Job 19:8
He has hedged my way, I cannot pass,
He has set darkness upon my path.
My youngest is pretty low key, but I stressed her out big time yesterday, on her birthday no less. I neglected to see what she needed to bring to her driving test until it was too late to finish the last video before the test was scheduled. It all worked out, but she was madly scrambling to watch the video and by the time her test started, she was practically freaking out. For whatever reason, I have not been on top of this whole parent led teaching this go around.
‘Hedged’ was also ‘walled’, ‘blocked’, ‘fenced’, and ‘barred’. I liked hedge since it was used in Chapter 1 so clearly. ‘Way’ was also ‘path’.
‘Set’ was also ‘shrouded’, ‘laid’, and ‘threw’. ‘Path’ was also ‘way’ and ‘lanes’.
Driving home from church yesterday, we were almost hit by this lady in a minivan not paying attention. She almost ran a stop sign right into us. Fortunately, I learned defensive driving and stopped before she could hit us and honked like a mad lunatic. She stopped and waved as if to apologize and we went on our way. I had no spike of adrenaline, but I think it reinforced the ‘teens killed while driving’ video that my youngest had to watch afterwards.
I know that God was really protecting us and had us hedged in, but I like to think he gave me some skills in the car that I need to us to help keep away from trouble. The best times are when I am going slow for no reason whatsoever and pass a cop. That is when I feel God is really looking out for me. Better yet is when I encounter a cop while I am going fast and don’t get pulled over or get a ticket.
The best hedging in is when I am tempted to do something I should not, and He actively intervenes to prevent me from going my own way. I wanted to give my sister some advice while I was not in a good mood, but something distracted me, and I only remembered when I was calm enough to not do so. I give credit to God. In this verse when I read darkness, it was from every source, but I did not get the feeling it was an overwhelming darkness, only like not good stuff. Maybe like the neighbors tempting you with alcohol or related mind-altering stuff. Maybe extra slices of pizza sitting there while you are not stuffed. Maybe like choice words you could use when another driver makes a boneheaded mistake. All of these ideas feel like opportunities to not do wrong. As if God has given Job the chance to pick the right thing. I am not blameless and upright like Job, but I do seek to follow the example of Christ and pray God will give me the strength to do so, even when dealing with idiots out driving.
Written 10/27/25, Posted 12/28/25, Job 438/~1070