On Saturday, May 21, 1927, a New York evening paper contained an expert’s elaborate demonstration of the impossibility of flight across the Atlantic Ocean. The funny thing is, on the first page of that very same paper, was the headline flung across the top in gigantic letters: “LINDBERG HAS ARRIVED!” And underneath was an article describing the first transcontinental flight by Charles Lindberg. When the “experts” were saying it can’t be done, Charles Lindberg did it. He flew across the Atlantic Ocean.
Whenever you attempt anything worthwhile, There will always be those critics who say, “It can’t be done.” There will always be those who oppose. There will always be those who fight you. But that doesn’t need to stop you from doing what you know God has called you to do.
The question is: What do you do, as people of faith, when opposition comes? What do you do when the critics try to shut you down? What do you do when your detractors try to thwart or discredit what God wants to do through you? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Genesis 26, Genesis 26, where Isaac, a man of faith, faces opposition from the Philistines.
Genesis 26:12 And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The LORD blessed him... (ESV)
Now, the normal yield in a good year was 25 to 50-fold. Isaac reaped 100-fold – i.e., 100 times what he planted!
Genesis 26:13-15 ...and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him. (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father. (ESV)
Now remember, these are days of drought and famine (vs.1). Water is very scarce, so these wells are very important! The Philistines are trying to starve Isaac out of existence, because they are envious of his success.
Genesis 26:16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we” (ESV) – i.e., too numerous.
In a land with limited resources, there is not enough to sustain both Abimelech’s people and Isaac’s vast and growing household.
Genesis 26:17-18 So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the names that his father had given them. (ESV)
Instead of fighting, Isaac simply moves on and reopens the wells his father had dug years before. You see, Isaac is trying to establish his presence in the land, claiming his father’s wells by right of inheritance. That’s why he gives them the same names. Then he goes on to dig another well.
Genesis 26:19 But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water... (ESV)
Literally, a well of living water. This was an artesian well with running water – a very valuable and important find in the midst of drought.
Genesis 26:20-21 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek [which means contention or dispute], because they contended with him. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah (ESV) – which means enmity or opposition.
Actually, the name, Satan, comes from this very word. For you see, he IS the adversary. He IS the hostile opposition to every believer. But not even Satan can stop God’s people from accomplishing God’s will in their own lives.
Genesis 26:22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth [which means room], saying, “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
Isaac doesn’t fight back. He just moves on and digs another well until the Philistines finally give up and let him have his space.
I like the way Paul Overstreet put it in a song several years ago (www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP6-ZUFtB0k&list= RDoVeml28Eo3w&index=11) –
Ike had a blessing from the Lord up above,
Gave him a beautiful woman to love,
A place to live, some land to farm,
Two good legs and two good arms.
The Devil came sneaking around one night,
Decided he would do a little evil to Ike.
Figured he hit ole Ike where it hurts so he
Filled up all Ike’s wells with dirt
Ike went out to get his morning drink,
Got a dip full of dirt and his heart did sink
He knew it was the Devil so he said with a grin
God blessed me once, he can do it again
So when the rains don’t fall, and the crops all fail,
And the cow ain’t putting any milk in the pail,
Don’t sit around waiting for a check in the mail,
Just pick up your shovel and dig another well,
Pick up your shovel and dig another well.
That’s what Isaac did, and that’s what you need to do when opposition comes. You don’t have to fight back or get frustrated. Just pick up a shovel and dig another well. Even when the resources are scarce, even when the critics oppose, even when the enemy tries to shut you down, by faith just keep on going.
BY FAITH PERSEVERE.
By faith dig another well and God will make room for you.
In his book, 131 Christians You Should Know, Mark Gali talks about Johann Sebastian Bach, who after several jobs and moves finally settled down in Leipzig in 1723. There, he became music director and choirmaster at Saint Thomas’s church and school, but he faced a lot of opposition. The town council was fighting him all the time, and no one appreciated his musical genius. They said he was a stuffy old man who clung stubbornly to obsolete forms of music. As a result, they paid him a miserable salary and even tried to take away the meager inheritance he left for his wife after he died.
Even so, those years in Leipzig were Bach’s best years musically. Despite the opposition, he kept writing cantatas, nearly one each week! Contemporary composers do well to write one cantata a year, either for Christmas or Easter, and most write just a few in their entire lifetimes. But Bach was writing one cantata a week, and 202 of them are still being performed today. Most of them conclude with a chorale based on a simple Lutheran hymn, and all of them are closely bound to biblical texts.
