1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:04,320 This is one of my favorite Bible passages and Bible stories. 2 00:00:04,560 --> 00:00:07,800 I have never had the opportunity to preach on it before. 3 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:10,200 You're getting it today. So you're getting about, you 4 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:14,000 know, 25 years worth of energy behind this sermon today. 5 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:17,040 I'm going to try to keep it under 45 now. 6 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:21,520 I'll keep it in in good time. But but I, I love this story and 7 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:25,560 and there doesn't seem to be on the surface a lot happening here 8 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:28,840 and until we really dig into the context. 9 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,280 So just a little bit of a reminder of where we are in in 10 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:37,600 Isaac and and Rebecca's life. Abraham and Sarah, I have Sarah, 11 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:41,560 have both died and they have been buried in the only real 12 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:45,360 estate that their entire family, their entire clan owns. 13 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:49,520 Is, is is a burial plot. And that's where Abraham and 14 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:52,280 Sarah are. Now, Isaac is the patriarch of 15 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:54,600 the family. He's responsible for the whole 16 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:57,080 household. He's responsible for providing 17 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:01,440 every man, woman and child in his entourage in his household 18 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:05,480 with adequate food, shelter, clothing, safety, all of it. 19 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:09,640 And they do that primarily by herding animals and growing 20 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:12,120 crops. The problem is, is that there's 21 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:14,560 a famine. A famine has come to the whole 22 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:19,120 region, and God comes to Isaac and says don't leave now. 23 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:22,920 Famines. Everyone in this community knows 24 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:26,200 how devastating famines are, particularly for those whose 25 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:31,120 livelihood is in agriculture. But in those days, it was far 26 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:34,840 more devastating than anything we would experience today in 27 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:36,840 this country. I mean, there's no way to 28 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:39,160 irrigate. There's no way to move vast 29 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:41,360 amounts of water over large distances. 30 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:45,320 And even if there were in that region, Isaac didn't own the 31 00:01:45,320 --> 00:01:48,520 land anyway, and he didn't own the rights to the water anyway. 32 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:52,720 Famine would wipe him out. He's a stranger. 33 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:56,360 He's a foreigner in the land. He's an alien there and he's got 34 00:01:56,360 --> 00:02:01,120 no place to say this is mine. I claim this, everybody else 35 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:03,880 stay out and we're going to make our go of it here. 36 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:07,680 Instead, he has to depend on the willingness of other powers, 37 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:11,160 other authorities, other kings in the area to say you can stay 38 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:15,880 here in an environment where there's less and less and less 39 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:19,840 and less because of the famine. But God says stay. 40 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:26,200 And so Isaac stays, and he plants crops, and they flourish. 41 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:30,240 And during the famine, while everyone else is struggling to 42 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:33,640 feed their animals, feed their families, grow their crops, do 43 00:02:33,640 --> 00:02:36,760 all of those things, Isaac is flourishing and he's getting 44 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:38,640 wealthier and wealthier and wealthier. 45 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:42,800 And the people around him resent it and are envious. 46 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:46,360 They say, get out, we don't want you here anymore. 47 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:51,120 So he gets out and he digs up. He, he moves to another area 48 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:54,120 where the wells that his father had dug have been filled up with 49 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:56,400 earth. He opens those wells and now 50 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:58,400 suddenly people are fighting over them. 51 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:06,240 People are filling up his wells with dirt and he he moves on. 52 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:10,080 He digs more wells and then they fight over that and they take 53 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:13,400 the well from him and he moves on and they digs another well 54 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:16,560 and they come in and they take that and claim that well and he 55 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:20,000 moves on and he digs and it just keeps going and going and going. 56 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,240 Just an incredible story right here. 57 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:33,200 Easily overlooked where Isaacs, a well in the Judean, in the in 58 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:36,960 the Philistine area, in that space between the Jordan River 59 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:39,840 and the Mediterranean Sea, A well is life. 60 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:45,040 It's life for everyone, particularly for a farmer and a 61 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:49,640 sheep and a goat herder. A well is you have to have a 62 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:55,040 well, particularly in a famine. The only way to have water in 63 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:57,960 that region during a famine is to have a well. 64 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:03,240 And Isaac's wells keep getting filled with dirt or taken from 65 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:05,880 him. And the question is, what will 66 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:09,400 Isaac do in response? But before we talk about that, I 67 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:12,160 have a question. Well, I tell you, I've got a lot 68 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:13,760 of excitement and energy around this. 69 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:18,240 Part of it stems from one of my favorite songs ever is based on 70 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:20,560 this Bible passage. I don't know if you remember 71 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:22,760 Paul Overstreet. I don't think he's done a lot 72 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:24,480 recently in terms of songwriting. 