Room to Flourish

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

ROOM TO FLOURISH

Gen 26:17-22

17 So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. 18 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them. 19 Isaac's servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen and said, "The water is ours!" So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him. 21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah.   22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, "Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land."

NIV

Dig wells and have them disputed so go dig another well and have that opposed, then go dig another well and finally have one for having water for himself. Isaac sure sounds like a quiet well-mannered follower of God. He would not get into a war with the Philistines over a well of water. Yet, it must not have been easy to dig a well in those days.  They had to do all the digging by hand, of course, it would have been the manservants of Isaac that did the digging, still to spend all the time digging a well and then have the Philistines argue that it was their well, would seem they were trying to provoke Isaac to become angry by quarreling with his herdsman, into a fight with them, and maybe give them a reason to kill him and take all his flocks and herds for themselves. We do not know the motivation of the Philistines for taking two wells that Isaac had dug, but we do see the response of a man who follows God.  He moved on and dug another well until he could have no one quarrel with him, so he named that well, room, and confessed it was the LORD who had given him room, and now he would flourish in the land. Here is our story, to be content with our lives, and if we are faced with opposition to turning the other cheek, move on, do not get angry, or upset with those who would try to provoke us into a war with them, so to speak. Humility and contentment are keys to a happy life in Christ. Of course, we cannot think of a time when something we have worked for our benefit has been disputed over and taken from us, but the point is simply living without giving in to any provocation against us, not getting sucked into an argument that is not winnable. Let those who live with aggression and greed have their fun for a season. We know the reward that awaits them, which is not really a reward. Because we live in Christ and follow him, follow his example, we must humble ourselves without a word just as Jesus did not defend himself or stop going to the cross, because he did the Father’s will. Jesus tells us to learn from him for he is gentle and humble or lowly of heart and if we follow him we will find rest. Within the Greek sentence, the implication is we will find rest in our life, or can also mean our souls, meaning our inner man. This is our lives, to be humble, void of aggression, void of arguments, void of greed or selfishness, and remain gentle, not offensive, not warring within, but moving on as we are blessed by the LORD, and he will lead us to those green pastures and those still waters, and He will restore us, giving us room to flourish, both in this world and the world to come.