Fresh Wells and New Beginnings

The other night I read a Bible story to my girls about Isaac, Abraham's son, who was trying to provide clean water for his people by digging wells (Genesis 26:18-25). Each time his men completed the digging on a new well, however, other men would come and claim it, taking the land and water rights that Isaac and his people needed to survive. Isaac had to move to a new place and start over, only to have the same thing happen again; the same men came after them and claimed the well and the land, forcing Isaac to move once more. The third time, after the well was completed, no one came to fight over it, and Isaac was able to stay there. He named the well "Rehoboth," which meant "room." He had finally found a place where there would be clean water and enough room for everyone, a place where his family could grow and prosper. God even appeared to Isaac that night and told him "Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants" (Gen. 26:24). Christmas is a time when we want to be in a familiar place, surrounded by family and friends. We want to be somewhere comfortable; we want to be loved. But sometimes, due to circumstances we can't control, we are far from home; we have our little family around us but not the loud, noisy, warm, happy crowd we grew up with. God has, for some reason, allowed us to be driven from where we would choose to be. What wells have you dug, just to be forced to walk away and begin again somewhere else? We were uprooted from our home in California and compelled to start life all over in Washington about five years ago. It was painful, and still is at times, especially during the holidays, when we know everyone is still getting together and life is going on without us, and we are missing it. We are comforted, though, when we look around and see how God has blessed what we do have, how He has added to our little life here. We have our lovely little Abby Hope, who was not in the plans back in California. We have a growing extended family, which has added a niece to our family tree each year for the last two years, and we are expecting another little girl in my brother's house in April. Our circle of friends has grown, and they are the kind that "sticks closer than a brother," as we discovered through Jeff's trial this summer. We have been blessed beyond imagining; we have not all we want but far more than we need. We may have gained and lost a few wells, but we have settled for now in a place that God is blessing richly. If you are having to give up your well, one you have dug with blood, sweat, and tears, and you don't see how it can ever be replaced, take heart. "But I said, 'I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing. Yet what is due me is in the Lord's hand, and my reward is with my God" (Isaiah 49:4). Don't be afraid to begin again, don't be afraid, for the Master of all wells is with you, and He is waiting to pour out buckets of blessings from a new well you may not even be able to imagine yet. "Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland" Isaiah 43:28. May His streams of fresh blessings wash over you this Christmas season; may you not regret what has been lost but look around at what has been given and ahead to what is still to come through Jesus. Merry Christmas!