73 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:27,800 He's had a few big hits that he's written and some that he's 74 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:29,880 written for others. If you're a country western fan 75 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:33,160 and know forever and ever, Amen. Paul Overstreet's the guy that 76 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:37,880 wrote that. And, and he, he is a person of 77 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:40,000 faith. I got the chance to meet him at 78 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:42,960 a Billy Graham evangelistic crusade in Mansfield. 79 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:46,760 OH, pushing, you know, 2530 years ago now. 80 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:49,360 And he's short. He's like that tall. 81 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:54,440 He's a really short guy, great musician, very friendly, very 82 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:57,200 outgoing person of deep faith. He has written a song. 83 00:04:57,200 --> 00:04:59,280 I'm going to I'm I'm going to play the song for you. 84 00:04:59,280 --> 00:05:03,440 I put a little cheesy video behind it so we'd have something 85 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:05,000 to watch. The lyrics are up there if you 86 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,720 want to follow along. But but the simple fact is, is 87 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:11,080 if if you listen to this song, you're going to get the whole 88 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:13,560 sermon anyway. So the rest is just me, you 89 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:15,800 know, making it longer. All right, here we go. 90 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:31,120 Well I had a blessing from the Lord up above. 91 00:05:31,280 --> 00:05:35,600 He gave him a beautiful woman to love, a place to live and some 92 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:39,080 land farm. 2 good legs and two good arms. 93 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:44,320 Well the devil came sneaking around one night. 94 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:47,080 Decided he would do a little eagle to like. 95 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:51,080 Figured he would hit a like where it hurts so it filled up 96 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:57,200 all of ox whales with dirt. When I went out for his morning 97 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:00,720 drink he got a dipper full of dirt and his heart did sink but 98 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:05,640 he knew it was a devil. So he said with a grin, God 99 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:07,920 bless me once and he can do it again. 100 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:10,600 He bless me once and he can do it again. 101 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:16,160 So when the rays don't fall, and the crops all fail, and the cow 102 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:19,720 ain't putting any milk in the pail, don't sit around waiting 103 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:25,120 for a check in the mail. Just pick up the shovel and dig 104 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:27,880 another well. Pick up the shovel and dig 105 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:35,920 another well. Now me and old I got a lot in 106 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:38,000 common. The Lord bless me with a 107 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,440 beautiful woman. He gave me a job, He gave me a 108 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:44,000 home, He gave me a well to call my own. 109 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:50,480 Now when I go out for my morning drink and get a dipper full of 110 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:54,360 dirt and my heart does same but I think of old I can, I have to 111 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:59,600 grin because God bless me once and he can do it again. 112 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:02,280 He bless me once and he can do it again. 113 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:07,800 So when the rains don't fall and the crops all fail and the cows 114 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:11,360 ain't putting any milk in the pail, don't sit around waiting 115 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:16,080 for a check in the mail. Just pick up the show. 116 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:20,160 Dig another well, Dig up the shovel, dig another well. 117 00:07:38,020 --> 00:07:40,580 Well, the good book says I finally won. 118 00:07:40,580 --> 00:07:42,060 Dig up the shovel, dig another well. 119 00:07:42,700 --> 00:07:46,340 The devil got tired and he left him alone. 120 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:52,040 Pick up the shovel and I know someday I'm going to win too. 121 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:56,680 Pick up the shovel. The good book tells me what to 122 00:07:56,920 --> 00:07:58,360 do. Pick up the shovel and take 123 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:01,920 another well. Pick up the shovel and take 124 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:04,680 another well. Pick up the shovel and take 125 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:06,760 another well. Pick up the shovel and take 126 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:15,040 another well. Poets are amazing. 127 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:18,880 They can take, you know, these big concepts and and distill 128 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:21,560 them down in a few very, very engaging words. 129 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:24,560 If you want short sermons, hire a poet. 130 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:28,560 I'm just going to say that Here's a question to start with, 131 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:29,560 though. What's your well? 132 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:36,280 What's your well? You know, for Isaac Farmer, his 133 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:42,159 well was a literal well, but but that well by any measure was a 134 00:08:42,159 --> 00:08:46,560 source of life, the source of life in a famine. 