Job 1:10 (NIV)
“Have You not put a hedge around him
and his household and everything he has?
This verse is the
basis for the phrase, “God’s hedge of protection”. I pray for His hedge of protection all the
time. I pray for His hedge of protection
around my house when a major storm is coming.
I pray for His hedge of protection when I and/or a loved one are going
on a trip. I pray for His hedge of
protection around my wife, children, and grandchildren as they go about their
lives. It is a most wonderfully
comforting thought that God’s hedge of protection shields and guards His
children.
Who spoke these
words to God? Satan! Job 1:6 states that the angels came to
present themselves before the Lord and Satan also came with them. It was the Lord who first spoke to Satan and
after Lord praised Job in verse 8, Satan retorts with this cynical
rebuttal. While indeed a rebuttal, it
was a fact that God protected and blessed Job and He had the power to keep
trouble away from Job.
Job lost God’s
protection because it was God’s choice, not because God no longer had the
power. Scholars have contemplated and
debated for centuries why God used Job the way He did and caused Job to lose
everything. Yet a major learning point
from this story is that God is God and has the power to do whatever He
chooses. Also, the end of the story for
Job was receiving wonderful blessings.
It takes great
faith to believe with all of your heart that God will protect you and those you
love. Indeed, He has the power and
desire to do so. God’s power and desire
has another name---grace. God’s grace
will put a hedge of protection around you and your loved ones. What a promise!
What does He
protect you against? Whatever you ask
Him. Protect you against physical
danger—He will. Protect you against
Satan’s temptations—He will. Protect you
against losing your faith—He will.
Protect your children against the forces of evil. He will.
Whatever you ask Him to protect you against, He will, but you must
believe that He will with all of your heart.
“God's protection has always
been with me. It's just a matter of
understanding that He loves us and He wants us to be safe. He will keep us safe if we just put our trust
in Him. That's the thing...that's all
there is to it. Prayer is a powerful thing.”
–- Charlie Daniels
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