Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with… his personal adviser and… the commander of his forces. Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?” They answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you… Let us make a treaty with you…” (Genesis 26:26-28).
Our Father, faithful God, the psalmist writes that You guide...with Your counsel... Psalm 73:24). And Your counsel is always wise, always perfect, even when we do not understand. You are the Rock, Your works are perfect, and all Your ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just [You are] (Deuteronomy 32:4).
The patriarch Isaac listened to Your perfect counsel when, as he tried to escape famine, You instructed him, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you..." So Isaac stayed in Gerar (Genesis 26:2-3,6).
O Father You are true to Your promises. But even in Your blessings—sometimes because of Your blessings—Your people can face difficulty, and hostility, and opposition. As You blessed Isaac, his wealth continued to grow until he became [so] very wealthy that the Philistines envied him (Genesis 26:12-15).
Yet Isaac continued to trust You through the escalating acts of sabotage, and aggression, and eventual expulsion by the king: Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us” (Genesis 26:16).
And even as he moved away the jealously and spite and sabotage followed him as he tried to secure his livelihood (Genesis 26:17-21). Until at last he 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” (Genesis 26:22).
Lord, You teach us so much in this account! Help us like Isaac, to obey You. Help us to be secure and confident in the knowledge of Your will. And in the midst of Your abundance—material or spiritual—when the forces of evil harassment and envy sweep in and try to pile dirt into Your flow of blessing (Genesis 22:16), help us to keep moving forward.
Help us to have such deep faith in Your word, that with each "setback", we would hang on just a little bit longer, until You bring us to our Rehoboth, and give us room [to] flourish in the land (Genesis 26:22).
Our Father, the wisdom of Your Scripture teaches us that when a person’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him (Proverbs 16:7 - CSB). May our lives be so pleasing to You that, as with Isaac, our powerful enemies and their entourage would clearly see that the Lord is with us, and desire to make treaties with us (Genesis 26:28).
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