Skip to main content

New Article: Dig Another Well

                 God had blessed Isaac, and everything was going well; until it was not.  Famine hit the promised land, so Isaac moved his family south to the region of Gerar.  There he planted crops and became even more wealthy (Genesis 26:1-13).  Everything was great again; until it was not.

               His neighbours became jealous of him and filled his water well with dirt.  Isaac took the hint, moved east, and dug another well (verses 14-19).

               However, the herdsmen there said, “The water is ours” (verse 20) and they took his well.  Isaac dug another well, but they argued about that one too, so he moved even further east (verse 21).

               Finally, his servants dug another well and he was allowed to keep that one and live in the area.

               One of the interesting parts of his story is that Isaac never whines or complains about what is happening to him.  We do not see him protesting and saying, “My father dug this well years ago and it belongs to me!”  All we are told is that Isaac moved on and dug another well.

               Sometimes, the worst part of our troubles is not the actual circumstance, but our reaction to it.  Life constantly changes.  You have friends for a season, then they move, and you must make new friends.  The job you love is eliminated and, as much as you do not want to, you must move on and find something else to do.  You have moments when you think, “If I could stop time right now, that would be great!”, but time marches on and drags you along with it.  The quicker you accept your new surroundings and live in the reality that you are faced with, the better off you will be. 

               To be clear, you do not need to be a doormat who gets pushed around all the time.  There is a time and place to stand up for yourself.  However, we also need to be wise enough to know when it is time to let go and move on to something new.

               Too many of us are longing for a time and a place that no longer exists.

               We need to learn to embrace change and dig a new well.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Article: The Power of Caring

                 In 2013, the town of High River, Alberta experienced one of the biggest floods in their history. Hardly a home or business escaped without damage.   Things were so bad on the main street that even the radio station had to move to another town just to stay on the air.                That move did not sit well with morning show host Jody Seeley.   She did not like the idea of broadcasting about the community without being in it, so she came up with a plan.   She convinced her bosses to create a mobile radio station in an enclosed trailer and had the trailer towed to a local restaurant called The Hitching Post.   From that day on, Jody did her radio show from the parking lot of the restaurant.   Next, she started what she called “Honks and Hugs”.   The idea was that if you were alright and having a good day, you were to let he
Post a Comment
Read more

Dark and Light

            When you look out at the world, what do you see?             Some see nothing but trouble and pain.   They point to things like poverty, crime, problems with drugs and alcohol and marriage break-ups and say that the world is full of sadness and sorrow.   Watch the news for even a half hour and you will get the idea that the world is a dark place.             Others see nothing but good.   They appreciate generous people in their community.   They think about their friends and neighbours and smile.   They marvel at the beauty of sunrises and stars at night.   To them, the world is a bright and wonderful place.             You may be surprised that the Bible supports both of these world views.   On one hand it says things like, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the
1 comment
Read more

New Article: The Necessity of Putting Others First

                 If you were looking for an otherworldly spot to test what it might be like to live on another planet, the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii would be a good choice.   At least that is what NASA decided when they built a 1200-square-foot geodesic dome there and gave it the name HI-SEAS (“Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation”).                Scientists in the dome were cut off from the outside world.   Food and other supplies were delivered at predetermined intervals.    If the crew wanted to go outside, they had to wear pretend spacesuits and they were only allowed to venture a certain distance from the dome.   NASA even established a communications delay of several seconds to simulate the time it would take radio signals to travel from Mars to Earth and vice versa.   Since it first open
Post a Comment
Read more