ON THE VANGUARD

RECHOVOT
“He went away from there and dug another well, and over that one they didn’t quarrel. So he called it Rechovot [wide open spaces] and said, ‘Because now Adonai has made room for us, and we will be productive in the land.’”
Genesis 26:22

It was because God blessed Isaac so greatly that the Philistines envied him. When he planted crops the harvest would be returned a hundredfold. His animals became fruitful and multiplied. And it seemed that everything he touched was blessed by God to the point of being untouchable. But seeing God’s hand on Isaac caused jealousy to arise in the hearts of the Philistines in whose land Isaac was an alien. This then caused the Philistines to plug up wells once built by Isaacs father, Abraham. Maybe still not getting the full point, it finally took Abimelech saying, “Move away from here,” before Isaac finally moved away.
It seemed like no matter where he moved to, these jealous Philistines and men of other tribes still followed him. And no matter what he did to provide for his clan and himself, trouble always came looking for him. When out in the valley, after digging a new well named Esek, the herdsmen of Gerar came to quarrel and eventually stole his well. Isaac’s response was to dig a second new well which was named Sitnah, but it too was taken from him. It was after this, then, that Isaac moved on from there. He moved on and dug a third well. Seeing that no one was challenging him for the rights to this well, he named it Rechovot, meaning wide open spaces. It was here that God allowed him to flourish
Have you ever noticed that what Isaac went through we also find ourselves going through? Let me explain. The enemy’s number one goal is to prevent us from being blessed by God. He knows that once we are in sync with God, nothing can stop the tidal wave of blessings that will be poured out over us. This in a way is the fact of digging a well. In going deeper in our relationship with God we are in essence drilling for the fresh water from which we can drink and be filled. But the enemy comes to fill up our well, covering it with the dirt and debris of sin. As we find ourselves thirsty for a true drink still, we dig again only to have the well be covered up again.
But notice that Isaac did not give up in his search for fresh water. Instead he moved on from there. His desire for a drink without the bitterness or dust flavoring his water was so strong that he continued to dig and dig. And this time his digging paid off as the enemy did not follow and did not fill in his wells.
While this may be a physical story about a well, it is a spiritual representation also of our lives. Again, the enemy does not want us to drink deep of God or of His blessings. But we cannot allow him to continue to cover up our wells. Those who are truly thirsty for a relationship with God will continue to dig and ultimately find that fresh water and fresh relationship with Him. So the question I ask is how thirsty are you? Are you thirsty enough to keep digging even when your wells continue to be filled in? The wide open spaces of a relationship with God may be found in the next well dug. But if we do not move on and continue to dig, we will never find the water we long for. So then dig, my friend, dig.