One Has To Wonder

“Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.” (Job 1:10 AV)

One wonders how much of a hedge the LORD has around us and how our lives would be if it wasn’t there.  Mind you, Job was the greatest man in the East.  He was a man who feared God and eschewed evil.  If anyone deserved a hedge, it was Job.  This explains Job’s reaction to his trials.  He simply could not find a cause so great as to give reason for what he suffered.  When I read this, I was struck with the thought that God does hedge us in.  If we are saved then we are a child of His and He grants a layer of protection to those whom He loves.  Even the Apostle Paul tells us that we will not suffer above what we are able.  God will make a way of escape that we might be able to bear it.  That means things could be to a point that we couldn’t bear it.  God does build a hedge around all of us.  Until it is removed, we may not even notice it.  Job certainly didn’t.

Hedges as spoken of in the word of God were thorny hedges.  They were designed to be a deterrent to predators or pests which might enter a vineyard or pasture.  The thorns were meant to inflict pain so the rodent or fox would not invade.  A hedge was also designed to keep in that which needed protection.  The thorns that inflicted pain on the threat also inflicted pain on the one seeking to escape.  This hedge is for our benefit.  This hedge is also a huge blessing.  Many years ago, we lived in an inner-city neighborhood.  The apartment we rented came with a fenced-in yard.  This fenced-in yard had privacy stripping installed.  My sons could not look out and anyone outside of the fence could not look in.  It was funny.  You would think my sons would be angry at having to play in a fenced-in yard.  You would think they would have complained about the lack of freedom to explore the neighborhood on their bikes.  But they never complained one time.  It was a very large yard.  There was plenty of room to play a little football, chip-and-putt, or a whole host of things.  As long as they were inside the fence, they were safe.  They knew it and never complained.  The thing was, they trusted their parent’s judgment.  They did not need to see every threat to believe our intentions were prudent, honorable, and motivated by love.  They were seldom aware of specific threats and they didn’t need to be.  They were so accustomed to the fence that they hardly noticed the restrictions it placed on them.

I cannot imagine what my son’s adolescence would have been like if that fence came down.  With the drug dealers, strange women, and drunks that made our neighborhood their home, only the LORD knows what their lives might have been without that hedge.  They certainly never knew.  This begs the question which we asked at the beginning.  How much does the LORD protect us from which we are completely unaware?   Just because we cannot see what lurks out there does not suggest a hedge is not there.  It is.  The LORD has protected us from things which our minds cannot comprehend.  The proper response would be gratitude.  We should be thankful for the hedge God has provided and not test the limits of it.  We should not take for granted the wall of protection and provision that the LORD provides and seek to stay well within its limits.  Praise the LORD for His lovingkindness that provides a blanket of protection, provision, and providence.  Praise be to Him who watches over us with paternal love which cannot be fully understood!  Praise be to God our Father.