Livin Lively

By Peggy Lively

            Do you have people in your life that are challenging to get along with? It doesn’t matter how hard you try to be kind to them, they just seem to thrive on disagreeing with you, debating you, or just plain making your life difficult.

            Isaac had some people in his life like this. The Lord had blessed Isaac with an abundance of crops, flocks and herds. “His wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.” (Genesis 26:13-14) And this is where his trouble began.

            The Philistines became so jealous of Isaac, that they began to stop up the wells that his father, Abraham, had dug. They filled up the wells with dirt so that Isaac and his people could not use them. Then, Abimelech, King of the Philistines, told Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.” (Genesis 26:16) So Isaac did as the king requested and moved away from them. Then he re-opened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father, which had been stopped up by the Philistines. But every time Isaac dug up a new well, the Philistines would claim it as their own. He kept moving and digging, and they kept claiming.

“The Philistines had stopped up the wells after the death of Abraham.  Each time Isaac reopened a well they claimed it for themselves, even though they had not been using it.  They were just being contentious.  But Isaac kept moving on till he entered an area where the Philistines no longer contested his right to the water…It’s difficult to like such people, but Jesus went so far as to say that we must love them, pray for them, and be good to them (Matthew 5:44).  It may not be easy, and those ornery persons may not change. Yet, according to Romans 12:18, we must still do all we can to live peacefully with everyone.”   -Herb Vander Lugt, “Our Daily Bread” (5/1/2004)

            The root of the Philistines’ attitude toward Isaac was jealousy. They wanted to do whatever they could to keep him from thriving. This may be what motivates those difficult people in your life, or it may be that they are simply unhappy with their own life, so they don’t want others to be happy either. Whatever the underlying cause, Jesus calls us to love them, pray for them, and do everything we can to live in peace with them. “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:18)

            Is there someone in your life that you need to respond to with peace? Responding in peace doesn’t mean that you are saying, “I am wrong.” Isaac had every right to his own wells, but he continued to move and dig new ones in order to keep the peace. “Make every effort to live in peace with all men…” (Hebrews 12:14)

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9)