“Have you not surrounded him and his family and all that he has with your protection? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock are spread over the land.”
Job 1:10
This scripture is actually what the devil said to God about Job. All scripture is inspired by God and so even these words are meant for teaching, because God wants us to know how the enemy sees us.
Paul reminds us that we are in constant spiritual warfare, and we must stay alert and put on the armor of God. (Ephesians 6:11)
By Satan’s own admission, in the book of Job, we know that God put a protective hedge around Job, which the devil was forbidden to trespass. According to all of David’s Psalms, God protects all those who trust in Him, and sends His warrior angels to drive the enemy away.
Our lives and our families are under that hedge of protection, and it is untouchable by the enemy. Satan cannot touch it, without permission from God.
If God allows anything, it’s because He knows we will overcome by our faith. God loves us and is ultimately working all things together for our eternal good.
We can see that God had confidence in Job saying, “Have you noticed my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him, blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil.” (Job 1:8)
God trusted in Job’s faithfulness, believing he would remain faithful, even if some hedges were removed.
If God trusted in Job’s faithfulness, then He also trusts in ours today. We have an advantage over Job, since we know Jesus, who died for us. He loved us and invested Himself in us, with His blood, and from His perspective, we are cherished and worth protecting.
If we are going through some really difficult trials, it’s because God believes in us, and He knows how that trial will build our perseverance, and refine our faith, and He promises to never test us beyond what we can endure. (1 Corinthians 10:13)
While we are wise to the enemy’s schemes, we can also be confident that God surrounds us with more protection than we could ever think or imagine, and there are more angels protecting us than just one guardian angel.
Joshua told the Israelites many times, that the angel of the Lord will go before them to guard them and wipe out their enemies, if they abide in His covenant. (Joshua 24:20-23)
If we could only see all the ways God surrounds us with invisible hedges of protection, we would probably collapse in awe.
In the story of Elisha and his servant, the two of them were being pursued by an enemy army who sought to kill all the prophets. When his servant saw the vast army closing in on them, he became frightened, and asked Elisha what they should do. Elisha just looked up to heaven and asked God to open his servant’s eyes. Immediately, his eyes were opened and he saw thousands of angels from heaven, surrounding them, in fiery chariots, and all were sent just to protect those two prophets. (2 Kings 6:17-18)
God’s angelic army far outnumbers the earthly one. Even though we see the problems that are before us, there is an unseen realm, that we can be confident and assured of.
We see it with our eyes of faith, because faith is the assurance of things not seen.
We are protected by the unseen hedges of God. Elisha knew it, and when he prayed, God opened the eyes of his servant to see it too.
The story of Job, David’s psalms and Joshua’s words of encouragement, all confirm that we are abundantly protected, and God’s authority is always in control.
Lord, open our eyes of faith to know that your hedges and angels are with us and they outnumber any enemy who is against us. Give us the wisdom to always live in the confidence of faith in you. Amen