Well, Well
January 11 (Genesis 26)
As I write these thoughts, images of the Palisades fire in California are on the muted TV in the background. They say, “We’ll rebuild back better than ever.” I know one thing … those folks have got a rough road ahead. Restoring things that have been lost is an uphill battle. We find a picture of restoration in the life of Isaac, in Genesis 26. Earlier in Abraham’s life, the family temporarily settled in the region of Gerar, thirty miles southwest of Jerusalem, where the Philistines lived. While there, his servants dug some wells, one whose dispute is recorded in chapter 21. After Abraham’s death, the Philistines filled all the wells so no one could use them.
Years later, Isaac had to move to this same area himself. Chapter 26 says that he dug again the wells of Abraham, and “gave them the names Abraham had given them.” What one names a well, I’m not quite sure. But God is a God of details. When we think of restoration, be it of a nation, a church, a community, a marriage, or an individual, we find a good lesson deep down in those wells.
Before life giving water could be enjoyed by Isaac, he had to re-dig the wells. And when the wells were restored, even the names were restored. When God restores, he restores completely. Sometimes the wells of our lives get filled in - perhaps by sin, perhaps by apathy, contentment or indifference. I recently cleaned some pottery bowls sitting atop the kitchen cabinets; you know, the ones you never use, that just sit up there looking good. Years of greasy dust due to inactivity had to be removed.
The buildup doesn’t happen overnight. It’s like working in the wood shop with safety glasses on. You don’t notice how your eyesight is gradually getting worse and worse, until you take them and wash the dust off and you see how blind you were.
Early in my ministry, I baptized a man, who was ready to clean up his spiritual house, but wanted to leave the back door unlocked. He showed me a seriously inappropriate tattoo he had on his shoulder, and asked me if I thought he should have it removed now that he was a Christian. I told him, “What is the point of removing a physical tattoo if the heart that put it there still remains?”
Spiritual spring-cleanings are not fun. Re-digging wells is a hot and dirty business. Restoration is not easy. But the refreshing water at the end is worth the effort.
“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten…” Joel 2:25
