HEDGE

I think good advice should be shared.

Well, I received some advice recently... What do you know about a hedge?

You may be thinking about a row of bushes, or trees. I have rows of trees that line our property line. They provide a division between my yard and the neighbors. It gives some privacy.

The meaning of "hedge" I want to center on today is any barrier or boundary.

Have you ever prayed for a hedge?

Until this weekend, I'd never heard of such a thing. My advisor directed me to the 1st chapter of Job. Job 1:10, Satan is speaking to God, asking if Job fears God for nothing?

"Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land..."

I've read this verse before, but when I read it all those times, I never understood what it could mean for me. My study bible explains that Job had no idea of the extent of God's protection that surrounded him and his family. Isn't it amazing that when we obey God by His Spirit, the Lord does the same thing for us that He did for Job!

When I pray, I ask God for guidance, for protection, for comfort for myself or my loved one. Praying specifically for a "hedge" seems to give a more solid, tangible nature to my request. I can pray for a hedge around my husband while he goes to work and into the world, where it seems everything is going wrong. We can pray for a hedge around our children as they go off to school, or into their lives, no matter what their age. We can pray for a hedge around our pastors... The enemy is consistent, but we must be more so.

And I say we writers should pray for that hedge around our writing. I don't mean for the writing to replace our worship and time of quiet with God, but for that hedge to protect the brief amounts of time many of us have for writing. That if we show up at the computer, like one of our very own FAITH girls says of her pact with God, that God will meet us there. And if the stories we are meant to share are meant to be a vessel the Lord uses to reach someone else, then we need an even taller hedge around our writing time.

Just pray... God will deliver.