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In today's OYB reading in the Old Testament we see that God's people face fierce opposition when God's people try to restore the good that others have tried to ruin or to create more good (ie- the digging of wells in a land where water is precious and scarce.)
In this life we will have trials, our Lord Jesus told us. It has always been so for those that follow the LORD.
Genesis 26:
17 So Isaac moved away to the Gerar Valley, where he set up their tents and settled down. 18 He reopened the wells his father had dug, which the Philistines had filled in after Abraham’s death. Isaac also restored the names Abraham had given them.
19 Isaac’s servants also dug in the Gerar Valley and discovered a well of fresh water. 20 But then the shepherds from Gerar came and claimed the spring. “This is our water,” they said, and they argued over it with Isaac’s herdsmen. So Isaac named the well Esek (which means “argument”). 21 Isaac’s men then dug another well, but again there was a dispute over it. So Isaac named it Sitnah (which means “hostility”). 22 Abandoning that one, Isaac moved on and dug another well. This time there was no dispute over it, so Isaac named the place Rehoboth (which means “open space”), for he said, “At last the Lord has created enough space for us to prosper in this land.”
23 From there Isaac moved to Beersheba, 24 where the Lord appeared to him on the night of his arrival. “I am the God of your father, Abraham,” he said. “Do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you. I will multiply your descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will do this because of my promise to Abraham, my servant.” 25 Then Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the Lord. He set up his camp at that place, and his servants dug another well.
As we see, the ungodly can be jealous of the good that God's people create. To see the godly prosper is not something the world is particularly fond of. To do good and live as is right in the sight of the LORD will bring opposition!
The wicked will try to destroy the works of righteousness, to ascribe them to themselves, trying to thwart the followers of the true God.
Isaac restored the wells that his father had dug, acknowledging the efforts of his father before him, as evinced by the renaming of the wells as they were before. Isaac went on to increase the blessing of wells of water in the land, facing more opposition, but God rewarded Isaac for his efforts and brought him to a place where he could rest.
More trials were ahead for Isaac - both internal and external - but God always brings us to a place of His protection so that we may be refreshed and ready to move forward again. Believers will always face trouble, but in God we have peace.
Repose, renewal and refuge are what God's people have when we rely upon the LORD.
Then we are able to go forward again to do His will in our lives.
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