Boundaries: Get Off the Crazy Train.Sample

The story in Joshua is about God fulfilling his promise to the family of Abraham. It shows the importance of obedience before, during, and after God fulfills his promises. God was clearing the way for his borders to be set.

After defeating their enemies, the people of Israel divided the land by tribe and received final words of challenge from Joshua: to remain faithful to their covenant with God. He reminded them of where they started, the hard times they faced, what they fought for - and then he reiterated the boundaries that God GIFTED them. He said to them: look at how much you have gone through to get what is yours. Look at what you have had to fight through, to be given your inheritance of land - your BOUNDARY, your FOUNDATION, your place of REST, your place of OWNERSHIP, your place of PEACE.

God led the Israelites through disaster, famine, and death. What do you think the Israelites were feeling during this time? Anxiety, Weariness, Exhaustion, Fear, Frustration?

Think about the journey that you’ve gone through in your challenging relationships. Can you relate to some of those emotions? Are you fighting battles but can’t seem to claim your Promised Land of peace?

God didn’t share the details of every boundary line without purpose. He didn’t just say “scatter and figure it out for yourselves!” He was very detailed in telling his people what was and what wasn’t theirs. And then he told them not to cross the borders he defined because they weren’t entitled to do so. God expected his boundaries that he set, to be respected and obeyed.

He laid out the “how to” guide when he laid the foundation of his people and showed us how we are to do life in the same way. When God tells us how to do something healthy and we follow him, we can rest because we know that God’s boundary is best for us – even if other people don’t like it. Read that again.

God’s ways protect our hearts. And when we put our full trust in THAT, in his GIFT of SAFETY; in his GIFT of PEACE and REST over our lives - then we have more room, and more comfort, to be our best selves in relationships.