If you're anything like me, chances are you suck at boundaries. More often than not, this lack of boundaries usually leads to quite the self-destructive demise. One compromise leads to another and next thing you know, you're further from the true version of yourself than you've ever been before.
Don't worry you're not alone, but here's some hope to cling to.
At one time or another this happens to all of us. We get lost in a relationship, caught up in the rush of self-made success, or seek answers from the world to ease our troubled heart and mind. In all this searching, seeking, crashing and burning I've found that there are two major lines that we all draw in life.
The Bottom Line and The Line in the Sand
As I dug into this topic deeper, I first wanted to understand what exactly these lines consisted of, and I quickly began to discover why I felt so suddenly drawn to figuring out these lines.
The Bottom Line is defined as, "The underlying or ultimate outcome, the final total."
To Draw a Line in the Sand symbolizes, "A point beyond which one will not go. A limit to what one will do or accept."
I nodded my head in agreement, my next question brought forth a revelation I was truly not expecting. I quietly asked God, "How do we get to the bottom line? The ultimate outcome?"
His Response: By drawing a line in the sand.
*Mic Drop*
I began to mediate on this further, drawing a visual representation of what this would look like with my bottom line above me and my line in the sand below. It was in this visual representation that I realized, it takes both lines to go after my God-given destiny.
It was then that I realized we usually draw lines in the sand once we hit rock bottom. Which kinda sucks if I'm being totally honest. BUT it's there that we see what we need to do in order to reach our bottom line.
I felt the Lord telling me, "You can't get to the bottom line if you're on the wrong side of the line in the sand."
It's not until that line is drawn and you take your stand that you can push forward towards the bottom line.
It's an interesting paradox isn't it?
The bottom line is the final outcome, but it usually takes bottoming out to get to it.
So where does God come into play in all of this? He draws our bottom line, but only we can draw our line in the sand.
The Bottom Line is God's plan
It's His purpose and calling for us. But until we step over that line and leave it all behind, we stand in our own way of reaching our calling.
Don't miss that: The only thing keeping you from your calling is you.
So, what's it going to take? What's your line in the sand? Because chances are, you already know or at least have an idea of God's plan.
Until you match your line to His calling, you're going to keep falling victim to compromise.
With a New Year on the horizon, now's the time to raise the bar, draw the line and start living a life worthy of the calling you have received.
"Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life wroth of your calling, for you have been called by God." - Ephesians 4:1
You, beautifully and fearfully made one, have been called, chosen and set a part for such a time as this. Your calling is uniquely yours to own. God only made one of you to do the job He's called you to do.
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew You, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." - Jeremiah 1:5
Don't wait until you hit rock bottom to set your eyes on the eternal glory that has been awaiting you since the beginning of time. Get your eyes on God and your mind on Christ so that you can rise above the ashes of this broken world and step into the beauty of your destiny.