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THE FENCE
By Bill Money

Deuteronomy. 4:40 ÔÇ£Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, forever.ÔÇØ
And make straight paths for your feet . . . Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:ÔÇØ (Hebrews 12:13-14)

Now that summer has ended, Mary Lee has put her chickens in the fenced Garden Yard.

Our home and yard are surrounded on three sides by a six-foot chain-link fence; the Garden Yard is a fenced area within the chain-link surrounding the back yard.

A few nights ago, I was awakened by the sound of coyotes singing out in the alfalfa field. There is an animal highway that runs outside our land from the woods along the river to the interior part of our little town, and the coyotes were right along that highway, within feet of the Garden Yard chicken coop.

Her chickens have no concept of how important that fence is to them. If they think about it all, they are probably annoyed that the fence prevents them from getting to the neighborÔÇÖs alfalfa field, where there are lots of bugs!

But that fence also protects them from hungry coyotes. They heard the coyotes, and the coyotes were indeed close by, but the chickens were protected by a fence they did not understand or even comprehend.

We are very much like the chickens. (Compared to God, I am nowhere near as smart as a chicken.)

God erects fences in our lives to protect us from harm, often from harm that we know nothing about.

We don't understand the fences and are usually annoyed by them. We complain about them and seek ways to work around them so we can get to whatever is attractive to us on the other side.

But those fences are for our good and protect us from evil that would destroy us.

This is one of those places where trusting the Lord is so important. We need to choose to trust that He loves us.

We need to choose to trust that He knows what is best and is doing the best for us, personally. We need to trust and respect His fences.

He describes some of His fences in the Scriptures: do not commit adultery, stay out of debt, do not lie, donÔÇÖt cheat anyone, do not be lazy, etc. That is one reason we need to be studying the Scriptures on a daily basis, to know His fences and respect them.

There are other fences, specifically for each of us individually. We need to be in prayer on a daily basis, watching for Him to identify a fence and to tell us "Don't go there". We need to respect and honor the fences He has put up.

So make your prayer life deep and your study of Scripture profound. Pay attention to what God is telling you and obey Him.

And, praise Him for the fences.