Seeing God in You: Genesis 26:12-22

When we live in such a way that our actions are worldly and they disguise the righteousness in our heart, we cannot expect anyone to see what dwells within, much less want it!  This parallels Jesus’ teaching as He washes the feet of His disciples.  The world will know we are His by our love.  If the world cannot experience our love, how will they ever learn to recognize Christ?

As promised, God blesses Isaac’s life.  Isaac did not go down to Egypt as God asked.  Therefore, God saw to it that even during the famine Isaac would find a place to prosper.  Isaac’s wealth grows.  His herds increase.  He reaps a hundredfold what he sows.

There’s an issue, though.  The Philistines envy his wealth.  They see the blessing of the Lord upon whatever he does, and they want the same prosperity for themselves.  They want the efforts of their hand to produce a hundredfold just like Isaac.

Unfortunately for the Philistines, they fail to realize God’s blessing over Isaac.  They want the blessing, but they don’t want the underpinning of faith that goes with it.  They want the wealth, but they aren’t spending time developing relationship with God.

Instead of inquiring from Isaac how he can prosper when there is famine nearby, they quarrel with him.  They stop up the wells to try and chase him away.  Every time Isaac repairs a well, the Philistines quarrel with him over ownership.  It isn’t as simple as saying Isaac put forth the work to fix the well so he should have the rights to it.  Like today, if someone owned the land, they owned what came out of the land.  Just because Isaac fixed a well didn’t mean it was Isaac’s water in the eyes of the Philistines.

I don’t think Isaac is entirely free from fault, though.  When Isaac comes to the Philistines, his presence in their land is built upon a lie.  Instead of developing a relationship of trust with the Philistines, he lies to them and puts them in jeopardy of offending their gods and the God of Isaac.  Isaac didn’t give them any reason to trust him.

God lives up to His promise in Isaac’s life.  He protects him during the famine.  He prospers Isaac.  It is Isaac’s actions making it hard for the Philistines to see God’s blessing.  Isaac’s deceit makes it easier for the Philistine to chase him away rather than learn about God.

God speaks so often in His Word about being honest and having good relationships with our neighbors.  People will learn about our relationship with God only when they see who He makes us and see something they admire or respect.  People can only imitate our righteousness if they see it!  When we live in such a way that our actions are worldly and they disguise the righteousness in our heart, we cannot expect anyone to see what dwells within, much less want it!

In other news, today's post marks the beginning of the second year of this site. It's hard to believe that 365 posts have been made, 365 emails have been sent, and 3.5 books of the Bible have been studied. I give the glory to God for allowing it to continue. I give my appreciation to you for continuing to read and hold me accountable. My life and my walk with God benefits by your willingness to read.