When I was small our grandparents still had an old fashioned well. It was an open well with a bucket that was lowered to the water then a handle was turned and the chain wound around a large log that served as a huge “pulley”. When the bucket was pulled up and we could take the dipper, that was the coolest, best water. I don’t think water tastes the same out of a spigot.

When a well “went dry” my grandfather would help to fill the hole with rocks and dirt. It was too dangerous to leave an open hole. Livestock or even a person could fall in. But the well was dry after all.

In Genesis 26:18-25 we find Issac with “well problems”. His father Abraham had dug wells in the valley of Gerar where Issac has settled. But the Philistines had stopped them up. Issac re-digs the wells. If you have family, servants, and livestock, you must have water.

Issac’s servants dig in the valley and discover a well of flowing water. The herdsman of Gerar however, contend with Issac over the well and take it as their own. In verse 21, we find Issac digs another well but they quarrel over it too.

In verse 22, Issac moves away from there and digs another well. The local people did not argue over that well. So Issac named it Rehoboth because the Lord had made room for them in the land.

In the past, I just looked at Issac as a stepping stone between Abraham and Jacob. I knew he was the solid evidence of God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah. And the faith Issac exhibited when his father Abraham tied him up and laid him on an altar…well, it was more than impressive. I just didn’t see what he accomplished on his own.

But Issac dug wells. He kept digging wells. Trying again and again to provide life giving water to those under his care. Now my attitude changed. He didn’t whine or complain or go to war…he just dug another well.

I might have fought for the wells my father had dug. I might have fought for the wells I had dug. But Issac trusted God to make the place for him and provide water…life giving water.

The LORD then appeared to Issac and promised Issac blessing and descendents. In response Issac builds an altar and worships…and then he digs another well.

Genesis 26:18-25