The hedge

I was reading a couple nights ago and as so often happens, a single word really caught my attention:

Satan was talking to God about Job and Satan says this:

"Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?"

(Job 1:10)

I love the idea of God's hedge. I have a hedge around my yard that provides privacy, shelter, protection and beauty. God's hedge might look like mine, or it might look more like a bristling row of angelic warriors, ready to do battle. We don't know what that hedge is made of. But we can still know it's there.

There are times I count on the hedge. It's good to rest in God's protection. But as the story of Job continues, we also know that Job's faith didn't depend on the hedge. Even when it felt like God's protection has been stripped away, he didn't turn his back on God.

The questions of why God allows evil, or the problem of pain, or why "good" people suffer are questions people have struggled with for a very long time. But in those moments when it feels like we're not sure of God's presence, or that we're under attack, I hope that you too can find comfort in knowing that God still has his hedge around us and that nothing gets through without His consent.