and others. I encourage you to join me in yielding to the boundary lines God sets for us. I pray that you will have eyes to see that they have been drawn to pleasant places. May you find the fullness of joy in the Presence of the Holy One.