135 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:53,120 What is it in your life that you absolutely need in order to 136 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:56,800 survive for the next day, the next week, the next month? 137 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:01,520 And I'm not, I'm not talking about, I mean, we're not talking 138 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:04,680 about wants versus needs here. We're talking about needs. 139 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:07,000 If you're going to live, you need water. 140 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:11,120 If Isaac was going to live and support his family in a drought 141 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:13,960 in that region, he needed a well. 142 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:17,440 This was not God making water come from a rock. 143 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:21,800 He needed a well. What is it you need that your 144 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:24,320 life depends on? Is it a job? 145 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:27,480 Is it a relationship, a talent OR ability? 146 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:33,160 Is it a a dream or a plan? Is it something else, something 147 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:37,080 that you feel like if I can't get that, I'm not going to make 148 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:39,720 it. If I don't get that, I'm not 149 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:42,800 going to survive. If I lose that, then then it's 150 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:44,960 all over. We're done. 151 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:52,840 What's your well, because this passage is more than just 152 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:59,200 historical story about Isaac. It's about what we do and how we 153 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:04,000 respond as followers of God, as heirs of the blessing that God 154 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:06,200 made to Isaac. I'm going to bless all nations 155 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:08,040 of the earth through you. That's us. 156 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:16,960 We're some of that and, and how do we respond when we get up in 157 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:18,960 the morning and our well is gone? 158 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:23,480 Whether it's the job, the relationship, the talent, the 159 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:25,400 ability, the dream, something else. 160 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:28,200 I one of the people I think of when I think of this is Dave 161 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:29,840 Durvecki. Do you remember Dave Durvecki? 162 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:33,200 He was a baseball player for the Padres and Giants back in the 163 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:36,560 80s. I was a pitcher, very successful 164 00:10:36,560 --> 00:10:39,560 by any measure. Not, you know, not the greatest 165 00:10:39,560 --> 00:10:41,560 pitcher of all time, but very successful. 166 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:45,040 Made the All Star game one year, pitched very well. 167 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:48,760 He pitched over 1000 innings I think, or maybe 1000 games, I 168 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:49,600 don't know. It was a lot. 169 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:56,640 And then he got cancer in his pitching arm, and to remove the 170 00:10:56,640 --> 00:10:59,120 cancer they had to do surgery and the doctors told him he'd 171 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:02,000 probably never pitch again, much less pitch at a Major League 172 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:08,320 level. What do you do when the very 173 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:13,560 thing you depend on for your life is about to go away or 174 00:11:13,560 --> 00:11:18,000 does, in fact, go away? What's your will? 175 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:23,280 In order for us to really sort out how this story connects with 176 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:27,960 our lives, we have to we have to identify what are those things 177 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:31,920 that I think I that I need, I want to, I keep, I want to make 178 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:34,800 this something in my brain wants to make this about wants versus 179 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:37,240 needs. But these are just plain needs. 180 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:40,720 What is it that you need in order to live? 181 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:45,920 And then what can you do when your well gets filled with dirt, 182 00:11:47,560 --> 00:11:50,760 when that thing that you need suddenly isn't there? 183 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:56,720 It's taken away from you. Not, you know, whether the 184 00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:59,880 reason is good or bad, just or unjust. 185 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:04,360 Whether, whether you were able, whether, whether, whatever the 186 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:06,600 source, whatever the reason, whatever the rationale, it's 187 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:08,200 gone. What do you do when your well 188 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:10,440 gets filled with dirt? There are a lot of options. 189 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:13,760 Isaac had a lot of options. We've got a lot of options. 190 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:15,160 One of the things we can do is quit. 191 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:16,480 I'm done. I quit. 192 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:20,520 I give up. I can't do it without that, 193 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:26,840 without that person, without that thing, without that job, 194 00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:32,000 without my dreams. I can't. 195 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:33,480 I can't. We can quit. 196 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:35,440 That's one option. Isaac could have quit. 197 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:40,080 I'm in a famine. God says I have to stay, but I 198 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:43,960 can't stay without water and the wells keep getting taken or or 199 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:49,680 or filled in by my enemies. I don't know what guy we got to 200 00:12:49,680 --> 00:12:51,320 go. I'm just going to quit. 201 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:54,360 God said don't go to Egypt, but I don't see any other options. 202 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:55,800 I'm leaving. We could quit. 203 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:57,720 We could quit. You can run away. 204 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:03,920 Go to Egypt, move leaving all of this faith business behind. 