Between You And God #6

Dear God, I have a really strict teacher. Isn’t she supposed to be understanding enough to at least bend the rules sometimes?

Toddlers can’t understand the fence around the playground. Look at those great trees to climb—just across the street. And a pond—with ducks to feed! But toddlers don’t know how to swim and can’t safely cross a road. The fence is there for their protection. They just don’t understand it yet.

Rules are like fences: Don’t go here. Don’t turn this way. Danger over there. Rules that protect you physically are easy to understand. Rules that protect your spirit and your mind are harder to understand, because you can’t see your spirit or your mind like you can see your body.

When we cross one of God’s boundaries, the Bible calls it sin. Sin leads us away from God. Following rules in one area of your life makes it easy to follow them in other areas of your life. Bending rules in one area makes it easier to bend them in another area.

God has put people over you (like your teacher or your parents) to set rules that are for your own good, not to steal your fun. They won’t bend them to make it easier for you if it will really harm you in the end. They hold fast because they love you. Some fences will disappear as you grow older, but by then you’ll be ready to run.

Even when you don’t understand his rules, you can trust the one who gives them.

How about You?

Are there rules that are hard for you to follow or seem dumb or silly? Name one or two. Now think of something one of God’s rules could be protecting you from—either preventing physical or emotional harm, stopping a bad habit from developing, whatever!

God Says . . .

He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him. Proverbs 2:8