Gifts Outside My Window

I can see the corner of a playground from my window.  Often, after school and during the summer, I hear children laughing as they play ball and tag games, use the swing set and the jungle gym.  Bordering this playground is a thick hedge instead of a chin-link fence.  The principle is the same, but I prefer this idea.  It’s a natural perimeter, it’s prettier, and it doesn’t make me think of  restrictive environment.

By their use, hedges often suggest that they protect the good things within them.  Because they are not stone walls nor fences, they do not guarantee that bad things will stay out.

Satan challenged God’s hedge around Job.  Even though God allowed Satan to afflict Job, there were limits which the devil could not go beyond.  Job’s test was to ultimately trust in his Lord for no other reasons but love and obedience.  (Job 1:6-22)

I have not been faced with the same kinds of tests that Job had.  All at once, he lost possessions and family.  Still, my own afflictions are no less devastating to me.  Like Job, however, I am never abandoned to face my challenges alone.  God is always watching and sets limits.  God defines boundaries.  He sees to it that the devil can do only so much.  And as I prove my faithfulness to Him, He will prove His to me.

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them.  Psalms 34:7