Gods Hedge of Protection at Work
Introduction
In the course of my life, I have experienced, what in some situations may be considered miracles that have saved my life and in some cases the lives of others. It is my intention to share these experiences with you to the best of my remembrance.
God has played a very big part in my life. He has directed my path all along. I didn’t come to this realization until only a hand full of years ago.
I never had a prayer life until I was 45 years old. This is when I started forming a bond, but I guess I didn’t really understand the power that God had on my life and the plans that He had for me.
I have written a hand full of biblical studies, but I was having a hard time wrapping my mind around just how to start this one.
When you seek God’s blessings, spiritual powers can and will be manifested!
What I’m sharing with you may be miracles in some cases. What I do know is that Almighty God provides a strong hedge of protection around those who believe in Him.
The concept of God’s hedge of protection is mentioned in the Bible. It refers to the idea that God places hedges around the righteous for protection and blessing. These hedges are like a spiritual fence, wall, or partition. In similar language, the Bible also refers to God’s protection and blessing of the righteous as a shield, a rock, a fortress, and even the hand of God (Psalms 5:11-12) 1.
There is a scripture from the book of Job that talks about God’s hedge of protection. Satan is talking to God:
“Have You not put a hedge [of protection] around him and his house and all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands [and conferred prosperity and happiness upon him], and his possessions have increased in the land.” (Job 1:10, AMP) 2
Psalm 18:2-3a HCSB
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my mountain where I seek refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3a I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I was saved.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble. Isaiah 54:17
Study prepared by: John W Cadwallader
When I was growing up in the mid-sixties, I loved to ice skate down the streams throughout the parks where I lived. They were fun and added excitement due to the boulders and logs sticking up here and there to jump over. Well one day while I was skating the ice gave way and I fell through, my right forearm connected to solid ice preventing me from going under. There was a swift current in the steam. Of course, at the time being just a kid it didn’t occur to me that there was spiritual protection surrounding me until much later in my life.
Looking back, this may have been the beginning of Godly protection that I would be receiving throughout my entire life and so this is the beginning of what I want to share with you.
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In my younger years, also in the mid-sixties, I was very quick on my feet. loved to run, jump, duck, and turn to get away from my friends while playing. It was a very good ability that I had. One day I was walking down the road with my back to oncoming traffic.
There was a car coming down the shoulder where I was walking. The kids in the car apparently were acting a bit wild and not paying attention to their driving. I had a premonition to look behind me. I dove from a backwards stance and the front bumper of the car hit my foot as it was passing. Had I not received that premonition I may not be here today. They did stop to see if I was Okay. I believe this was that ‘still small voice’.
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In 1969 I was drafted into the Army; I was 19 years young and terrified!
I knew that most likely I was going to Vietnam! I was to leave June 11, 1969. A couple weeks passed with a couple of weeks to go. I decided to join the Air Force, hoping to avoid Viet Nam. I left for the Air Force on June 10, 1969. I did not have the level of belief in myself that I would need to survive in Vietnam. Instead, I was sent to school to become an administrator on a small Dutch base in The Netherlands (far from Vietnam) and later in South Dakota which has benefited me the rest of my life as a business owner. Believing is the key in life!
I went to school in Biloxi, MS at Keesler AFB to learn what was needed for my new field of work. On August 17-18,1969 hurricane Camille hit Biloxi and we were in the eye of a hurricane ranging between 175-190 mph, category 5, with storm surge of 24.6 feet. The base was situated on a higher ground, so we were safer for the most part. Over the next 6-8 weeks the AFB participated in helping the surrounding areas. The destruction and devastation were TOTAL; 269 people died. I personally was not in harm’s way but there was death and horror all around me and this was an experience that I will never forget!
Hurricane Camille was a powerful, deadly and destructive Category 5 major hurricane which became the second most intense tropical cyclone on record to strike the United States (behind the 1935 Labor Day hurricane) and is one of just four Category 5 hurricanes to make landfall in the U.S.
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In 1975 we lived in a very small house. One evening we had a bar-b-que. When finished, I decided to take the tray of hot coals out and set them on the ground next to the house to cool.
It was about 2 am when we were woken up by hollering and screaming saying “fire, fire”. I said to Mary “someone’s house was on fire” and at that moment there was a pounding on our door, “get out now”! The fire had gone up the back of the house into the eves and into the laundry room, the next room was the kitchen. The fire department got there before it went that far. If it wasn’t for the neighbors waking us to the fire, we most likely would not have gotten out alive!
