Gen 26:17
And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
Gen 26:18
And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.
Isaac was 75 years old when Abraham died. As they walked through the land that God had given them, Abraham had shown him all the places where he had dug wells. After Abraham's death, the Philistines had stopped up some of those wells. They had a lot of respect for Abraham but very little, it seems, for his son Isaac. Now, it was time for Isaac to begin asserting his authority as the heir to the promise of God.
There's a great lesson here. How long are we going to just hang around in the blessings that our parents and grandparents brought through prayer and dedication to God? If we would be honest, we would actually say, "The wells of revival that our parents/grandparents digged have been stopped up." All of us have heard people sigh and say, "It's not like it was in the old days when people used to shout and run the aisles." However, we forget that those times were brought on by years of dedication and hours of intercessory prayer. The "old-timers" got the outpouring because they paid for it. We are just riding on their coattails. (Please. Don't shout me down just because I'm preaching real good.)
Just as the normal cycle of a Christian goes, I have been going through some exceptionally rough times. Any child of God is going to experience "junk" at some point in time. The outpouring of His presence has not been as powerful. The joy has not been unspeakable. It has been more of a test of endurance. Perhaps some of you are going through the same things. Rejoice, we're normal!!!!
The wells were stopped because of the jealousy and hatred of the Philistines. We have an enemy that would love to stop our flow of His blessings by the same means. No, I'm not talking about the deacons or your spouse. When it comes right down to it, the only enemy we have is Satan, himself. He might use the deacons and your spouse, and he might use them re-e-a-a-l good. Why? Satan is jealous of our relationship with Almighty God. He hates us because we have experienced forgiveness and mercy that he can never have. He will use anyone and everyone that he can to hurt us and destroy our relationship with those that we love. His ultimate goal is to destroy our relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus brings us "life." Furthermore, Satan would like to keep us from the fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit that a "live" well would bring. Therefore, he dumps his 'garbage' into our wells to polute and stop up any flow. A stopped flow means no victory. A stopped flow means no souls won. A stopped flow means that he rules over me and you.
We can do one of two things. The first one is what most Christians have chosen. Listen for a minute and you will agree. They walk by the stopped up well that has junk and garbage littered in it and around it. It stinks. It is no longer a place of peace or beauty. You didn't do it, somebody did it to you. So, here's the sermon you start preaching. "Look what so-and-so did to me. No wonder I can't get anywhere. No wonder nobody wants to come to church anymore. No wonder we don't have the victory. It's all so-and-so's fault." Oh, by the way. I don't know if anyone can use these excuses any more because I have worn them out from using them so much. What did you say? You have been using them, too? And you know others that have been using them? Well, gee-whiz-gosh-a-Moses-you-all-I-swear. No wonder those phrases are all worn out. We've all used them so much.
The second alternative is the one we need to choose. We need to get down on our knees and start digging the 'garbage' of hatred, jealousy and un-forgiveness out of our hearts. God will bring us to some times of deep introspection where we have to look deep within ourselves. We can re-dig those wells of living water or we can walk away and die. Our ancestors brought in a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. But they did it on their knees crying out to God for revival. They put away childish hurts, they quit point fingers and got down to business with God. Why? Because without a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit somebody or something would die.
Let's join together, put away petty differences and re-dig the wells.
Much love, Henry
