Another unusual saying that you will hear in Christian circles often comes up in prayers. Such as, “Dear God, please place a hedge of protection around Joe and his family during this difficult time…”. A hedge of protection. What does that mean? And, where did we get that from?
Background: The most likely place that people draw upon for the idea of a hedge of protection is the beginning chapters of the book of Job. In an unusual scene we find Satan having a conversation with God. God seemingly offers up Job as a challenge to Satan, calling him “blameless and upright”. Satan challenges that Job only follows God because of all of the good things that God has done for him, one of those being, “a hedge around him, his house, and all that he has” (Job 1:9). God gives Satan access to Job and his family and the story unfolds from there.
The Twist: No one wants to go through what Job went through. He lost his children. His income dried up, even his health suffered. So, we pray that God would put a hedge of some sort around us, and never ever let anything bad in. Some are taught not to wander outside of God’s hedge of protection by making bad decisions that place us outside of the realm of God’s protection. One prominent TV evangelist even went so far as to say that if you gave to the Gospel (preferably through his ministry), you could build a hedge of protection for yourself. This actually sounds more like a mafia offer, “pay us a little each month, and we’ll make sure nothing happens to you…”
The Truth: There is no direct link between your faithfulness to God and your financial or physical well-being. There are no prayers that guarantee that our children will never get sick or that we will never lose our jobs. Everyone has a unique path to travel. Most of those contain a variety and ups and downs. We live in a broken world filled with broken people (much like ourselves). God is most interested in our ongoing relationship with him throughout all of our ups and downs. There is a time in the future where all wrongs are set right, but that is after Jesus returns to earth.
The Way Forward: God has not promised us a life free from difficulty, but He does promise His presence and support along the way. We are called to pursue God, not for his gifts (hedge of protection, financial security), but for Himself. In this way, we will find contentment and hope regardless of how the moments of our life play out.
It’s ok to pray for God’s protection. We are to take all of our concerns to God in prayer. We live, however, in a broken world and those broken pieces pop up to cut us sometimes. But we must always remember that we have something far greater than material goods and physical well-being. We have the love and companionship of God to enjoy and embrace, and when all is said and done, that will be enough.