Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Digging Wells

"When we do anything out of a sense of duty, we can back it up by argument; when we do anything in obedience to the Lord, there is no argument possible; that is why a saint can be easily be ridiculed."  Oswald Chambers

Most of what God asks us to do won't make sense to the rest of our culture.  The word submission is thought of as weakness.  Pouring ourselves out relentlessly will leave us exhausted  right?  Paul found delight in that very thing.  He was able to be a "door mat" and not have the self pity that usually accompanies it.  He was able to find joy in this selflessness. (2 Corinthians 12:15 I will very gladly spend and be spent for you)

Isaac is a pretty good example of this.(Genesis 26)  He just had a hundred fold harvest, by the way -that is a CRAZY big number, and was wealthy beyond belief.  He has all his father's resources and more.  He was on top!  Then, the Philistines fill up his wells, and the king tells him to beat it.  In the middle of a famine, Isaac was the only one succeeding.  I bet that put a bee in their bonnet.

It would have been pretty easy for Isaac to throw his weight around.  That would make sense, stand up for yourself boy!  It was his duty!

Nope.  You may know the story.  He moves over ten miles and digs a new well.  The Philistines fill it again.  So again Isaac takes all he has and moves again.  He does this 2 other times.  No grumbling, no fighting.  He simply keeps digging wells until they stop bothering him.  He knew God had a place for him in this land.  He just had to keep looking until he found it.

God wasn't moving Isaac out into the desert without water.  He won't move us to the desert without water either.  God never leads us to dry ground.  We need to keep digging wells, no matter how absurd it looks to the others.  The Lord will show us where to dig, its up to us to pick up the shovel and do some of the dirty work and keep worshiping.  If we worship loud enough, we won't be able to hear anyone else ridicule us.  

Noah didn't stop building in the midst of the mud slinging.  Its imperative we keep ourselves in God's light and remember what He told us there.  Its easy for us to doubt when we feel vulnerable.  After Isaac's submissive obedience, God spoke to him for the first time and gave him a wonderful promise of an entire nation.  


2 comments:

  1. So true Sarah! When God asks us to move in an area that we didn't expect; or, are uncomfortable with, He provides everything we need to do so; even if it looks foolish to the non-believer. Great post!!

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    1. Thanks Chris. For a long time I thought God brought me to a desert, only to realize, I had to dig a well to find refreshing.

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