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Three friends and I were on the highway going over Monarch Pass in the central mountains of Colorado at night in a snowstorm in 1986. We just went over the summit at 11,312 feet on the way down towards our destination. I was going too fast for the conditions and lost control. We were sliding sideways on the left side of the road. The drop off was only a few feet away with no guardrails. The vehicle was unresponsive in my attempt to bring it under control, then it crossed the highway back to the right side and we slammed into the side of the mountain wall and rolled the vehicle over onto the passenger side. One of my friends had muscle spasms in his back and that was all. I received a citation for improper mountain driving. Once again, I believe that there was a powerful force that helped us and prevented the vehicle from going off the side of the mountain.
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In 1991 I was working in my office and decided I wanted to do some cocaine which I did on occasion at that time. Well, I did much more than I should have! About five minutes later I realized that I was in trouble and the feeling continued to intensify. I got up from my desk, walked a few steps, went back sat down and did this several times. By now I was gripping the edge of my desk.
I never had a prayer life at this point; that didn’t come until 1995. I was scared no doubt. Well, I called out to God and begged Him to help me, promising I would never ever touch this again and He knew that I would honor this vow! Within ten minutes I was returning to normal and was very thankful to God.
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In 1994 on a small fishing boat out past the eastern tip of Long Island, NY, my brother-in-law and a friend and I went out on a boat to go fishing where Long Island Sound meets the Atlantic Ocean. We had just got out there and my brother-in-law handed me his polarized sunglasses and said “put these on”. What I saw completely unearthed me and shook me to the bone. The polarized glasses allowed me to see a monstrous cloud formation coming directly at us. He told us to pull our lines in immediately and just then on the radio was an emergency announcement stating, “if you are on the water get off now repeat, repeat”! There was an enormous wall of water coming directly at us on our right side with about one minute from impact. A very large white squall many miles long came across the boat; the rain felt like spikes against my skin.
My brother-in-law informed us that the radar was not working, we only had a compass heading with visibility at zero! We were going full throttle blinded by conditions; at any time, we could have collided with another boat. I do believe we had some help here.
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Around 2004 I was working in a spa and quite often in our business (the swimming pool industry) there is usually a few inches of water at the bottom of the pool or spa. That day was no different. My feet were soaking wet. I was using a grinder to complete the work that I was doing. I looked down and under the water that I was standing in was the extension cord plugged into the grinder that I was using. It was hard to grasp just what I was looking at, there were NO words. The plug from the grinder had come loose from the extension cord, with the male prongs showing sticking out about 1/8”! I should have been electrocuted! I couldn’t understand how in the world I was still alive!
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In 2005 my friend Jon and I were on our way back from a hunting trip. We were driving in two separate vehicles, and I pulled over to get gas. Jon said, “I’m going to continue on.” I was about 10 minutes behind him and suddenly I heard a loud voice in my head; “John, I need you, John, I need you”! I then saw a vision of his truck going off the side of the mountain and rolling down about 30-40 feet! I looked to my right and the landscape where I was, was perfectly flat! I was not in any danger, but I knew that I had just received a powerful revelation/vision. Very soon I started to climb in elevation and was on the watch for him. I went around a bend and he was jumping up and down waving his arms so that I would see him; he knew that I would be coming by very soon and had to climb back up the steep hill before I passed by. Jon started to explain to me what happened and I said yes I know, I saw the whole thing. Jon completely understood since he also had a strong relationship with God!
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Throughout my adult life I have enjoyed hunting deer & elk, mostly with a rifle and sometimes with a bow. One day in 2005 I was hunting alone with my bow, admiring my surroundings, and always moving very quietly. I came to a stop because I heard something that I didn’t recognize. I listened to it for a few minutes but still did not know what it was and I attempted to move forward. However, there was a force or presence not allowing me to move forward. The experience was unlike anything that I have ever encountered. I then took several steps backwards, turned around and proceeded in the opposite direction and at that time I realized that what I was hearing was a guttural sound from a cat: most likely a mountain lion. This is a good example of the hedge/wall of protection!
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In 2008 A friend of mine and I were on a high mountain dirt road, over 10,000 feet in elevation with a few inches of snow and ice on the road. In some places the trail was very narrow and any oncoming traffic would have to wait a bit until the other vehicle passed. We were fine going up but coming down was a different story. We were pulling a flatbed trailer with two ATV’s which gave considerable extra weight. I was traveling at about 10 mph as it was quite treacherous. We were starting to go around a slight bend to the left when the wheels of the trailer started to go over the edge; there was about a 70+ foot drop. I turned the wheel all the way hard left and hit the gas spinning the truck and trailer around before it pulled us down. A person we didn’t know who was right behind us said to me; there is no way that I could have ever done what I just saw you do!