205 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:06,320 I'm leaving whatever. We can run away. 206 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:12,680 We can complain and blame. That's my favorite man. 207 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:17,560 I'm I'm a I'm a natural born complainer. 208 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:21,800 It's easy, easy to complain, easy to blame for me anyway. 209 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:23,440 That's one of mine. That's one of mine. 210 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:25,120 We can complain and we can blame. 211 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:29,000 We can fight. Isaac could have fought. 212 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:34,080 I mean, when Abimelech told Isaac to get out, he said you're 213 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:38,840 too powerful for us. Remember what Abraham did when 214 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:42,600 when his nephew Lot and his family were taking his political 215 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:46,000 prisoners and hostages, he raised his own private army of 216 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:53,080 his own employees and and went and fought against 5 kings to 217 00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:58,440 get his people back and he won. Isaac had inherited all of that 218 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:00,960 from Abraham. He could have fought. 219 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:03,880 You could have fought these, I think. 220 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:05,800 I think these are the general options. 221 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:08,240 Quit, run away, complain and blame. 222 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:11,680 Fight one or all of those things we can do. 223 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:19,080 Or we can dig another well, which is what Isaac did. 224 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:22,680 Fill up this well, I'll dig another well. 225 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:24,840 Fill up that well, I'll dig another well. 226 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:27,280 You take this one from me, I'll go dig another well. 227 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:29,360 You know, take that one from me. I'll move on and go. 228 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:31,680 I'll go dig another well. We can dig another. 229 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:39,160 Well, the risk here as we think of this story as some sort of 230 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:43,480 bootstrap theology, you know, you got a problem, just, you 231 00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:50,040 know, fix it yourself or, or some sort of, you know, suck it 232 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:52,200 up and walk it off kind of theology. 233 00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:55,880 You're down, you're out. I'll just get up and, and, and, 234 00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:59,320 and muscle on, you know, just just work through it, work 235 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:01,680 through the pain where that's not what this is about. 236 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:07,280 This business of Isaac digging another well and moving on is 237 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:10,800 not in the Bible to teach us just to suck it up and bear it 238 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:14,120 and, and get on with living and, and don't complain. 239 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:17,840 It's here for for quite another reason. 240 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:22,040 But to see what that reason is, let's talk about the devil in 241 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:26,280 this story. Paul Overstreet and his musical 242 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:30,080 interpretation, lyrical interpretation of the story, he 243 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:35,000 says the devil, the devil decided the devil was sneaking 244 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:37,560 around one night and decided to do a little evil to Ike. 245 00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:39,280 And so he filled Ike's wells with dirt. 246 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:42,560 I'm going to make a confession. I did. 247 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:48,920 I heard the song before I read the story, and I thought, that's 248 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:50,400 cool. That sounds like that might 249 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:53,280 actually be from the Bible. I bet Ike is Isaac. 250 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:55,440 And I looked it up and I was like, there ain't no devil in 251 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:59,560 here. Where's the devil in the book? 252 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:01,840 In the Bible, it's the Philistines. 253 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:04,280 Those are the that's the land. They were in the land of the 254 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:06,520 Philistines. Those were the native people in 255 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:09,760 that land. There was, there was this 256 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:12,800 Philistines, not the devil. And they were, they were taking 257 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:14,520 water. They needed water too. 258 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:16,600 They were water there. It was their land. 259 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:19,520 They were taking the water. They were filling up Isaac's 260 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:22,320 wells to move him off of their land. 261 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:27,560 Where's the devil in this story? Let's take a look at this. 262 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:34,200 He, that is Isaac, had so many flocks and herds and servants 263 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:38,360 that the Philistines envied him. So all the wells that his 264 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:41,760 father's servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the 265 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:45,360 Philistines stopped. Philistines stopped up filling 266 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:49,600 them with earth. The devil's in the envy. 267 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:58,080 The devil's in the envy. God had blessed Isaac in an in 268 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:00,400 amazing ways. They're in the middle of the 269 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:02,280 famine when everyone else is struggling. 270 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:07,240 Isaac's flourishing on their land with their water. 