Trimming the Hedges

I have a friend currently serving in Iraq for the U.S. Army. Being Independence Day many people took the opportunity to send him blessings for the service he is performing for us and the country. One individual, in particular, took the time to ask God to put a "hedge of protection" around him to keep him safe. Great sentiment. Of course we all want him and all our servicemen and women to be safe. However, I have heard this phrase about God's "hedge of protection" so often I wondered where it came from. I noticed in the book of Job where Satan is challenging God by saying that the only reason Job is such a good servant and fears God is because, "Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side (Job 1:10)?" In other words, Satan is saying to God that Job is only serving God because God protects him. Well, we know that God allows Satan to test Job to prove Job's faithfulness is not solely tied to God's protections and blessings. But, how many Christians toss around this phrase as though it is a sort of good luck charm?

I think there is a sense within the Body of Christ that God doesn't expect us to get harmed or suffer in any way. Now, I believe God can and does protect people in supernatural ways on occasion. After all, He is God. He can do that if He desires. But, on more than one occasion we see where the Bible tells us that suffering, up to and including death, is to be expected for Christians. Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble (John 16:33)," and that God "sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45)." Later on in Scripture, Peter says, "do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering (1 Peter 4:12)." My point is that while God may protect individuals from harm it is not something we should expect or make a doctrine out of as though Christian suffering is abnormal. As I have just shown, suffering is to be expected simply for living in this sinful world and definitely if you are proclaiming Christ. Unfortunately, this belief that Christians have a "hedge of protection" around them has other potentially dangerous ramifications.

Think about this for a moment. If you believe that God puts a "hedge of protection" around you to protect you from suffering, and the schemes of Satan, how will you feel when you don't believe God protected you? I read yesterday that the unemployment rate in the United States is at 9.5%, a 26 year high. I don't know the exact numbers, but how many Christians are wrapped up in that percentage? No doubt thousands of Christians are unemployed, losing their homes and suffering right along with the unbelievers. Did God remove His "hedge of protection" and put everything they have in Satan's hands? If He did, how would you know. But, the danger I alluded to is that Christians may feel that God is condemning them for their lack of obedience or for some sin they have in their lives. After all, much of Christianity teaches some form of legalistic Christianity that makes God out to be this mean-spirited task master who demands the impossible and hands out punishment for failure to live up to His standards. I guess passages like Romans 5:9 and Romans 8:1 are ignored or quickly forgotten. If we are saved from God's wrath and face no condemnation for being in Christ why do we act as though we are subject to it?

God forbid something happens to my friend in Iraq. But, if anything does happen to Him, will we shake our fist at God for not protecting him? Or worse, will my friend be accused of somehow sinning against God which resulted in God removing His "protection"? Where does it stop? Ironically, scripture not only tells us to expect suffering, but that our sufferings turn us back to God. Paul, struggling with sin in his life concluded, "Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 7:24-25)!" The author of Hebrews encouraged believers to approach God "so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16)." When suffering touches your life do not look at it as God removing His protection from you, but as a time to draw close to God and let Him remind you of all you have in Him through faith in Jesus Christ. And if that doesn't help, remember the reason God allowed Satan to test Job in the first place. "There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil (Job 1:8)." Just like Job, because of our faith in Jesus Christ, we are blameless and upright in God's eyes. Whether or not we are tested by Satan or the trials of life we can rest assured that God loves us and is there with us in the midst of our suffering.