In Leipzig, Bach also composed his epic Mass in B Minor, The Passion of St. John, and The Passion of St. Matthew – all for use as worship services. The Passion of St. Matthew has been called “the supreme cultural achievement of all Western civilization.”
Even so, after Bach's death, some of his music was sold, and some was reportedly used to wrap garbage. For the next 80 years, his music was neglected by the public. It’s as if people seemed glad to wipe their ears of his music.
Then in 1829, the German composer, Felix Mendelssohn, arranged a performance of The Passion of St. Matthew, and “the rest is history,” as they say. Finally, people around the world began to appreciate the musical genius of Johann Sebastian Bach. (Mark Galli, 131 Christians You Should Know, Broadman & Holman, www.PreachingToday.com)
Do you know? People are coming to faith in Christ through his music today!
When Isaac faced opposition, he dug another well. When Bach faced opposition, he wrote another cantata. When people of faith are opposed, they keep on going, knowing that God will make a way for them.
How about you? Are you feeling the sting of criticism and rejection? Are there those who want to trip you up? Is the enemy trying to stop your forward progress in the Lord? Please, don’t give up on the Lord. By faith, just dig another well. By faith, just keep on going until God makes room for YOU! When opposition comes, by faith, just persevere.
But somebody says, “Pastor, I don’t want to persevere. I’m too tired of fighting. Instead of going on, I want to give up. How can I persevere when I don’t have the strength or energy to take even one more step?” Have you ever been there? I have… many times. That’s when you need to stop for a while and…
REMEMBER GOD’S PROMISES.
Recall what God has said, and rely on His commitment to you.
For you see, God’s commitment to you is more important than your commitment to Him. Believers often waver in their own commitments, but God never wavers in His commitments to them. God will keep His promises to you no matter what, and you can count on His resolve even when your own resolve has shriveled up to almost nothing under the heat of the struggle.
That’s what Isaac does. In the heat of opposition and drought, he counts on God’s promises. He relies on God’s commitment to him.
Genesis 26:23-24 From there he went up to Beersheba. And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.” (ESV)
God is just reminding Isaac of the promise He made to him when all of this started (vs.4-5).
Genesis 26:25 So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well. (ESV)
Isaac worships the Lord, pitches his tent and digs another well. Only this time it is a well of promise. Up until now he has been digging wells of opposition with names like “contention” and “enmity.” Now, he digs a well that will remind him of God’s promise; and every time he drinks from that well or passes it by, Isaac will remember what God has said. Isaac will remember God’s commitment to him, and that will help him in his commitment to God.
Oh, my dear friends, when opposition comes, do what Isaac did. Worship the Lord, pitch a tent for a little while, and dig a well of promise. In other words, stop and remember God’s commitment to you so you don’t give up on your commitment to Him.
Last year (2019), a devastating fire ravaged the building housing Freedom Ministries Church in West Virginia. It was intense enough to justify a joint response from several nearby fire departments. It was so hot that at one point it caused firefighters to back out from the blaze. But after the fire was extinguished, what they found inside shocked them even more.
A post on the department’s Facebook page explains: “In your mind, everything should be burned, ashes. [But] not a single Bible was burned and not a single cross was harmed!! Not a single firefighter was hurt!” Photo evidence showed several compelling photos of Bibles unscathed amidst plenty of charred remains.
“Though the odds were against us, God was not,” the firefighters added. (Gianluca Mezzofiore, “A devastating fire burned a church down. Not a single Bible was touched by the flames” CNN, 3-5-19; www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s a picture of the power of God’s Word. No matter the fire, it remains. God WILL keep His promises no matter the opposition. So when opposition comes, don’t quit. Just remember the promises of God and persevere. Then…
EXPERIENCE THE BLESSING OF GOD.
Enjoy the presence and peace of God in your life, so much so that others will notice it too. That’s what happened to Isaac.
Genesis 26:26-29a When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army, Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?” They said, “We see plainly that the LORD has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace.
Oh really? They only stopped up his wells, chased him off their land and gave him trouble ever since he entered their territory; but other than that, they treated him well? Who are they kidding?
“And now,” they say in verse 29, “you are blessed by the Lord.”
