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?”
Job 1:9&10 (ESV)
Having recently relocated to a new apartment, I am once again repeating a helpful tradition I instituted following past moves. After dark I walk around locating electrical outlets and then I plug in soft nightlights around the perimeter of the main rooms to give clear definition to the walls. Once they are in place, I feel so much more at ease—and they are especially helpful when I roam around on a sleepless night!
Nightlights also have a spiritual significance for me because they remind me of a practical spiritual principle at work in my life. Change—like what we have been through recently—is full of surprises. Groping around in the uncomfortable darkness of not-knowing is difficult but seeing the familiar soft nightlight of definition is very comforting.
When the earth moves underfoot and life brings huge transitions, my Heavenly Father puts a hedge of protection around me and everything I have to ensure my safety in the physical and spiritual realms. He calms me to accept my present circumstances to keep me in the center of His will. I know that all God has established, every boundary hedge He has put in place, has the purpose of drawing me ever closer to Him.
Staying within safe boundaries, however, doesn’t mean things will always go my way. God also uses boundaries to hem me in to accomplish His will. Have you noticed that many Biblical characters learned about God’s boundaries the hard way? Job had to accept that God would not rescue him when he wanted. In the same way Paul planned trips that did not work out and God would not give him a certain kind of healing.
I know I can trust Him with my hopes, my dreams, my future. My life is secure in Him! However—I also know that He is stretching me in new ways—to trust Him to accomplish His perfect will in my life. His defining nightlight boundaries not only provide much needed comfort—they have also been put in place to remind me that He is God, and I am not.