271 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:09,880 And they envied that. They were jealous of that. 272 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:14,960 And in their envy and in their jealousy, they took from Isaac. 273 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:22,720 They took from Isaac what he had trying to steal his blessing, 274 00:17:23,319 --> 00:17:25,359 steal the good things that he had. 275 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:30,960 And Isaac, Isaac has it. Envy is one of the most 276 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:35,080 pernicious tools the devil has and and one of the most 277 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:38,920 dangerous. It just seeps in so easy when we 278 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:43,200 look at what other folks have and say, man, why can't I have 279 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:46,760 that? I should have that. 280 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:52,400 I think I'm going to take that. And whether we act on that and 281 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,920 actually commit theft or destroy what someone else has out of 282 00:17:55,920 --> 00:17:59,640 envy, the envy is still there and it's like it's spiritual 283 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:03,520 cancer. Envy sucks the joy out of life. 284 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:08,800 Envy sucks the hope out of life. Envy sucks the love out of life. 285 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:11,760 It's very hard to be in a loving relationship with someone you're 286 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:18,520 envious of. Envy is a spiritual cancer, and 287 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:20,680 that's where the devil entered into this story. 288 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:26,240 He didn't show up with a band of demons and Philip Isaac's wells. 289 00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:31,640 He showed up whispering in the ears of the people around Isaac, 290 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:34,480 saying, Can you believe that guy? 291 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:37,400 Look at all he's got. You know what? 292 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:44,000 The only reason he has so much is because whatever, whatever 293 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:46,840 the it's not fair. He took it. 294 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:49,120 It really should be yours anyway. 295 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:54,880 And out of envy, the Philistines stole Isaac's wells or filled 296 00:18:54,880 --> 00:19:00,800 them with dirt. Isaac, one of the dangers in the 297 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:02,160 spiritual life and life of faith. 298 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:05,200 We will always get attacked by the devil in some way or 299 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:07,400 another. We're followers of Jesus. 300 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:11,280 Everywhere Jesus went, some people loved him, some people 301 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:13,880 wanted to kill him. Everywhere Paul and his other 302 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:17,520 disciples went, people love them or people wanted to kill them. 303 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:21,800 And, and as we're faithfully following Jesus, we will 304 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:24,800 encounter opposition. And, and one of the things 305 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:27,600 that's helpful to remember is when other human beings are 306 00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:31,640 coming at us to remember, you know, what's really behind this 307 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:35,320 is the devil. And I'm not talking about seeing 308 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:39,160 a demon behind every Bush. I'm talking about understanding 309 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:42,080 and remembering and calling to mind that we're part of a 310 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:46,760 millennial long spiritual war and we've picked sides and we've 311 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:50,560 been picked for a side. And so we're going to face 312 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:54,120 opposition. So the flesh and blood people 313 00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:56,760 that we face are not really our enemies. 314 00:19:57,080 --> 00:20:00,600 It's it's the demons that are whispering in their ears. 315 00:20:01,360 --> 00:20:04,480 And leading them astray and leading them down a path. 316 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:06,880 And that helps us to respond to them in a different way. 317 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:11,440 Because if we see the people as our enemies, then we run the 318 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:14,680 risk of falling into the same trap of envy that they're 319 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:18,320 already in. And Isaac could have done that. 320 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:22,800 How dare they take those that belonged to me, that belonged to 321 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:24,920 my family. I need that. 322 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:26,840 I want that. I dug that well. 323 00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:29,360 My father dug that well. That's mine. 324 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:31,320 I'm. I'm taking it back. 325 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:35,760 We'll go to war. We'll go to war. 326 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:38,520 We'll fight over it. We'll see who wins. 327 00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:47,200 And suddenly, instead of hope in the promised land, there's 328 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:50,520 violence and there's conflict and there's war and there's no 329 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:58,040 blessing for anyone in that. But if we remember, it's the 330 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:03,040 devil and and that that person that's coming after us is, is 331 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:09,280 they're being hurt by the envy as much as we are being hurt by 332 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:13,600 their envy. And what can we do? 333 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:19,080 One of the most extraordinary things here is that Isaac said 334 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:23,720 in essence, you know what? There's plenty of water. 335 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:29,480 God, God, he gave me one well. God will give me another well. 336 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:34,680 He blessed me once with all the water that I needed. 