Starting Over

Starting Over

Genesis 26: ¹⁷ Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. ¹⁸ And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them.

 

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After being told to leave, Isaac and his massive entourage moved to the Valley of Gerar where his father Abraham lived. He grew up there as an adult and helped build the wells. The Philistines did not want the wells so they stopped them up, making them useless.

 

My Observations:

• Isaac may have felt like he was starting over.
• Isaac had to redo what someone else messed up.
• Isaac had a lot of work on his hands created by someone else.

 

Making sure raiders would not move in, the Philistines may have done a good job filling in the wells. There numbers were not large enough to protect all the territory so they made sure no one would want to try to move in. This may have caused extra work for Isaac.

 

But Isaac remembered how GOD blessed his father. He did not complain or say “woe is me”, rather he got started. He pitched his tent and began to dig. He and the herdsmen reopened the wells and Isaac named them the names Abraham gave them. GOD provided again.

 

Challenge

• Why do you think GOD told Moses about what the Philistines did to the wells?
• Have you ever had to start over because of someone else’s actions?
• Can you take a deep breath and be willing to start over because GOD may have a new direction for you?