Encouragement…from Satan?
I don’t remember the year, but I remember the thought. At one of the Freed-Hardeman University Lectureships I have been blessed to attend, I remember hearing about how God had placed a protective hedge around Job and his family. I remember someone praying for God to place a hedge around us, His people. And the sentiment stuck with me.
Through the years, I have prayed the same idea for my family, especially my children. They are faced with so many challenges in today’s world and I pray that God will protect them from some of those temptations and dangers.
Recently, I was trying to encourage one of the young people from our congregation and thought I would share this idea with him. Now remember, I just liked the idea when I heard it and knew it was from the book of Job. Imagine my surprise when I looked the reference up in the middle of a conversation and had to tell this teenager that the actual quote came from the mouth of Satan! Here is the actual quote:
Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.” (Job 1:9-10)
I didn’t realize that this beautiful thought that has helped me and given me comfort through the years came from the mouth of Satan. It certainly gave me pause but then I thought about it in a different way.
All the way back in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), God knew and expressed the outcome of Satan’s impact on man. Yes, he would bruise man’s heel, but God’s Son would bruise his head. There was to be enmity between man and Satan, but even that conflict could not change the fact that God is in control and has already won the victory. The outcome is so settled that even Satan’s words, meant to challenge God in His care of Job, can be taken as encouragement to the Christian.
Yes, Satan, God has placed a hedge around us! Though we may face trials and troubles in this world, He has hedged us in His love and for all eternity, He will keep us safe. Thank you for the reminder!
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AUTHOR: Amber Tatum
Photo background credit: Mesaj on Creative Commons
