Several years ago, when our daughter was about 4 years old, we were ministering on a college campus.  At that time, there was a massive manhunt for a murderer who also abducted people.  Iíll never forget the sheer terror, desperation, and panic that I felt when I turned and realized that I couldnít find my daughter.  Yet only minutes earlier my well-being had been totally intact.  It was like the world faded and it was just me with the Lord pleading for Him to help me.  Of course moments later everything was fine.  It turned out that my daughter had wandered three blocks away after being attracted by a swing set.  In times of desperation and fear, I am here to testify that the Lord is there.  God will meet you in those difficult days so stay there and hold steady in the Lord.

As Isaac was under this abundant blessing and holding steady in the Lord, problems develop because the Philistines were jealous.  They were intent on robbing him of Godís blessing and began to stop up the wells of water.

So what happened to Isaac next as he worked to survive in his new home?

This is really a testament of faith.  Isaac opens wells and when the Philistines strive against him, he doesnít grasp or hold on.  He just keeps opening up more wells.  Finally when the third well is dug and the Philistines donít quarrel with him, Isaac praises Godís goodness because there was blessing for all.

Indeed, we serve a God who wants to bless and prosper us and wants us to be a blessing to others as well.  But you will encounter struggles in life and the enemy will threaten to steal, kill, destroy and rob you of Godís best.  However, when you are where God wants you to be, the gift of His blessings cannot be stopped.

Speaking of wells - after pastoring in Olympia for several years, we moved to Bend, Oregon where we built a house and also needed to dig a well.  There were layers of dirt, sandstone, pumice, lava, clay, etc. that we needed to break through in order to get to the water.  I was hoping to hit water at about 100 feet.  However, we needed to keep going through the frustrating process of digging until 452 feet and broke into an aquifer under central Oregon that is about the size of Rhode Island.  Glaciated cold water comes out of that well and it is incredibly good water.  Iím glad we didnít stop at 450 feet.

You may be in a season of digging through layers of rock with no water in sight, but keep digging in the things of God.  Sometimes days will be dry, or coarse, and sometimes there will be famine, but hold on to the promises of God, be steady as Isaac was, and watch life come forth.

To conclude, after we built our well, we had to do some landscaping.  I ordered a load of bark chips and just before they delivered my order, I placed a blue tarp for them to shovel the chips onto.  I was overwhelmed to find out the difference between a yard of bark chips that I thought I ordered and a unit of bark chips.  When the delivery dumped the entire truckload onto the driveway, I had more bark chips than I expected or even needed.

The Lord spoke to me through that experience and said, "This is how you are and how I am.

You lay out your little parameters and say this is what I need, but you donít understand when it comes to the things I have for you."

Godís blessings are overwhelming, and so much more than we expect or need.  That is what you sense in this chapter.  So I pray that in your hearts and in your spirit youíll understand how much God wants you to be blessed and how much He wants you to live in the living water of the Lord.  Donít allow your well of life to be choked up.