Genesis 26

I was reading Genesis 26 yesterday and found it interesting that Isaac was such a good man. Aside from carrying on the sins of his father by lying and saying his wife was his sister (v. 7), he seemed to be a very laid back, good guy.  Isaac was a man of character.  He knew the Lord and obeyed His commands.  Because of His obedience, Isaac was very blessed.  When Isaac planted crops he harvested a hundered times more grain than he planted (v. 12).  He became very rich and soon he was the envy of his town.  The Philistines became jealous of his wealth and good fortune, so instead of learning from him, they got angry with him and filled in all of his wells with dirt.  Soon after he was asked to leave the town, Abimelech claimed he was too powerful for them (v. 16).  So without arguing he packed up all his belongings, family, servants and animals and moved away to the Gerar Valley where he opened up all the wells his father once dug and began to settle in.  His servants also dug a new well but when the shepherds of the area found out they argued over it and Isaac let them have it.  Again the servants found a new spot to dig and found fresh water, but again there was a dispute over it so instead of fighting for it they left to find a new spot.  God was good to Isaac and his people, for a third time they dug and found fresh water and there they could stay (v. 19-22).

What I found most interesting was that Isaac, as powerful as he was, did not fight for the wells and neither did his servants.  Isaac must have taught them well and even if they disagreed with him, his character was such that they obeyed him.  I have to think after all that labor I may have become angry and I would have started to fight for what was mine, but not Isaac.  He had self control.  He was laid back and knew that a fight would not end well nor would it help his cause.  Isaac was close to God and knew when to fight and when to withdraw.  God doesn't always want us to sit back and be a doormat.  There are times when we should fight for what is right and what is ours and there are times when we should stand down.  I guess my point is we can never know what to do in situations such as these if we don't know God.  If we don't know what God says about certain situations, or know His character, then we won't know how to react in our own life.  There is something called necessary conflict when making peace is more important than keeping the peace.  And in many instances there is no time to take a few days to pray.  In a moment we may need to take action or stand down so it is important to know God's Word and understand how he might react in certain cases.  It is important to have a deep relationship with Jesus and the Holy Spirit so we can follow God's will in each of our circumstances.  Isaac knew God.  Isaac trusted God and he knew how to react in his situations because he was close to God and was in constant communication with Him.  We can have this in our own life!  We should want this in our own life.......and so we pray.