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I'm preaching today on one of my
favorite stories in the Bible, 

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and I've never preached on this 
before. 

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And it's I've been waiting for 
like 30 years to preach this 

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sermon since it actually 
probably longer. 

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Yeah, definitely longer than 
that because it's since I first 

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heard the song by Paul 
Overstreet. 

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Dig another. 
Well, we're actually going to 

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listen to that song in a few 
minutes. 

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But this story of Isaac and the 
wells and how his wells kept 

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getting filled up with dirt by 
his enemies and then his enemies

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were stealing his wells and, 
and, and what's he going to do 

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about it? 
What's his response going to be?

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It's not a story that gets a lot
of air time, if you will, but I 

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think it's one of for me, it's 
one of the most powerful stories

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in the Bible, spiritually 
powerful stories in the Bible, 

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the story of Isaac who who dug 
another well and to really kind 

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of see, oh, I turned it off. 
It was on before and I turned it

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off. 
I don't know why I did that, but

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I did. 
Now it's back on to really see 

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how the the power behind the 
story. 

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I want us to get the context 
here. 

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So just as a reminder where we 
are in the timeline of the 

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story, Abraham has died, Sarah 
has been dead for a number of 

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years, and Abraham has just 
died. 

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And now Isaac is the patriarch 
of the family. 

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Being the patriarch means that 
there is a tremendous burden of 

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responsibility on him. 
He is responsible for every 

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single person in his household, 
whether they are blood relatives

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or servants or, or or whomever. 
If they're part of his household

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and he's got a big household, 
he's responsible for making sure

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that they have enough food, 
enough water, they have shelter,

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they have protection from 
enemies. 

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They have everything they need 
to live lives of, of joy and 

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hope and and peace in the world 
that's on his shoulders. 

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And like his father, Abraham and
his mother Sarah, he is a 

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stranger in the land. 
He's a foreigner. 

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He's an alien. 
He owns no real estate other 

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than the The Cave where his 
parents are buried. 

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He owns that. 
And that's the only real estate 

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he has. 
And on top of that, he's a 

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farmer. 
I don't know how how you make a 

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living as a farmer when you have
no real estate, but he farmed 

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crops, he farmed animals, he had
sheep and he had goats and and 

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he was doing all of that purely 
on the willingness of the 

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political powers that were 
around him allowing him to be on

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their land. 
Worse still, after Abraham dies,

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and while he's still a stranger 
and a foreigner in this land, 

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God comes to Isaac. 
And God says, Isaac, there's 

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going to be a famine. 
You're going to be tempted to 

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flee to Egypt. 
That makes sense. 

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Egypt is where the water is. 
You got the Nile River. 

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If there's a drought there, if 
there's no rain there, it's all 

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right. 
The Nile River still is going to

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flood. 
There's still going to be plenty

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of arable land. 
It's a great place to be, 

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particularly in a famine down 
there where there is abundance 

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of resource. 
God says don't go to Egypt, stay

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right here. 
One day all of this land will 

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belong to your descendants. 
I will make your descendants 

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into a great nation, and the 
nations of the world will be 

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blessed through you. 
And so Isaac stays in the land, 

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and there is a famine. 
And during that famine, Isaac 

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the farmer, God blesses him, and
he prospers greatly. 

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And he becomes very wealthy. 
So wealthy that one of the local

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kings, Abimelech, is the nearest
to him, tells him, get away from

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us, you're too powerful, go 
away, go away. 

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Plus, to make sure he 
understands that he's not 

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welcome anymore, the Philistines
fill up all of his wells with 

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dirt wells that his father dug 
him, his, you know, they, they 

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were dug by his. 
I mean, his father Abraham 

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didn't do the digging. 
He was a wealthy man too. 

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He hired, he had people that 
were part of his household, his 

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servants, the dig, the digging. 
But his father was responsible 

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for those wells being there. 
They filled up his wells with 

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dirt and Isaac dug him back out 
and they filled him up again. 

