Scripture Daily

Context No. 2766 of 4322 · Genesis

Context · Reflection

Genesis 26:17-22: in context

17Isaac departed from there, encamped in the valley of Gerar, and lived there. 18Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham. He called their names after the names by which his father had called them. 19Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of flowing water. 20The herdsmen of Gerar argued with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. 21They dug another well, and they argued over that, also. So he called its name Sitnah. 22He left that place, and dug another well. They didn’t argue over that one. So he called it Rehoboth. He said, “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

Isaac reopens the wells his father Abraham had dug, which the Philistines had filled in out of spite, and his servants dig fresh ones too. But the herdsmen of Gerar quarrel over the first well, claiming the water is theirs, so he names it Esek, contention, and moves on. They quarrel over the second, so he names it Sitnah, enmity, and moves on again. The third well no one fights over, and he calls it Rehoboth: now the LORD has made room for us.

Isaac keeps giving ground. Twice he yields a well he had every right to hold, rather than fight for it, and to some eyes that looks like plain weakness. But he is trusting God to make room where men crowd him out, and God does exactly that. There is a quiet strength in refusing to grasp, in walking away from a fight over what is technically yours, that only real faith can afford. The man who will not clutch ends up with room to spare.

When someone contends with me over what is rightfully mine, can I let it go like Isaac and trust God to make room for me elsewhere?

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