Week 2 Thursday

A Life Hedged In

Today’s scripture selection: Job 3-4

Key verses: Job 3:23

     When I first got my beloved dog Dash from the rescue foundation I found out he had been given that name for good reason.  Open a door, turn your back, and that little dog was gone – flying down the street in pursuit of whatever adventure he could find.  On many an occasion I had to go flying after him.  And only when I got him cornered between the shrubs and fencing of a neighbor’s house could I get the boy home.  Dash didn’t like being hedged in – not for a minute.  But it was for his own good.  And I’d like to think that, years later, if he could speak, he would tell me he appreciated being protected in those early years of running.

     There are other times, though, when being hedged in is anything but a blessing.  We find ourselves cornered, without many good options.  And what’s worse, we can’t find any good reason for our calamity.  We’ve tried to do all the right things; live the right way; and still – here we are boxed in.

     Such was Job’s situation.  He was feeling cornered, without options, and very unfairly treated.  So he lamented and openly wondered why he had even been born.  “Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?”  Maybe you can identify.  And to make matters worse, Job had some friends who wanted to offer some friendly “advice” – advice that did anything but comfort.  Like that of his friend Eliphaz, who basically told Job he must have lost his family and his health because he was a sinner, whether he knew it or not.  Thanks, buddy.

     The book of Job presents us with a problem.  It asks us to ponder what it is like to suffer unjustly.  He brings us face to face with the reality that even the good and righteous suffer.  And it allows us to identify with those who suffer in a broken and fallen world like ours.

     Whether you are feeling “hedged in” in some way yourself these days, or you know someone who is, maybe there is a helpful reminder in today’s reading.  Don’t jump to conclusions – either about your own life’s situation, or those of others.  We don’t always know the reason for our own pain, or theirs.  Maybe a better response is to just wait.  I know – that’s not always easy to do – we want answers – now.  But if we can only keep from concluding that our suffering must be because we deserve it – or that others suffer because they do – other reasons may present themselves.  Life is complicated.  Being hedged in is no fun.  But don’t add insult to injury by deciding you know the reason for the problem before you do.  One day, you might even find you were hedged in for a good reason.

    

     Prayer: Lord, there are times when I just don’t understand.  And there are times when I think I understand and am too quick to jump to wrong conclusions.  Help me to just take each circumstance as it comes.  Help me to see your purpose and love in everything, even when I feel trapped.  Help me to have faith in you, even when I can’t see a way out.  AMEN.