Dear Friends,

If your week feels like a car speeding down a mountain road with no guardrails, you're not alone. Many of us live as if boundaries are obstacles to overcome rather than protections to embrace. But what if your exhaustion isn't from lack of effort, but from the absence of guardrails—the pre-decisions that keep you from careening into the ditch?

The core idea is simple: guardrails are pre-decisions that keep you out of the ditch. They aren't restrictions; they're protections you put in place before you're tired, before you're tempted, before you're in crisis. And God, in His wisdom, built the first guardrails into creation itself.

"In the beginning, God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. And God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light 'day,' and the darkness he called 'night'" (Genesis 1:3-5). Notice what God does first—before work, before creation unfolds—He establishes boundaries. Light and dark. Day and night. Time itself gets limits. These aren't suggestions; they're the architecture of reality.

God doubles down on this design: "God said, 'Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years'" (Genesis 1:14-19). The sun, moon, and stars aren't just celestial decorations—they're cosmic guardrails, marking seasons and boundaries we cannot ignore. They don't consult our to-do list before setting. They simply do what they were designed to do, and we flourish when we live within their rhythm.

The psalmist recognizes this: "He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down... Then people go out to their work, to their labor until evening" (Psalm 104:19, 23). The sun and moon were created as cosmic-level boundaries. God uses them to show how finite we are as mere mortals. Who are we to think we are unlimited?

Jesus makes this personal: "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27). In one sentence, He reveals that God's guardrails aren't about restriction—they're about protection. The Sabbath isn't a rule to keep; it's a gift to receive. A weekly guardrail that says: stop, rest, remember you're finite. God knows your frame. He knows you need rhythms of work and rest to flourish.

So what do daily and weekly guardrails look like? A weekly guardrail might be a true Sabbath—24 hours where work email is off-limits, where productivity isn't the goal, where you simply receive rest as a gift. A daily guardrail might be a hard stop at 6 PM, a phone that sleeps in another room, or a morning that begins with prayer before pixels. These aren't laws; they're pre-decisions that protect your soul.

This week, try one concrete guardrail. Not five. One. Choose the pre-decision that would most keep you out of the ditch. Maybe it's no work after dinner. Maybe it's a Sabbath that actually involves rest. Put it in place before you're exhausted. Watch how it protects what matters.

You are not infinite. The universe doesn't depend on your constant availability. What if you trusted that God's limits are actually gifts that protect your soul?

God bless,
Fredy

P.S. Take 20 minutes this week to sit with Genesis 1. Ask God: What guardrail do I need to put in place before I hit the ditch? What pre-decision would protect the life You designed for me?

If you’re running on empty and need help rebuilding sustainable rhythms, I have a handful of burnout coaching slots open. The first step is a 45‑minute assessment to map where you are and what’s needed. You can book that here: [Book Discovery Calls]