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And Isaac moved on and he found 
the new place and he dug a well 

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there and he found water there. 
And people came in and they 

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stole the well from him and 
kicked him off the land. 

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And he moved someplace else, and
he dug another well. 

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And people came in and they took
that well. 

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And he moved someplace else and 
he dug another well. 

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And no one quarrelled over it. 
No one came to take it. 

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This is the context which this 
is happening, in which a, a lone

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household LED for the first 
time. 

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I mean, Abraham had been leading
the household for years. 

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Now Isaac is in charge. 
He's a farmer, he's a stranger, 

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he's a foreigner, he's got no 
land. 

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There's a famine and people are 
taking his wells. 

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This is not the issue here is 
not a question of wants. 

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You have to have a well if 
you're going to farm, if you're 

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going to raise animals, 
particularly during a famine, 

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you have to have a well for your
family to survive. 

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You have to have a well for your
animals to survive. 

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You have to have a well for the 
crops to survive. 

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You have to have a well. 
And they keep taking as well. 

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And this is the situation that 
Isaac is in now. 

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I'm going to preach after I'm 
going to about another 20 

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minutes here and I'm about to 
play a song. 

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I put a kind of a cheesy video 
behind it. 

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So you got something to look at 
while we listen to the song. 

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It's about a three minute song 
and Paul Overstreet preaches 

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this sermon in 3 minutes better 
than I'm going to preach it in 

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the next 20. 
But if you want short sermons, 

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you need to hire a poet. 
Poets are very good at, you 

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know, conveying deep things in a
short amount of space. 

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I'm not a poet. 
Paul Overstreet is, he's a great

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songwriter. 
And, and, and I think this is, 

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is as good an interpretation of 
this passage as you're going to 

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find anywhere. 
So, so let's listen to the song 

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and then we're going to talk 
about all of this in the context

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of this story. 
So let's check this out. 

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Well I had a blessing from the 
Lord up above. 

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Gave him a beautiful woman to 
love, a place to live and some 

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land farm. 2 good legs and two 
good arms. 

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Well the devil came sneaking 
around one night. 

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Decided he would do a little 
evil to life. 

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Figured he would hit a life 
where it hurt, so it filled up 

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all of oxwells with dirt. 
And when I went not for his 

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morning drink, he got a dipper 
full of dirt and his heart did 

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sink. 
But he knew it was a devil. 

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So he said with a grin, God 
bless me once and he can do it 

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again. 
He bless me once and he can do 

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it again. 
So when the rays don't fall and 

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the crops all fail and the cows 
ain't putting any milk in the 

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pail, don't sit around waiting 
for a check in the mail. 

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Just pick up the shovel and dig 
another whale. 

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Pick up the show and dig 
another. 

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Well, now me and old I got a lot
in common. 

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The Lord bless me with a 
beautiful woman. 

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He gave me a job, He gave me a 
home, He gave me a will to call 

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my own. 
Now when I go out for my morning

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drink and get a different full 
of dirt and my heart does sink, 

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but I think of old I can, I have
to grin. 

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This God bless me once and he 
can do it again. 

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He bless me once and he can do 
it again. 

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So when the rains don't fall and
the crops all fail, the cows 

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ain't putting any milk in the 
pail. 

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Don't sit around waiting for a 
check in the mail. 

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Just pick up the shelf, dig 
another well, pick up the 

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shovel, and dig another well. 
Well, the good book says I 

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finally won. 
Pick up the shovel. 

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And dig another well. 
The devil got tired and he left 

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him alone. 
Pick up the shovel. 

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Take another. 
Well, and I know someday I'm 

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going to win, dude. 
Pick up the shovel. 

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Take another Well, the house. 
The good book tells me what to 

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do. 
Pick up the shovel and. 

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Take. 
Another well pick up. 

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The shovel. 
And take another well. 

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Pick up the shovel and take 
another well. 

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Pick up the shovel and take 
another well. 

