Hedges - There are Different Kinds!

Hedges - There are Different Kinds!

I came across a very interesting article by Jon Walker called  Prayer: The Hedge of Protection that inspired me for this post. We are all familiar with Job, where Satan accuses God of placing a "hedge of protection" around Job (Job.1:10,11).  This hedge, God allowed to be lifted, so that Job might prove that he was "a blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil (vs.8)."   A similar type of thing happens to Peter. The removing of the hedge of protection, is implied in Peter’s life: “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat” (Luke 22:31 NIV). We shudder to think about this, yet, we are told that our faith will be tested and proven.  Either we will endure the evil and prove God's trust in us, or we will fail and have to endure the consequences of our choice.

Yet, have you considered that just as in life, there are different kinds of hedges?  Job's hedge was one of protection to keep things out. However, there is another kind of hedge that is designed to keep one in. In Hosea 2:6,7  "Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths. She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Then she shall say, 'I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now."  We stated that we will either endure and prove God's trust, or we will fail and endure the consequences?  Well...here are the consequences.  Jonah found himself in a similar situation, as well as Pharaoh of the Exodus and many other characters in biblical history. 

We can ask God to hedge us, to find the right kind of friends but be protected from the wrong kind of influences. When Gomer, the Old Testament prophet Hosea’s wife, continued to chase after other lovers, God placed a hedge of thorns around her, keeping her from finding adulterous relationships and eventually driving her back to her husband. We should not be surprised, if the tall hedge of protection that we desire, turns into a hedge of thorns when we make the wrong choices.  We all want God's protection, and God gives this protection. Yet, we should not expect God to leave it in place all the time and He does not promise us to do so. 

Learn to be thankful (Col.1:12; 2:7; 3:17, Psa.100:4; 107:22; 116:17) and appreciate what God does for you, whether it is protecting you or letting you loose. There is always something to learn, and there is always something to appreciate.  Remember the Bible's teaching, that it is “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” (Jas. 5:16)

Jim