Another person said that someone two weeks ago went over right here and broke his neck! God took control as always!
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In 2016, I was driving on a highway heading west bound with a posted speed of 60mph. There was an intersection coming up with no stop signs or traffic lights. A car coming east bound abruptly turned left right in front of me as I was entering the intersection at 60 miles per hour, I hit the car broadside on the passenger side, my air bags didn’t deploy! Being stunned for several minutes, I was able to get out of my truck without a scratch.
However, the car that I hit was destroyed, I walked around to the driver’s side of the car and looked at the driver, I didn’t say anything to him for I was in a state of shock. He had his hand on his friends’ hand and that was all I could see of his friend since he was completely encased in metal. He died on the way to the hospital. The driver suffered from 4 broken ribs and internal bleeding. As stated, I walked away without a scratch from a very serious accident.
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In 2017 I was driving north bound and came to an intersection which had no stop sign for north/south. However, I came to a complete stop and didn’t know why for a second, there was a stop sign for east/west bound. Within about 2 seconds after I stopped, a car traveling at high speed flew through the stop sign and would have hit my driver’s side door. An example of a “Still Small Voice”
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It was 2018 my wife and I were traveling up in the mountains of Colorado on a trip with our 37’RV. There was a notice that showed up on my dash which indicated that service was needed soon. Awhile later it showed up again. We were going up a mountain pass with a lot of switch backs when a yellow caution came on regarding service. That stayed on the screen. We were approaching the summit of Berthoud pass in northern Colorado with an elevation 11,307 feet. A red danger warning came across the screen. At that point, just in time we reached the summit with a large parking lot to pull into; my brakes were starting to fail and I noticed a change in the engine and steering but pulled over safely! I hoped that if we sat there for a full hour to cool down that it would be okay because we would be going down the mountain and not such a strain on the truck. I was hoping to get down off the pass closer to the interstate highway, then call a tow company.
Well, that was nearly a fatal decision! We were doing well for about 20 minutes when the first warning came, and the caution quickly followed. There were still a lot of hair pin turns to go through with no place to pull over with an RV. Then the red danger warning came on again. Five to ten seconds later there was a very large pullover, large enough for semi-trucks. We didn’t have so much as 30 seconds left; I would have lost control of truck as I was not able to negotiate turns or brake. God before the foundations of the world knew that I would need this pull off right here and now. Five hours later two tow trucks arrived: one for the truck and one for RV.
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In May 2019 I was heading to check out what was needed in a storeroom, and I thought I should go back and get my clip board. It was a bright and sunny day, when I opened the door, the lights didn’t work, and my pupils were very dilated from the sun and couldn’t see very well. I was stepping sideways to my right, there was a trap door on the floor which I didn’t see and the door was not on it! The clip board was in my right hand and my right leg went straight down hard and fast. The floor was concrete, the opening was three feet wide by four feet long and four feet deep. My left leg was stuck up top, my right forearm stopped me from hitting the right side of my head on the concrete floor. My shoulder was badly damaged making a sloshing and clicking sound when I moved it. My chiropractor worked on It for 3 years every time I went to see him. Going back to get that clip board may have saved my life, without it I can’t even imagine, most likely I would have been killed, I cried that afternoon thinking about it. “A Still Small Voice”
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In June 2023, I was driving to an appointment and while doing so I was swallowing some supplements in capsule form. I have had some difficulties at home getting one of these stuck in my throat but with a bit of hard coughing was able to spit it out. However, while driving, one got stuck in my throat. I had a couple miles to go; I coughed and coughed but to no avail.
I pulled into the parking lot, got out and got on my hands and knees and coughed as hard as I could, again to no avail. I knew that this capsule was caught at the intersection of my throat, esophagus and airway. I got back into my truck, put my hands on the steering wheel and knew there was no reason to try the same thing again. At that moment I called to God in a loud voice; Father Help Me! Within a nano second that capsule was sitting on the center of my tongue! This is where BELIEVING comes in!
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BELIEVE WITHOUT ANY DOUBT THAT WHAT YOU ARE ASKING FOR AND YOU WILL RECEIVE!
EPIOLOG
Over the years when I would think back on my life and how God has worked mightily in me and blessed me in so many ways, He has directed my path throughout my life.
I felt a need to express myself and share it.
Before the foundations of the world God knew that I would believe in Him and that He would raise His only begotten son, the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead.
Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. Hebrews 11:1
All things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive. Matthew 21:22
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