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Pick up the shovel, dig another.
Well, that was Isaac's response 

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to what was going on. 
But before we can really kind of

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grasp and, and, and, and get a 
grip on the significance of this

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passage, we need to make it a 
little more personal. 

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So I got a question for you. 
What's your well? 

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What's your well? 
Now, I'm not talking about 

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what's something you'd really, 
really like to have or something

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you really, really do have. 
I'm talking about what are the 

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what's the thing or things that 
you need in order for your life 

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to work and continue? 
Isaac needed water. 

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His family needed water. 
This was not some luxury item. 

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He needed this thing and it was 
being taken from him. 

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What is it that you need? 
There are a lot of things that 

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can be wells. 
Maybe it's a job, maybe it's a 

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relationship, maybe it's a 
talent OR an ability, maybe it's

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a dream or a plan, maybe it's 
something else entirely. 

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But what is it that you feel 
like that you need or that you 

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know that you need? 
And if you don't get it, it's 

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done. 
Or if you've got it and you lose

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it, man, God, you can take 
anything from me, but do not 

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take that. 
If I lose that, it's all over. 

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One of the people I think of 
when I think about this story, a

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more contemporary person. 
I'm not sure if he's still 

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living or not, but I don't know 
if any of you know the name Dave

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Drovecki. 
Is that a name that that rings a

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bell for anyone? 
He was a Major League pitcher 

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back in the 80s, nineties and 
and he was successful. 

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He was not one of the greatest 
of all times, but he was very, 

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very good. 
Made it to an All Star game one 

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year, pitched a lot of innings, 
had a lot of success. 

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One point late in his career he 
was diagnosed. 

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He was a lefty, was diagnosed 
with cancer in his pitching arm,

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up around his shoulder, in his 
upper arm. 

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And the doctor said to get that 
out, we have to do surgery and 

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where it is and what we have to 
take out to remove that cancer. 

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You can kiss your baseball 
career goodbye. 

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You're done. 
Highly unlikely you'll ever 

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pitch again, much less be able 
to pitch at that level. 

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I got to think, you don't get to
be a Major League pitcher 

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without investing a lot of time,
energy and without having a lot 

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of desire. 
You have to really want that. 

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You want to. 
I talked to kids. 

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You're not going to be a 
professional basketball player 

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and you could ask him when was 
the last time you played 

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basketball? 
Well, like 2 weeks ago. 

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You're not going to be a 
professional basketball player 

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unless unless playing basketball
is something you need to do and 

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that you're driven to do. 
This is Dravecky, and now it's 

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gone. 
That aren't that ability to 

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throw a baseball. 
Dave Durvecki A well, what do we

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need? 
What do you need? 

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That if you lose, life is done. 
And now imagine you've lost 

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that. 
That's been taken away from you,

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and not in a nice way, not in a 
beautiful way. 

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It was just taken from you. 
Not in a just way, not in a 

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fairway. 
It was just taken from you like 

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Isaac's water was taken from 
him. 

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What can you do when your well 
gets filled with dirt? 

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Isaac had lots of options. 
We have lots of options as well.

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One option is to quit. 
I'm done, I'm out of here. 

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Quit and run away. 
I'm done. 

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I'm out of here. 
It would have been very simple, 

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very easy for Isaac to say, 
look, God, I know you said to 

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stay here, but there's a famine 
and it was all right when I had 

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wells. 
Every time I dig a well, it gets

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filled up. 
I'm I'm tired of this. 

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I don't want to fight over it. 
I don't want to do with this. 

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My family is at risk. 
We're going to Egypt. 

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I quit. 
I'm out. 

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We're done. 
I'm running away. 

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That's an option that Isaac has.
It's an option that we have to 

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quit and to run away, to 
complain and blame. 

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This is my favorite, very good 
at complaining. 

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00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:16,680
I've been doing it for a very 
long time and, and I've got lots

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00:13:16,680 --> 00:13:19,760
of experience and lots of 
practice and, and, and there's 

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00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:21,760
something just fun about 
complaining. 

