Digging A New Well

Trust involves letting go and knowing God will catch you.
James C. Dobson (1936- )

And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him, and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him. (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.) And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.” So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the names that his father had given them. But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, 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 contended with him. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that 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, saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
~ from Genesis 26

Oh beloved, it is true. There are times to go back to the places from which we came. And there are times to move on.

Sometimes, we have even started along the path of the new Life He has given us, and there comes such an abundance of Life, that some around us are threatened. They can’t believe (yet) that someone is really so full of the Life He gives, and they move into some sort of envious hatred of our presence.

Sometimes, it is that we have entered into a place in life where we are joyfully coming to the end the work He has given us for this time.

Sometimes, there comes a toxicity to the situation we are in that is not explainable any other way than to see that the Hand of Providence is closing the door on staying.

Sometimes, it us who has ruined the environment we are in. And there is just no repairing the damage we have wrought in our failure.

And sometimes, everything is great, and He just says it is time to go.

The going is hard no matter which way it begins.

Whether we leave in pain or joy or fulfillment or loss or distress – it is hard to up and go to a new place or position in life. We can’t see how He is going to provide. But then, as we go, we find that He is even more faithful than we could ever begin to imagine.

We start out, and often as we set down on the ground He has set for us – and nothing seems to happen. We go to work, and nothing seems to work. It is like we keep hitting delay after delay. And in this part of the move, we are tempted to look back over our shoulder at the place we have been. But somehow, we keep moving.

As things fall apart (at first), and as we get past the temptation to look back at our former digs, we remember that those digs did not give water because of what we did. No, the gushing streams of Life we enjoyed in our former position were because we were standing in the very center of His will. And it is in this place where the wide torrent of His goodness is most felt.

So, we keep digging.

Can we see it? Then, (of course) it happens. The spot He has prepared for us begins to work. We – in letting go of our grip on the past – begin to see an enormous oasis of Life in this new place (that just a while ago we thought to be a desert).

So, is it time for you to move on beloved? Don’t go until it is. But, don’t stay a minute longer than you should. Listen to Him and obey. Fear not that you do not yet understand what He is going to have you do. Just dig, and the waters will flow in His time.

Tonight is your night beloved. Time to go where He tells you, when He tells you to go.