Text: Genesis 26:17-22
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.”
Sometimes you must go through a place or season of contention before you find your place of blessing. Just don’t get stuck there!
Isaac was honest and industrial. God had blessed Isaac with increase and the Philistines envied him for it. They contended with him but we see that Isaac moved from the “wells of contention” to a place of even greater fruitfulness.
The enemy loves to get us stuck in a place of contention and quarreling so that we will miss the blessings God has for us on the other side. Isaac didn’t get stuck in the place of contention, that is, he didn’t need to stick around to defend his rights or reputation. It is when we try to defend ourselves and our rights that we often get stuck in a place of contention. But when we give up that right and graciously look to the Lord as our “strength and defense” (Psalm 118:14), God opens the doors for even greater blessings.
As Matthew Henry states, “They made Isaac go out of their country. That wisdom which is from above, will teach us to give up our right, and to draw back from contentions. If we are wrongfully driven from one place, the Lord will make room for us in another.”
God used the quarrels in Isaac’s journey to lead him back to Beersheba, where Abraham had been before. God again confirms His promise to Isaac for Abraham’s sake, that he would indeed bless him and multiply his offspring to be a blessing to the nations. Yet it didn’t come without a tussle. Contention is never a comfortable thing, but it is often a place we must go through for God to move us into another place where we can have greater increase and be more fruitful in blessing others.
Don’t get stuck at the well of contention. Don’t waste too much time quarreling there. God has a better well for you to drink from, where you will be exceedingly “fruitful in the land.”
Think about that as you abide in Him this week!
Subscribe to “Abiding In Him” and get Jimmy’s devotional in your Inbox once a week.