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00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:26,280
I don't know, I enjoy it way too
much, but this is this is this 

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00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:30,720
is my one, one of my many issues
is complaining and blaming. 

230
00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:34,280
And blaming is easy too. 
You just find someone up the 

231
00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:36,520
ladder, up the chain, and 
whatever it is, it's their 

232
00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:38,080
fault. 
It's that person, it's those 

233
00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:40,800
people, it's that group, it's 
that politician, is it? 

234
00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:43,080
And you complain, you blame, 
it's their fault. 

235
00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:47,040
It's all on them. 
My life is over and things are 

236
00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:49,040
terrible and it's someone else's
fault. 

237
00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:51,680
Complain and blame, or you can 
fight. 

238
00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:54,920
That was also an option that 
Isaac had. 

239
00:13:55,560 --> 00:13:59,040
Abraham fought at times, at 
least one time when when his 

240
00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:02,120
nephew Lott and Lott's family 
were taking political prisoners 

241
00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:05,360
and Abraham raised his own 
private army and he went and he 

242
00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:08,840
took on an alliance of five 
kingdoms and he won. 

243
00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:12,960
He went and he fought. 
Isaac could have done that. 

244
00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:17,560
He could have said, forget this,
waiting for God to give me this 

245
00:14:17,560 --> 00:14:19,520
land. 
I have as much right to be here 

246
00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:21,640
as anybody else. 
I dug these wells. 

247
00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:24,280
My father dug these wells. 
We're going to fight for him. 

248
00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:26,520
We're going to take him back. 
We're going to hold him by 

249
00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:30,720
violence if necessary. 
He could have fought like we can

250
00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:38,040
fight and someone's taken our 
well or, or we can do what Isaac

251
00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:42,760
did and dig another well. 
Yep, we have to be careful here 

252
00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:46,880
because every good thing in the 
scripture can get twisted and 

253
00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:49,840
become a bad thing. 
And I want to be clear that this

254
00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:53,440
doesn't get twisted. 
The story about Isaac is not in 

255
00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:57,440
here to teach us some kind of 
bootstrap theology where God 

256
00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:00,520
expects us to just pull 
ourselves up by our bootstraps 

257
00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:04,160
and get on with life and fix our
own problems and take care of 

258
00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:06,440
business on our own. 
That's not what this is. 

259
00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:11,560
And this is also not a suck it 
up and walk it off theology 

260
00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:13,880
where God says, I don't care how
much it hurts. 

261
00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:16,400
I don't care how much it cost 
you just keep moving. 

262
00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:18,400
Just keep moving. 
Walk it off. 

263
00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:20,800
Get over it. 
It'll all be OK. 

264
00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:23,680
Just get over it. 
That's not what this is. 

265
00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:28,440
This is so much beyond that, so 
much better than that. 

266
00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:36,440
This this Isaac digging another.
Well, there are two sides that 

267
00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:40,000
it's a, it's a, it's like a gold
coin and it's got 2 beautiful 

268
00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:43,320
sides. 
One side is faith and the other 

269
00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:48,720
is generosity. 
On the one hand, Isaac is simply

270
00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:54,680
acting out of faith. 
He has seen God provide for him.

271
00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:59,040
He has seen God give him and his
family everything they need. 

272
00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:02,200
Maybe not everything they want, 
but everything they need. 

273
00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:05,280
He's got it, He's received it, 
and he has this promise from 

274
00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:07,280
God. 
Your descendants are going to be

275
00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:10,640
a great nation and all of this 
land is one day going to belong 

276
00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:12,000
to you. 
And God has blessed him. 

277
00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:14,520
Even in the midst of this 
famine, God has blessed him. 

278
00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,080
And so Isaac says, why do I need
to worry? 