337 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:36,960 He'll bless me again. I don't need to fight that 338 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:38,200 person. Let him have it. 339 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:40,200 Let him. Let him have it. 340 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:47,200 Let him have it. It's OK, God made me fabulous. 341 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:50,200 I'm a farmer that God made fabulously wealthy in the midst 342 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:52,440 of a famine. What am I worried about? 343 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:58,680 What am I worried about? In the end, the devil's attacks 344 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:01,400 always have to bow to God's sovereignty. 345 00:22:02,360 --> 00:22:05,040 And if we can remember that it's the devil that's coming after us 346 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:08,040 and not that other person, not really, even though they they 347 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:11,280 might be doing the devil's work knowingly or unknowingly, and 348 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:13,920 that it's the devil behind it. What we can also remember is 349 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:15,960 that God has already defeated the devil. 350 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:20,440 God's sovereignty always wins over the devil's attacks. 351 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:22,600 Always. The devil's attacks have to bow 352 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:26,400 to God's sovereignty. You know, this is not lambs and 353 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:28,040 bunnies and fluff and Nutter here. 354 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:31,440 The devil's attacks sometimes lead God's faithful, faithful 355 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:33,920 people to death. Leave them dead. 356 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:35,560 But then there's the resurrection. 357 00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:39,800 So God's sovereignty still wins. The devil's attacks always bow 358 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:42,000 to God's sovereignty. Before. 359 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:44,240 Before. Let me read that promise again. 360 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:45,800 Oh, I should have pulled that out. 361 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:48,840 I mean, I've got it here. Just give me a second. 362 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:51,320 All I have to do is open what I should have opened before 363 00:22:51,320 --> 00:23:04,240 service started. Oh, that's the wrong scripture. 364 00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:07,120 That's the one Abby read. There we go there, Aubrey. 365 00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:12,400 OK. The Lord appeared to Isaac. 366 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:14,200 This is before any of this began. 367 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:17,320 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, do not go down to Egypt. 368 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:20,320 Live in the land where I tell you, stay in this land for a 369 00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:23,600 while and I will be with you and will bless you for you and your 370 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:26,520 servants, for to you and your descendants. 371 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:29,960 I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to 372 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:33,000 your father, Abraham. I will make your descendants as 373 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:34,680 numerous as the stars in the sky. 374 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:36,360 We'll give them all of these lands. 375 00:23:36,360 --> 00:23:39,040 Through your offspring, all the nations on earth will be 376 00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:42,520 blessed. Because Abraham obeyed me and 377 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:45,440 did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my 378 00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:49,960 decrees and my instructions. Isaac already had the promise. 379 00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:55,440 He had nothing to worry about. He had nothing to fear. 380 00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:57,320 He's looking around. OK. 381 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:04,160 They stole my well again. They filled up my well again. 382 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:09,000 But God has already promised that all of this land will 383 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:12,320 belong to my descendants. God has already promised to 384 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:15,160 bless me now and my descendants forever. 385 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:21,080 What do I need to worry about? My hope is in God, and however 386 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:23,640 the devil wants to attack me, however my neighbors want to 387 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:27,680 attack me, eventually God's sovereignty, God's will will win 388 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:30,560 and we'll triumph. At the end of this story, God 389 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:33,280 renews the promise. God says this. 390 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:37,400 That night after all of this had happened, and finally Isaac had 391 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:39,440 dug a well and no one was taking it from him. 392 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:42,800 That night the Lord appeared to him and said, I am the God of 393 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:46,560 your father, Abraham, do not be afraid, for I am with you. 394 00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:50,600 I will bless you, and I will increase the number of your 395 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:53,440 descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham. 396 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:56,800 The sandwich, the bread on this sandwich. 397 00:24:56,800 --> 00:25:00,360 Here is God's sovereignty, God's will, God's promise. 398 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:05,280 And Isaac had learned from his father and his mother to trust 399 00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:08,360 in that and to believe in that and depend on that. 400 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,880 And so when someone fills up his well, he can dig another well. 401 00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:14,200 Not as inactive well. Just going to grin and bear it. 402 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:18,560 But it's because I need water. What else am I going to do? 403 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:21,640 I'm going to dig a well. Someone stole your well. 404 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:24,440 You know, there's plenty. God's got enough. 