Despite all the harassment, they can clearly see that God has blessed Isaac, that God has been with Isaac all this time, giving him water every place he dug a well. They couldn’t stop God’s blessing on Isaac’s life as hard as they tried.
Genesis 26:30-33 So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” He called it Shibah [which means “oath”]; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba [or the well of the oath] to this day (ESV)
Isaac has dug wells of opposition. Then he dug a well of promise. Now, he digs a well of peace. Isaac’s opponents have recognized God’s blessing on his life, so they make a treaty with him. They realize that they are not fighting Isaac; they are fighting God, so they stop fighting and leave him in peace.
Some of you are fighting God, aren’t you? Oh, you think you’re fighting another person, a spouse, a child, or a neighbor, but you’re really not. You’re fighting God’s plan in the situation, rather than trusting Him to work it out. Or perhaps you can’t explain the turmoil in your own life. You just know you’re angry and frustrated. You too are fighting God, rather than resting in His plan for you.
Here’s the good news! Even when you are fighting God, He still loves you. The Bible says, “God shows his love for us in that WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS, Christ died for us... WHILE WE WERE ENEMIES we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (Romans 5:8, 10). So stop fighting God and trust Him with your life if you want to find peace.
Then persevere like Isaac did. Don’t quit. Keep trusting God until He makes even your enemies to live at peace with you like He did for Isaac.
The first American steamboat took 32 hours to go from New York City to Albany, New York. People laughed. The horse and buggy passed the early motorcar as if it were standing still (because it usually was). People laughed. The first electric light bulb was so dim, people had to use a gas lamp to see it. They laughed. The first airplane came down 59 seconds after it left the ground. People laughed, but where are those critics today?
Many times, people criticize your attempts to serve the Lord. Maybe they laugh, or maybe they just leave. My friends, don’t waste your time wallowing in self-pity, arguing about it, or trying to prove yourself.
Instead, keep on doing what you know God wants you to do; and eventually, God will vindicate you. For you see, there is coming a time when even your enemies will come to recognize God’s unmistakable presence in your life. And who knows? Some of them might even join you someday.
That’s what happened in North Vietnam several years ago. In 2005, local authorities told a Vietnamese pastor, named Silas, that he could expect to see trouble if his church continued to operate without a permit. “Be careful,” one official told him. “Watch out.”
It was a threat as much as a warning. In Vietnam, as in many Communist countries, governments commonly deny or delay church permits, then jail Christians for meeting without a permit.
Well, Silas shot back: “I don't have to watch out or be careful; God will care for us.” He then went on to thank the official for the harassment and opposition, because he felt it had unified the country's Christians.
“Your persecution has made us stronger,” he told the officer. Then Pastor Silas told the officer that he loved him. “You can shut down our churches, jail us, torture us. It doesn't matter, because we'll still love you,” he said. “We'll love you, because God loves you and wants to see you come to know Christ's salvation.” Then he asked the official if he didn't feel badly about mistreating Christians. Silas told him he suspected it was tearing him up inside.
The official stalked away, but late one night, he came back. Silas assumed he was going to be hauled off to jail, but the official said he needed to talk. He was depressed.
Silas invited him in, and in tears the officer told him how he did, indeed, feel badly about forcibly restraining Christians from worship. Most upsetting, though, was that he feared for his job if he did not beat and otherwise harm Christians. He himself felt mistreated at the office; peers who were lesser officers than he looked down their noses at him, advancing through the ranks by purchasing successively higher positions. Such corruption was pervasive in the force.
Silas told him that God had a wonderful plan for his life and that God would care for him and guide him if he would only follow his son, Jesus. Before the night was over, the official trusted Christ as his Savior. Sometime after that, he was promoted to a high position – without bribes. In fact, he advanced high enough to know when church raids were about to take place, so he could tip off Silas.
Silas reported, “He would tell us on Saturday that the police were coming on Sunday morning, so they'd come and find nobody there. Then we'd meet for worship in the afternoon.” (Jeff Sellers, Cure for the IDOP Holiday Blues, www.ChristianityToday.com, 11-16-05; www.PreachingToday.com)
Proverbs 16:7 says, “When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.”
My friends, you can silence your critics, and even win some of them over if you don’t give up.
So when trouble comes, just remember the promises of God and persevere. Keep on doing what you know God wants you to do until the presence of God becomes so evident in your life that even your enemies recognize it. To put it another way: when somebody throws dirt in your well, just trust God and dig another well.