279
00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:22,480
If my well has been filled up 
with dirt, I'll just dig another

280
00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:25,840
well. 
God hasn't brought me to this 

281
00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:29,320
point to abandon me. 
God hasn't brought me this far 

282
00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:32,400
into my life to forsake me. 
Isaacson is like 60s at this 

283
00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:35,000
point. 
He's lived a little. 

284
00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:38,880
He knows that his life is in 
God's hands. 

285
00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:42,640
He learned that in a very 
powerful way when he was lying 

286
00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:44,960
on the altar and his dad had a 
knife over his chest. 

287
00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:48,160
And God saved his life. 
And Isaac knew from that point 

288
00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:49,800
on, my life does not belong to 
me. 

289
00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:56,080
My life belongs to God, my life 
belongs to God, and God is God. 

290
00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:58,640
I have faith that God will keep 
his promises. 

291
00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:01,120
That's one side of it, the 
faith, the other side of it, I 

292
00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:03,720
think is, is, is just as 
incredible. 

293
00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:09,880
And that's generosity. 
There's a famine in the land and

294
00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:13,240
these people out here who are 
his enemies, who are taking his 

295
00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:16,720
water away from him, who are 
trying to kick them out of of 

296
00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:19,680
their land, send them away, get 
rid of him. 

297
00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:23,280
And Isaac says, you know what, 
they need water too. 

298
00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:28,520
There's a famine in the land. 
My enemies need water too. 

299
00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:32,240
Let them keep that well. 
Let them keep it. 

300
00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:35,960
I'll dig another one. 
It'll be OK because, because 

301
00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:38,280
God's made a promise he'll give 
me water. 

302
00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:43,320
We're not going to die. 
God promised they can have the 

303
00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:44,480
water. 
They need it. 

304
00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:50,040
They need it too. 
I'll just dig another well, it's

305
00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:53,240
not bootstrap. 
It's not suck it up and bear it 

306
00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:58,000
and get over it. 
It's faith and generosity that 

307
00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:02,240
lead Isaac to dig another well. 
Now, another piece we got to 

308
00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:05,360
take a look at here is where's 
the devil in this story? 

309
00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:08,960
And I bring that up because like
I said, I was I the confession. 

310
00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:10,880
I'm not sure if I said this here
yet or not. 

311
00:18:11,120 --> 00:18:15,040
I I first heard the story 
through the Psalm and, and I 

312
00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:18,040
went digging through the Bible 
looking for it and when I found 

313
00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:19,560
it I was like, where's the 
devil? 

314
00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:22,200
Where's the devil? 
The song says the devil filled 

315
00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:25,520
up Ike's wells with dirt and the
Bible says the Philistines 

316
00:18:25,640 --> 00:18:27,720
filled up Isaac's wells with 
dirt. 

317
00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:30,640
Where's the devil? 
The devil is in the story. 

318
00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:35,000
The devil is in the story and 
he's in the story through 1 

319
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,040
little word that has very 
significant consequences. 

320
00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:41,600
He, that is Isaac, had so many 
flocks and herds and servants 

321
00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:46,000
that the Philistines envied him.
So all the wells that his 

322
00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:49,040
father's servants A dug at the 
time of his father Abraham, the 

323
00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:52,360
Philistines stopped up filling 
them with earth. 

324
00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:57,560
The devil was in the envy. 
That devil loves envy. 

325
00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:01,440
That's one of the places the 
devil dances and plays and 

326
00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:06,080
laughs and sings is an envy. 
And the devil was whispering in 

327
00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:08,480
the Philistines ears. 
Ah, you know, life's tough right

328
00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:10,720
now. 
Life's tough right now. 

329
00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:12,400
You're struggling. 
You're struggling. 

330
00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:15,760
That guy Isaac, he's doing well,
and he's a foreigner. 

331
00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:18,640
You're struggling. 
He's on your land and he's a 

332
00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:20,040
foreigner. 
That Isaac. 

333
00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:22,720
Isaac over there, you know, he's
got all that money, He's got all

334
00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:24,320
that wealth. 
He's got all those flocks. 

