digging wells - part 1 ...

i was looking back at journal entries from this time two years ago and it served as a powerful reminder of how much God has done in my life since then. it’s one thing to feel like you’ve made changes. it’s another thing entirely to have them spelled out before you.

in that entry, i was lamenting about how it felt like i was right back in the bad place i had been so many times before. hadn’t i already dealt with this issue? i realized the answer was no. yes, i had faced the issue. but i had never truly dealt with it. i had never really been honest about it, or processed it completely. just because an issue goes away for a little bit doesn’t mean it has been resolved. it just means that it will rear its ugly head again later on, and usually with greater strength.

i’m reminded of the story of digging wells in genesis 26.

then isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of his father abraham, for the philistines had stopped them up after the death of abraham; and he gave them the same names which his father had given them. but when isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing water, the herdsmen of gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of isaac, saying, “the water is ours!” so he named the well esek, because they contended with him. then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it sitnah. he moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it rehoboth, for he said, “at last the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

there is SO much to unpack in that, and i am far too tired to do it tonight, but i hope that this little bit will encourage someone not to give up. you may feel like you’ve fought your battle a thousand times before, but i am believing with you that the 1001th time will bring a greater victory than you’ve ever known. you didn’t get to wherever you are overnight, so you can’t expect yourself to make a drastic change overnight, either. what the journey will entail is uncertain, but never doubt that it will be worth every single step.