The Story of Isaac's Well

I thought this was so inspirational that I had to share it:

THE TALE OF ISAAC'S WELL.
When Isaac found himself in the middle of a famine, he asked God what to do. He felt God's direction to stay in a city called Gerar, where he became a successful businessman. But the people in the area began to envy him and wanted to make things miserable for him. They threw dirt into all the wells that the servants of his father, Abraham, had dug, clogging them up. Finally, they told him to just get out.


He and his servants started digging the wells again. When they found water, the herdsmen of Gerar started fighting against Isaac, telling him that the water belonged to them. Isaac didn't fight back, but instead dug another well, which they fought over also.


Finally he dug a third well, and the fighting stopped. Isaac named the well "Rehoboth," which means "wide-open spaces," and he said, "For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land" (Gen. 26:22).


I love the idea that in digging the wells Isaac actually opened up greater supply for others as well as for himself, although it didn't appear that way at the time.


Later that night God said to Isaac, "I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed" (Gen. 26:24). God promised Isaac that he would take care of his life.


What can you do when everything feels blocked, and discouragement is overwhelming? Isaac didn't let obstruction stop him. He didn't blame God, himself, or others. Each time Isaac dug another well, it was as though he was acknowledging the ever-present flow of good that he knew was rightfully his. I believe Isaac must have been confident that there was a perpetual source, Spirit, the only Creator, supplying abundance, freshness, and possibility, and that source could never be clogged. In this wide-open space of thought, there was nothing to fear.