God's "hedge of protection"

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