335
00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:27,280
Everything's going fine for him.
He's on your land. 

336
00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:31,000
He's taking your water. 
You're going to stand for that. 

337
00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:34,120
No envy. 
Envy. 

338
00:19:34,120 --> 00:19:37,240
It's not fair. 
Isaac's got all of that. 

339
00:19:37,360 --> 00:19:40,040
He's doing so well while we're 
struggling in this famine. 

340
00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:42,760
It's not fair. 
We're going to take it. 

341
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:49,360
We're going to take it. 
Envy is a spiritual cancer. 

342
00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:56,560
Envy robs people of joy. 
Envy destroys even the 

343
00:19:56,560 --> 00:20:00,240
possibility of relationships. 
Try to be in a loving 

344
00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:02,160
relationship for someone that 
you envy. 

345
00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:06,800
Try. 
And maybe you've been in a 

346
00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:10,240
situation where people have 
envied you and you try to be 

347
00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:12,520
kind, you try to build 
relationship, but they envy. 

348
00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:16,440
It's, it's nearly impossible to 
be in any kind of meaningful 

349
00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:21,240
relationship of love and, and, 
and mutual encouragement with 

350
00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:25,920
when one person is envying the 
other or one group is envying 

351
00:20:26,120 --> 00:20:30,160
the other in that relationship. 
Envy is a spiritual cancer. 

352
00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:32,800
I'm not, you know, I, I believe 
the devil's real. 

353
00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:36,720
I believe demons are real and I 
think, I think that's, and I 

354
00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:38,280
don't think that's just 
mythology. 

355
00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:39,800
I think that's real. 
I also don't believe there's a 

356
00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:44,400
demon hiding behind every Bush. 
But I believe Paul when he says 

357
00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:46,840
this, when you're in a conflict,
when you're in a fight, you need

358
00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:50,880
to remember this. 
The battle is not against flesh 

359
00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:55,360
and blood. 
Those human beings are not your 

360
00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:57,800
real enemy. 
Your real enemy are the 

361
00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:01,000
principalities and powers, the 
spiritual forces of darkness in 

362
00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:04,800
this world. 
Those are your real enemies, and

363
00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:07,560
they're whispering in people's 
ears, just like sometimes they 

364
00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:10,720
whisper in our ears. 
And one of the things they try 

365
00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:13,480
to inspire is envy. 
Other things too. 

366
00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:16,840
Hatred, lust, contempt, despair.
There's a lot of things the 

367
00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:20,040
devil tries to inspire, but 
Envy's one of them. 

368
00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:23,840
Wrecks people's lives, wrecks 
relationships, wrecks 

369
00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:28,560
communities. 
And Isaac, even though the devil

370
00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:32,880
is never mentioned in this 
passage, Isaac behaves like 

371
00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:36,800
someone who understands that the
Philistines, even they're 

372
00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:40,360
though, even though they're the 
ones filling up his wells, even 

373
00:21:40,360 --> 00:21:43,240
though they're the ones stealing
his wells, that they're not 

374
00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:46,760
really the enemy. 
They're not really the enemy. 

375
00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:52,920
And so he can show grace to them
and generosity to them and 

376
00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:58,560
compassion to them and just dig 
another well, knowing that God's

377
00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:02,600
going to take care of him, just 
just dig another well. 

378
00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:09,200
Isaac understood and lived like,
or you know, lived like, you 

379
00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:11,600
understood. 
We have the benefit of we don't 

380
00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:15,400
only know Isaac's story, we also
know all of Abraham's story, 

381
00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:18,080
Isaac's story, all of 
descendants to, we know Jacob 

382
00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:20,920
and Esau, we know Jesus, we know
all of those stories. 

