I dislike restrictions. NO is not something a free spirit wants to hear. If I had my way, fifty trees would fill the front yard and chickens and goats would be penned out back. A Pekingnese would snuffle through the house at my feet. My closet would be packed with clothing and I’d need extra cupboards for all the kitchen gadgets and antique dishes I would own.

The protective wisdom of my husband prevents me from acquiring animals I don’t have the stamina to care for and his restraint keeps unfettered materialism in check in this house.

But. I. Still. Don’t. Like. Limits.

Children face rules at school. My workplace has a big policy binder – another word for rules that apply to workers and patrons. The society I live in is governed by limits we call laws… and if we break the law, there are consequences.

The same is true on a cosmic level. God made this world. And there are limits.

It’s very unpopular to suggest that some things are right and some things are wrong and some things are true and some things aren’t. But there you have it.

When I don’t see others standing up for what is right, when I see them ignoring limits God put in place, sometimes I persuade myself that God really doesn’t mind.

Eager to please others and smooth things over, sometimes I bulldoze my own conscience. But this leads to an inner confusion that feels very uncomfortable. Conviction, perhaps.

God wants us to relinquish control on a regular, ongoing basis. He wants us to find freedom and joy that come from living within limits (Control Girl 200).

Ignoring this gets me nowhere nice.

This week I am going to try to pay attention to limits God has woven into the universe. And even when I alone recognize the protective boundaries He established, I will settle in those safe places. Maybe there I will rediscover the security and peace I knew as a child.