When the World Blocks You
Contents
when the world blocks you
Genesis 26:12-22
Some people want to meet God through special occasions, events, or mystical experiences. We do not experience supernatural events in our daily lives. We have ordinary days every day. What is important is how we experience the presence of the living God in our daily lives and how we can fulfill God's will in such a life.
Through Isaac, who lived an ordinary but faithful life, God allowed Abraham's faith to be passed on to the next generation of Jacob. In the life of Isaac, there are few remarkable achievements. There is no record as dramatic as the father Abraham or the son Jacob. If there's something special about it, it's the love story of meeting his wife Rebekah. What he worked hard on was digging wells. There is nothing special other than digging a well that has been done since the time of his father Abraham. Isaac, who was sandwiched like a sandwich between Abraham and Jacob, led an ordinary life. But the Bible puts him in the line of ancestors of the faith. What lessons do you give us?
When God blesses you, you become rich.
See Genesis 26:12-13 “Isaac planted grain in the land, and that year he reaped a hundredfold. Because the Lord blessed him. Isaac became rich. And he got richer and richer until he became very, very rich.”
Isaac sowed grain and reaped a hundredfold. Planting grain does not yield a 100x harvest. There are some people who make an investment and then go bankrupt. The Bible says that God blessed Isaac and he reaped a 100-fold. Raise your hand if you don't want to be rich? There are many people who are not rich even though they work hard. The rich are rich, but there are many rich people who have nothing to do with God. God must bless you. Is God with us in our management, business, and everything? We must acknowledge that God is the master of our business. If you seek wealth from God, ask God for grace!
God has given each of us the ability to be good at one thing or another. We have the seeds to get rich. Especially dream of becoming rich in faith. Isaac sowed grain and reaped a hundredfold. Dream of serving the world with a single small seed that you plant reaps 100 times better! Dream great for God! Ask God for blessings!
There are envious people and hindrances in the way of life.
Let's look at verses 14-16 of chapter 26.
The Philistines envied him when he had many flocks, cattle, and servants. The Philistines blocked all the wells that Abraham's servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham and filled them with soil. Abimelech said to Isaac. “Leave us. You are too strong for us to handle.”
God wants us to bless us and want us to live a prosperous life, but the world doesn't. There are two classes of people who have been involved with me. They are people who pray for me and encourage me to do well. But there are people who never see me doing well. There are others who are jealous of your well-being and success and, if you can, slander you. Some people feel threatened when you do well.
Don't expect people to applaud you when you're doing well! Rather the opposite. There are others who will ashes on your way. The Philistines were jealous of Isaac. So I closed all the wells of my father's days. Philistine king Abimelech told Isaac to leave the land. In the ancient Near East at that time, wells were the source of survival. Therefore, filling the well is a matter directly related to survival. Isaac's livelihood was threatened. Throughout my life, there are people blocking my way. Some people are thorns in your path. Intervene every once in a while and place obstacles. I don't say good things about you. They are people who sprinkle ashes wherever they go.
The same goes for faith. Now that I am trying to believe in God, and I am going to church, my husband, who is quiet, is against it. When we try to live according to God's will, temptation comes more. On our journey to success, we struggle, meet thorns, and encounter obstacles. That moment is an opportunity for greater growth. Disability is an opportunity for us.
The weapons of Christians are patience and peace!
Obstacles blocking the wells of our lives meet everywhere. Dig a well though! Finally, the time comes when the disruptors will withdraw. And you will receive even greater blessings. See Genesis 26:19-22.
As Isaac's servants were digging through the valley, they found a spring of fresh water. But the shepherds of Gerar were fighting with the shepherds of Isaac. “This water is ours.” For this reason Isaac called the well * Esek. Because they fought with Isaac. Isaac's servants dug another well, and the shepherds of Gerar again fought over the well. So Isaac called the well *Sitnah. Isaac moved from there and dug another well. No one came to fight this time. So Isaac said, “Now that the Lord has made our place large, we will multiply in the land.” And he named the well *Rehoboth.
Abimelech came to Isaac from Gerar, along with his friend Ahhusshad and Pichol, the commander of the army. Isaac asked them. “What did you come to me for? Did you not hate me and drive me out?” They answered. “We have seen the Lord with you. So we thought, ‘There must be an oath between us, between us and Isaac. We want to make a covenant with you. So that you do not harm us, as we have always treated you well and sent you in peace without touching you. You are blessed by Jehovah.”
As Isaac yielded to the Philistines without causing conflict, they came one day. They came to make a covenant with Isaac. And it says: “We saw God with you. You are a blessing from God.”
This is what we need to hear from the world. We see that God is with you! Isaac was a man of peace. Matthew 5:9 says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”
God leads us to a victorious life!
Finally, Isaac moved and arrived at a relatively large area. So he named him Rehoboth. It means ‘a place that is widened’. Isaac proclaimed that he would prosper there. Despite strife, envy, and persistent obstacles, Isaac believed in God and opened a new well. While experiencing quarrels, quarrels, and envy, I continued to seek God's guidance with new dreams and new places. He continued his march of faith.
It was because of his faith that Isaac was able to dig a well while persevering without causing conflict with the other party. Isaac had the belief that wherever he went, God was on my side and with me. By faith he was finally able to achieve victory. Isaac finally found plenty of water in a large land that did not need to be disturbed. Genesis 26 begins with a famine and ends with an abundant spring of water. It was a life change from a famine to a blessing. In the past, our lives were like a famine. However, if you believe in Christ and God bless you, your life will no longer be the same as before. You can live a life full of joy. When God is with us, we have a better life and a better future than before. With Christ, you can live that kind of life.
I pray that God will bless your life and give you peace and victory.