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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.

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