Boundary Lines & Pleasant Places… the discipline of contentment
Pleasant Places
“Be content with the
things that God has
given you.
Be amazed by the things
He has for you”
“The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places, surely I have a delightful inheritance.” Psalm 16v.6
Boundary lines are set out to show us where the edges of our land, or ourselves, or our areas of influence are. The exact word used in the Old Testament is the same as that used for cord, or snare. We can sometimes feel trapped or limited by our boundary lines, and waste time trying to seek things outside of them, or deny things within them. Yet our boundary lines are in fact part of God's gift to us.
Faced with the conflict in our society between austerity and materialism, Christians have the opportunity to experience the freedom of this gift in their own lives, and to share it with others.
If we can learn to accept the gift of the boundaries that we have been given, and find how to embrace with joy the cup that we’ve been apportioned, we will be touching the place of peace that passes all understanding.
This isn’t an easy or ‘fluffy’ teaching for times where all is going to plan.
The bible points us to a way of life where we, with James, can ‘count all things joy’ (and he was talking about times of trial). I love the stories of celebration in the bible; one of the most powerful is in the record given by Nehemiah of the massive, and often dispiriting, task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Having established the impossible scale of the work before him, Nehemiah instructs those around him to observe the sacred day of the Lord with ‘choice food and sweet drink… do not grieve for the joy of the Lord is our strength.’
We see here the first clue for how to live out this calling to contented acceptance of the boundary lines that God has placed for us – celebration. Taking the opportunities to celebrate God for who he is, and what he has already done for us, and finding enough strength in that to face the obstacles that are before us.
In his masterpiece ‘celebration of discipline’, Richard Foster is rightly scathing about those who rush to the biblical exhortations towards being joyful without proper understanding or experience. ‘If we pretend an air of celebration, our inner spirit is put in contradiction.’
Being content with the boundary lines that have fallen in our lives is impossible if we don’t properly know, understand, trust, or have relationship with, the God that gives them to us.
In my own life I have been on a journey through insecurity, ambition, dissatisfaction, and longing, and am now enjoying the much greener pastures of contentment. Not because my life has improved in any of the ways that the world might choose to measure, but because I have come to know and understand the God who cares for me, and delights in me, and come to trust and accept his provision for me.
It is both a cheesy saying, and also a vital spiritual discipline that we count our blessings. The discipline of contentment starts with remembering all the good things that God has done for you, and all the many things that he has provided for you. (See Isaiah 43:18-19 & Philippians 4:8) Depending on where you are on life’s journey, and what particular circumstances you find yourself in, this might be an easy and joyful thing or a deeply painful and difficult exercise.
Taking stock of where we are requires the sort of time and inward focus that we often deny ourselves in the busyness of life. Yet taking time out to rest in God’s presence, to reflect intentionally on the things that he has given us and the boundaries that he has set us is richly rewarding.
Whichever end of that spectrum you find yourself on, or even if you are happily in the middle, the truth of the situation is the same. God has made you. He has lovingly designed you and created you with a purpose. He has placed you in this particular place, at this particular time, with a particular set of skills, interests, ambitions, grown out of a particular family, and supported by a particular group of friends. Choosing to see God in that is an act of discipline and an act of faith.
The image of 'Pleasant Places' is also loaded with possibility. It speaks of quiet contentment. Learning to be content is a powerful spiritual discipline. Ours isn’t the prosperity gospel. This isn’t a confidence trick, or a clever manipulation where the product is actually great wealth or wellbeing.
The challenge to ‘Live Simply’ has been adopted by many in the world seeking that third way between poverty ad corporate burn out. As Christians we can speak truth and wholeness into this. Where we see the trend to ‘declutter’ we understand that it is actually our hearts that need to be cleansed and ‘unburdened’ (Jeremiah 33:3).
The scripture speaks of boundary lines that have ‘fallen’. They are not set in stone, things that have fallen can be moved, blown away, or fixed. It takes a great wisdom, borne out of great relationship with God, to be able to discern when the time is right to rest, or to push, or to wait, or to challenge. Again taking the luxury of time to consider where our boundaries have fallen, and the right way to respond to them is a gift that we can give ourselves.
Like Nehemiah we can learn to discern where our boundary lines are broken in our society, and respond to God’s call to rebuild. Like Ruth we can be moved far beyond our own territory, and be given boundary lines in new places. Like Habakkuk we may be given hearts that challenge injustice and push at boundaries. Like Esther, or Paul we might be called to cross great cultural divides to take God’s word beyond the comfort of our boundaries.
But wherever we go, we go confidently and boldly knowing that God goes with us. And we look forward to the day where we see God face to face, and claim our ‘delightful inheritance’ in that most pleasant of places.
Clair Fisher is Director at the Dorking Christian Centre and a Methodist Lay Preacher. Bookings are now being taken for three training & reflection days to be held in Surrey & Sussex on the theme ‘Pleasant Places’.
24th Jan, St. Cuthman’s Retreat Centre ~ Beating the Bounds: personal reflections
28th Feb, Waverly Abbey ~ Pushing the Boundaries: facing change
27th March, Pilgrim Hall ~ All the Boundaries of the Earth: better together
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