383
00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:24,640
Isaac just, you know, he didn't 
have as much information as we 

384
00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:29,280
have, but he lived like he 
understood this too, that the 

385
00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:32,800
devil's attacks always have to 
bow to God, God's sovereignty, 

386
00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:37,440
whenever the devil comes at us, 
no matter who he's coming at us 

387
00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:42,000
through, whether it's friend, 
family, enemy, whatever, that, 

388
00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:44,600
that the devil's attacks always 
have to bow to God's 

389
00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:48,520
sovereignty, whatever God has 
promised, God will fulfill. 

390
00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:52,520
And because we know Jesus's 
story, we know that even if our 

391
00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:57,000
enemy conspires to achieve our 
death, God gives us our life 

392
00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:03,040
back in the end. 
God's sovereignty always wins. 

393
00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:07,640
God's will always triumphs, 
always triumphs in the end. 

394
00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:11,040
And the devil's attacks always 
have to bow to that. 

395
00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:17,000
And we see in Isaac's attitude 
that God wasn't going to bow to 

396
00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:19,160
the OR, that Isaac wasn't going 
to bow to the devil. 

397
00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:21,280
He wasn't going to quit, he 
wasn't going to run away, He 

398
00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:23,280
wasn't going to blame and 
complain, and he wasn't going to

399
00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:25,000
fight. 
He was just going to dig another

400
00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:28,480
well, just going to dig another 
well and the end of the story. 

401
00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:32,680
This is what we see. 
God renews his promise to Isaac.

402
00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:37,960
The night, that night, the night
that Isaac dug a well and no one

403
00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:41,840
took it from him. 
So good night in the Isaac 

404
00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:44,240
household dug a well and no one 
took it from him. 

405
00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:47,560
God appeared to him again with 
with an affirmation. 

406
00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:50,600
I am the God of your father, 
Abraham. 

407
00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:52,840
Do not be afraid. 
You need to fear. 

408
00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:54,440
Don't. 
You're right, Isaac, you don't 

409
00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:57,680
need to fear the Philistines. 
You don't need to fear what they

410
00:23:57,680 --> 00:23:59,840
can do to you, for I am with 
you. 

411
00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:02,480
I will bless you. 
I will increase the number of 

412
00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:05,480
your descendants for the sake of
my servant Abraham. 

413
00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:09,640
God renewed the promise and 
Isaac worshipped. 

414
00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:14,160
Isaac built an altar there, and 
he called on the name of the 

415
00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:16,320
Lord. 
Isaac wasn't going to bow down 

416
00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:17,800
to the devil. 
He wasn't going to give in to 

417
00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:22,280
the Philistines. 
Isaac bowed down to God and 

418
00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:25,920
said, once again, I am yours, my
life is in your hands. 

419
00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:31,000
And he dug another well there. 
He pitched his tent and there 

420
00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:39,920
his servants dug a well. 
We worship, we dig another well.

421
00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:44,600
This is the response. 
This is Thanksgiving week. 

422
00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:47,520
I probably should mention that 
it's Thanksgiving week. 

423
00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:49,080
Good thing, good thing to 
mention. 

424
00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:54,360
I, I, I believe that it is 
impossible to hold both envy and

425
00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:59,520
gratitude simultaneously in our 
spirits, that we can't hold both

426
00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:01,960
of those. 
Envy drives out gratitude, 

427
00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:07,560
gratitude drives out envy. 
Isaac seemed to have lived with 

428
00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:12,360
gratitude, gratitude for the 
blessings that he'd received 

429
00:25:12,360 --> 00:25:14,840
from God, gratitude for all that
God had given him. 

430
00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:16,840
And, and he didn't give in to 
envy. 

431
00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:19,080
He could have envied the 
Philistines right back. 

432
00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:23,520
Yeah, God's blessed me now. 
But you own all of his land. 

433
00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:27,400
God, I don't have anything to 
call my own here other than what

434
00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:31,640
I can carry around in a wagon. 
This all belongs to you. 

435
00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:36,960
Why can't I have what you have? 
Why can't I have the security of

436
00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:41,160
of owning the land, of defining 
my own borders, of securing 

437
00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:43,040
those borders against my 
enemies? 