405 00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:26,600 I'll dig another well. Well, they stole your well. 406 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:28,600 That's God's got enough. I'll dig another well. 407 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:32,520 He's not acting out of desperation. 408 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:34,480 He's not acting out of self-reliance. 409 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:38,320 He's acting out of a of a deep faith in the God who can and 410 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:42,720 will keep his promises and provide all that he needs. 411 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:46,720 And then Isaac did this at the very end of it. 412 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:51,160 Isaac built an altar. Isaac worshipped after all of 413 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:54,480 this and he had the well and no one was taking it. 414 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:58,160 It's like, all right, things are got what I need. 415 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:01,920 I got my well back and he worshipped. 416 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:05,480 He bowed his knees to God, and he worshipped. 417 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:11,080 And there he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug 418 00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:17,760 another well. He worshipped and he dug another 419 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:25,200 well, trusting in God doing what he needed to do, and trusting 420 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:27,080 that God would keep his promises. 421 00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:29,320 Dave Durvecki, it was like that, David. 422 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:32,040 He had the cancer. He had surgery. 423 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:33,840 Doctors told him you're not going to pitch again. 424 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:38,840 Dave decided he was going to pitch again and he rehabbed and 425 00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:42,720 he worked and he worked and he worked and he got back not just 426 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:45,840 to be able to pitch a baseball, but to pitch a baseball at Major 427 00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:51,720 League level. And he was pitching in a Major 428 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:56,120 League Baseball again. I think it was a year after the 429 00:26:56,120 --> 00:26:59,240 surgery, maybe 2 years. It took him a little while to 430 00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:01,360 get the rehab done. He was back in the major 431 00:27:01,360 --> 00:27:02,960 leagues. He moved from the Padres to the 432 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:05,080 Giants. Now he's playing for the Giants. 433 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:08,240 And he went out to play in his first Major League game since 434 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:11,280 his surgery. Got a standing ovation from the 435 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:12,920 crowd. It was a wonderful thing. 436 00:27:13,120 --> 00:27:16,120 And something like 5 pitches in his arms snapped. 437 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:22,120 Pop caught on national television. 438 00:27:22,120 --> 00:27:24,040 You can probably find it on YouTube today. 439 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:26,760 I remember seeing that. I didn't see the game itself, 440 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:28,800 but I saw the replays back when it happened. 441 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:36,840 There was no coming back. There's no coming back. 442 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:41,920 The cancer had returned. More surgery. 443 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:46,720 Dave Durvecki never pitched again, not after that. 444 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:52,280 But he dug another well and he shared his story. 445 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:54,920 He shared his faith, he shared his hope. 446 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:59,040 And and I think his words capture a lot of what I'm trying 447 00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:06,000 to say here today to Becky says this. 448 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:10,880 I used to depend on myself. Now I depend more on God through 449 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:13,760 my own suffering. I've become more aware of his 450 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:19,800 and I love him more as a result. I realized my life wasn't in my 451 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:23,040 hands anymore. My life was in God's hands. 452 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:29,240 It was in his hands all along. That's what drove Isaac to dig 453 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:34,680 another well, realizing his life wasn't in his hands, never was 454 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:37,680 in his hands. He learned that when he was a 455 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:40,600 kid, lying on an altar with his stamp, Father standing above him 456 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:45,680 with a knife, and God saved him. My life does not belong to me. 457 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:50,320 My life belongs to God, and God will give me all I need. 458 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:52,520 I have work to do. I got to dig. 459 00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:58,360 The wells require digging. I'll dig another well, but I'm 460 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:01,040 going to dig it in faith, knowing that God's going to give 461 00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:06,320 me everything I need. When the devil fills your well 462 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:12,080 with dirt, and he will, he will at some point along the way, the 463 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:13,640 devil's going to fill your well with dirt. 464 00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:18,200 And I suspect we got testimonies of that from multiple folks in 465 00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:21,200 this room having had their wells filled with dirt at some point 466 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:25,440 in their life. When that happens, let's 467 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:29,880 remember Isaac, you can listen to the song on Spotify, YouTube, 468 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:35,880 anytime you want. And we we pick up the shovel, we 469 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:40,000 dig another well, we bow down and worship our God who is 470 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:42,640 faithful and will provide in Jesus name. 471 00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:44,440 Amen. Amen.