“I will walk freely in an open place because I seek your precepts.” Psalm 119:45
Greetings Dear Readers!
It’s hard to believe we’re almost midway through February, 2018. For me, January of this year has seemed oddly set apart with wide expanses of precious time spent with the Lord. Some were ministry related, which included helping to facilitate a “Come to the Quiet Retreat” and a second Spiritual Direction weekend. Some others were weather related, caused by harsh winter cancellations and delays. In an odd way, the first weeks of 2018 have “presented” as a type of wide threshold…into the open space of the year ahead.
In light of all this, I’ve spent much time pondering a passage in Genesis 26 that had also impacted one of my daughters. It’s all about Abraham’s son, Isaac and a very significant time of his life. For the purposes of this blog, however, I’d like to focus, and point you in the direction of verses 12-33. In particular:
“So Isaac left there, camped in the Valley of Gerar, and lived there. Isaac reopened the water wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham and that the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died.” Genesis 26:17-18
Because of God’s tremendous blessing it had been necessary for Isaac to move his whole entourage to this area called Gerar, and dig for water to sustain his camps. Each of those wells has a story and several have names that reveal the story lines. Take some time, dear readers, to also camp out in Gerar for your devotions. Perhaps the Lord will speak to you as He has to me.
Notice though – and here’s the important part – all of this takes place while: “Isaac sowed seed in that land, and in that year he reaped a hundred times what was sown. The Lord blessed him…” (verse 12)
Sowing seed and digging wells represent slow, but steady activity. In the weeks ahead we’re going to be talking more about what that means in your spiritual life. Meanwhile, spend some time at Gerar. We really still are at the threshold of 2018. Truly in this year, you could reap a hundred times what you are sowing.
It’s hard to believe we’re almost midway through February, 2018. For me, January of this year has seemed oddly set apart with wide expanses of precious time spent with the Lord. Some were ministry related, which included helping to facilitate a “Come to the Quiet Retreat” and a second Spiritual Direction weekend. Some others were weather related, caused by harsh winter cancellations and delays. In an odd way, the first weeks of 2018 have “presented” as a type of wide threshold…into the open space of the year ahead.
In light of all this, I’ve spent much time pondering a passage in Genesis 26 that had also impacted one of my daughters. It’s all about Abraham’s son, Isaac and a very significant time of his life. For the purposes of this blog, however, I’d like to focus, and point you in the direction of verses 12-33. In particular:
“So Isaac left there, camped in the Valley of Gerar, and lived there. Isaac reopened the water wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham and that the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died.” Genesis 26:17-18
Because of God’s tremendous blessing it had been necessary for Isaac to move his whole entourage to this area called Gerar, and dig for water to sustain his camps. Each of those wells has a story and several have names that reveal the story lines. Take some time, dear readers, to also camp out in Gerar for your devotions. Perhaps the Lord will speak to you as He has to me.
Notice though – and here’s the important part – all of this takes place while: “Isaac sowed seed in that land, and in that year he reaped a hundred times what was sown. The Lord blessed him…” (verse 12)
Sowing seed and digging wells represent slow, but steady activity. In the weeks ahead we’re going to be talking more about what that means in your spiritual life. Meanwhile, spend some time at Gerar. We really still are at the threshold of 2018. Truly in this year, you could reap a hundred times what you are sowing.
“He moved from there and dug another, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Open Spaces and said, ‘For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.’”
Genesis 26:22.
Genesis 26:22.