“Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him. Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.” Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. 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. Also Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there. But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, because they quarreled with him. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name Sitnah. And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.” Then he went up from there to Beersheba. And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.” So he built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.” Genesis 26:12- 25
Isaac the son of Abraham dug a well in a field on land that had been passed down to him from Abraham. Now the Philistines had stopped up and abandoned the wells that his father’s servants had dug. So, he dug again a well in that land, but when the well was functioning again the settlers, the men of Gerar, [meaning agitation and strife continually], laid claim to it and would not allow Isaac to settle his family there. So, he named that well Esek[meaning contention or quarrel] and moved on to another place that was owned by his father, and he dug again a well there that had also been stopped up and abandoned by the Philistines, but the current inhabitants disputed over that well also. So, he named that one Sitnah [meaning and hostility and hatred].
So once again Isaac and his family moved to another place and dug again another of his father’s wells. This time no one disputed with him over it and he and his family settled there in peace, because God was with them. He named that well Rehoboth [meaning broad spaces, with the idea of room to grow and prosper surrounded by peace.]
There are times when it seems our efforts are in vain, and we are tempted to just give up. Along the way we begin to feel like, “what’s the use? Our efforts are not getting us anywhere and we just keep trying, but someone else gets the benefit of our efforts while we are compelled to start over again and again.
On the face of it, it doesn’t seem fair. But in the wisdom of God nothing is wasted when we act in obedience to Him by faith in Him.
The key is to simply stay the course. Keep doing what you know is right and eventually you will reach your goal and reap your harvest.
Jacob could have given up after the first disputed encounter and certainly after the second, but because he didn’t give up, but pressed on, he found the peaceful dwelling place for himself and his family, and God blessed him in it.
So here is the message for today and every day. Don’t give up one well shy of a blessing.
Are you praying for someone, and it doesn’t seem like anything is changing? Keep praying. Do you need some resource, and it seems time is running out to get it? Keep believing and stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Has a child or spouse or other loved one gone astray, and your heart’s desire is for them to be restored back to the truth of God? Keep praying and believing for them.
The very next well you dig, the very next prayer you pray, the very next time you extend you faith to believe, could be your Rehoboth, your broad space of rest, prosperity and peace.