Love Heightens Fences

That Wednesday when she came home, I wondered what on earth we were supposed to do. She’d wandered. Far. There were consequences. There had to be. But how do you convey this to a wayward heart? You’re not in trouble, you’re in danger. 

It just so happened it was the day to heighten fences. Those chickens, there was just no way to keep them in. We’d fixed the gate, mended holes, reinforced the fence. Clearly, even though their wings were clipped, they’d learned to fly right over those loving fences.

We’d find them out in the street, wandering into the neighbor’s yard, slipping into crevices, impossible to find. Something had to change. Sure, part of the problem was that I was irritated to no end. I was sick of chasing chickens and cleaning up poop off the porch. But, more than that, they needed to stay in the coop for their own good. It wasn’t that I hated the chickens. Wasn’t that I wanted them to be confined, miserable, limited, restricted. They had plenty of space inside their fence, to roam and forage. There was shade, food, water. Everything they needed was there, inside. But they wouldn’t stay put.

Outside, there were dogs. Raccoons. Predators. When they flew over that fence, it wasn’t just that they were in trouble, they were in danger.

So the day came, and it just happened to be that Wednesday.

A day to heighten fences.

There was expense for us, of course. We purchased the chicken wire, set aside the whole morning for attaching, reinforcing, securing. The girls, those little feathered friends, squawked around, somehow sensing their new limitations.

We’re doing this for your own good, girls! You’re not in trouble, you’re in danger.  I wished I could convey this to them.

But then, they’re chickens.

Somehow, though, it’s even hard to convey this to humans. If Jesus can liken us to sheep then let me, for a moment, make the simple observation that we’re a lot like chickens sometimes.

Oh how we squawk over our freedoms! Oh how we pitch a fit when we cannot do what we want! Oh how we balk at anything that limits our independence!

Heightened fences? For ME?! How dare you!

We don’t get it.

We’re not in trouble, we’re in danger.

We don’t get the reality, that the enemy prowls around like a roaring lion seeking who he can devour (1 Pet. 5:8). We’re oblivious to the danger. We think God’s Word, His authorities in our lives, we think those heightened fences are keeping us from freedom. Nothing could be further from the truth.

They are keeping us safe.

It isn’t loving to let someone wander out into the world, no matter how much they may want to.

No matter how much he or she may squawk … love heightens fences.

My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

James 5:19-20

{Thanks for reading.}