438
00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:45,960
Why can't I get to do that? 
Isaac could have played that 

439
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:49,120
game, but instead he looked at 
all that God had given him, and 

440
00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:52,240
he was filled with gratitude, 
and he was able to bless even 

441
00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:55,600
his enemies. 
It was enough not only to bless 

442
00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:58,160
his family, but also to bless 
his enemies. 

443
00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:04,880
Isaac was filled with gratitude 
and Isaac dug the wells. 

444
00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:08,760
This wasn't God providing water 
from a rock. 

445
00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:10,920
There was work Isaac had to do 
too. 

446
00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:15,240
He had to dig the wells. 
He had to dig the wells. 

447
00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:18,520
But he did it with faith. 
He did it with gratitude. 

448
00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:23,040
He did it with hope and God. 
And we can do the same thing. 

449
00:26:24,360 --> 00:26:26,720
We can worship. 
We can dig another well. 

450
00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:31,400
Dave Durvecki learned that he 
was a man of faith still. 

451
00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:32,800
I don't know whether he's still 
alive or not. 

452
00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:39,240
My a man of faith, he came back 
after the doctor said this is 

453
00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:41,360
not you're done, you're 
pitching, career is over. 

454
00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:44,480
He came back, he went to rehab, 
he trained, he trained, he 

455
00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:46,080
trained, he trained. 
He went back. 

456
00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:51,240
He pitched again in the major 
leagues for the Giants, his 

457
00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:54,520
first game back and this is this
almost unheard of these days. 

458
00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:59,240
He pitched 8 innings, gave up 
one run in eight innings when he

459
00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:00,800
was told he would never pitch 
again. 

460
00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:04,640
In his second game back, he got 
to the 6th inning and he he 

461
00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:10,720
reared back and he threw a pitch
and his arm snapped the torque 

462
00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:12,520
and the force of throwing the 
pitch. 

463
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:16,080
His arm was weakened by the 
treatments that he'd received 

464
00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:18,680
and the bone just broke in the 
pitch. 

465
00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:20,760
You can find video footage of 
it. 

466
00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:23,120
I didn't see the game. 
I wasn't watching the game when 

467
00:27:23,120 --> 00:27:26,320
it happened, but I remember 
seeing the replays on TV at the 

468
00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:33,560
time and the cancer returned. 
And this time a year later they 

469
00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:39,880
had to take his whole arm and 
that well full of dirt. 

470
00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:48,400
He was done. 
And for Durvecki to keep going 

471
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:51,880
with a sense of hope and 
purpose, he had to find another 

472
00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:55,560
well. 
He had to find another well. 

473
00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:58,400
And he, he wrote some books and 
he did some interviews. 

474
00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:01,320
I'm going to read just a couple 
of short excerpts from an 

475
00:28:01,360 --> 00:28:04,920
interview that he did. 
Deidre Becky said. 

476
00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:10,120
I used to depend on myself. 
Now I depend more on God through

477
00:28:10,120 --> 00:28:12,840
my own suffering. 
I've become more aware of his 

478
00:28:13,120 --> 00:28:18,680
and I love him more as a result.
I realized my life wasn't in my 

479
00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,560
hands anymore. 
My life was in God's hands. 

480
00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:29,080
It was always in God's hands. 
Isaac had to dig new wells. 

481
00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:34,960
Durvecki had to dig new wells. 
All of us at some point in our 

482
00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:40,720
lives have to dig new wells. 
When the thing that we need gets

483
00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:47,800
taken away, we can fight, we can
quit, we can run away, We can 

484
00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:53,320
blame and complain. 
Or with the hope that comes from

485
00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:56,960
trusting in a God who keeps his 
promises, we can dig another 

486
00:28:56,960 --> 00:29:01,360
well. 
We can live in gratitude for all

487
00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:04,680
that God has done and dig 
another well in Jesus name. 

488
00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:06,320
Amen. 
Amen.