The Wisdom of Wildflowers

I think this is called Spiderwort.  Such a weird name for such a cool plant, as I was not aware that spiders have warts—sounds like something out of Harry Potter or C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters.  It grows wild here in Missouri; you’ll find it along country roads or railroad tracks.  Since I have some in my own garden, I observed its fascinating property of opening in the cool of the morning, and closing up shop in the heat of the day.  Check it out:

It’s like this little wildflower knows its limitations and adjusts accordingly to keep itself safe and therefore more productive (and beautiful, I might add.) 

If only I had such intrinsic wisdom….

Dr. Henry Cloud, in his brilliant book, Changes That Heal, also speaks eloquently and yet very simply to this important issue of personal “boundaries”.   How true it is that I can get myself (and others) into a world of hurt when I choose to neglect my own boundary lines, emotionally, relationally, spiritually.  Even physically in terms of time and health!

King David must have had something like this in mind when he penned this psalm as a personal commitment to God.  Here are just a few of his personal boundaries:

“I will search for faithful people to be my companions.  Only those who are above reproach will be allowed to serve me.  I will not allow deceivers to serve in my house, and liars will not stay in my presence.”

Granted, David had to learn about some of his boundaries the hard way, (I don’t know if all the Psalms are in chronological order, but if they are, then this one is decidedly AFTER his tête-à-tête with Bathsheba), which means he’s no better than we are IF we learn from what my father affectionately refers to as “the school of hard knocks”. 

Setting boundaries is hard work.  Keeping those boundaries is equally hard work, especially when those people who are important to me contest those decisions!  And Satan, well duh.  He’s the ultimate wall-climber when it comes to boundaries.  Ever hear any of these?—

“How can you be so selfish?”

“You call yourself a Christian?  That’s not very loving!”

“Shouldn’t you think of others first?”

“Sacrifice is just part of the Christian life.”

“I thought you were supposed to take up your cross…”

And so on.

The challenge, of course, is that all of these are true, in the correct context.  Not only does our enemy ignore our boundaries, he also has a bad habit of misinterpreting Truth. 

Enter Holy Spirit, and our desperate need for His wisdom to set boundaries, and His

Green will return!

power to maintain them, so that we can continue to bloom in His garden.

(Preferably with a cuter name than spiders with warts.)

 

Psalm 101: 6,7  Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.