OPPONENTS OF THE WELLS OF LIFE!

Opponents of the Wells of Life

By Mary Ann Wray

A while back I watched a video of a church digging a well for fresh water in Masai, Mara. The well in Mara caved in after the drill hit living water. They had to reposition the drill and dig several more times and return a second time to Africa before hitting a living spring and the equipment not caving in as a result of it. It occurred to me that this is exactly what the enemy tries to do with us as we dig deeper into the things of God.

The enemy opposes the life giving water of the Spirit and will do whatever he can to stop up the wells or cause our striving after the things of the Spirit to ‘cave in’. I then thought of Genesis 26 where Isaac sought to dig up the old wells his father Abraham dug when he returned to Gerar at the word of the Lord. It was Isaac’s right and inheritance to drink from the wells his father dug years before, but there were past opponents to his inheritance-the Philistines who stopped them up and current opponents-those land "squatters" whose jealousy and strife opposed Isaac’s right to gain his father's wells back.

Gen 26:15-22: “So all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth. Then Abimelech said to Isaac, "Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them. Isaac's servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen and said, "The water is ours!" So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, "Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land." 

Notice the name of the three wells. The first well Isaac called Esek which means ‘contention’. There will be those even in the house of the Lord that will resist the moving of the Spirit and quarrel over doctrinal points. They are either confused about or not interested in the life giving water that flows from the presence of God. They are more interested in proving their point and sticking to the old way of doing things. However, God is not moved by their objections. Neither was Isaac. He kept moving towards that which he knew was his God given inheritance and kept digging anyway.

The name of the next well is Sitna which means ‘strife’. No sooner did Isaac tap into the presence of God again, strife began to break out. There are those in the house of the Lord whose heart is not set right towards the things of God. Unfortunately yet prophetically, in the middle of a move of God and the Holy Spirit there will be those who will sow strife and discord among the brethren. Their hearts are not pure but divided. Their interests are not totally on the advancement of the Kingdom of God; but rather the advancement of self or their own agenda. They seek to draw men’s hearts after their own and represent a Pharisee spirit in the church today. 

Proverbs 6:16-19, “There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.”

We must be aware of the fact that in every move of God there is an opponent to it. This is not to discourage us but to help us gird up the loins of our mind and be aware that these things will happen. But like Isaac, we must press through the opponents because the name of the third well describes what will happen to us if we do!

The third attempt to re-dig his father’s wells resulted in ‘pay dirt’! Isaac named this well “Rehoboth” which means "wide places or streets". Isaac declared after his third attempt that “God had made room for him and he would be fruitful in the Land” just as his Father Abraham prophesied over him. You see, just because a prophetic word came over you doesn’t mean it will ‘automatically’ happen. You have to press in to God for that promise and contend for your faith! Paul told his spiritual son Timothy in 1 Timothy 1: 18 to wage a good warfare by the prophesies that went out over him! The devil is not going to sit back and watch you and I obtain the promises of God in our lives without a fight my friends!

You will attain the promises of God in your life with the help and assistance of others. Otherwise, you will think you did it all yourself. Isaac’s servants helped him dig and likewise we need to yoke up with like-minded believers in a spiritual ‘tribe’ who ‘believe’ God’s best for you and themselves and will contend for it with you! God will make a way prosperous for us as we continue to press on towards His presence. There is no opponent that will stop the flow of the River of God if we determine in our hearts to press forward and not compromise our position or inheritance. It is our right to re-dig our Father’s wells!

In John chapter 4 the Pharisees became angry and contended with Jesus because his disciples were baptizing more than John the Baptist was. They were the opponents of the New Covenant that Jesus represented and proposed to the multitude then and now. When Jesus heard this report he returned to Galilee but passed through Samaria on the way. He stopped in a village named Sychar which was near a parcel of land that Jacob had given his beloved son Joseph. There was well there too, called Jacob’s well. Jesus stopped to rest and get a drink from this well. This had prophetic significance to a Samaratim woman and to us as well.

We all know the story about how the Samaritan women came by the well and Jesus asked her to draw him out a drink from it. She was shocked that Jesus, a Jew, would ask a Samaritan to do him such a favor since they were hated by the Jews: particularly a woman. Of course we know what Jesus told her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

Their discourse continued on revealing heart attitudes this woman had about accepting anything Jesus had to offer. She first argued that she had nothing to draw with. Her next excuse was that the well was too deep. Next, she lacked understanding and questioned where she could find this ‘living water’ that Jesus had to offer and alluded to. Finally, she insulted Jesus by questioning His authority and asking if He was greater than their father Jacob. Jesus was not moved by her questions, insults or objections. He maintained His cause and corrected her thinking by pointing out all the things she referred to were merely temporal. 

Jesus answered by saying, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:13-14.

By Jesus’ speaking the pointed truth to this woman amidst her carnality and objections the light of ‘revelation knowledge’ began to go off in her mind and spirit. She then declared, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."

Their second discourse continues on where Jesus tells her to go call her husband. This further revealed to her the fact that God knows about our spiritual condition in a non-condemning way even when we may try to hide it from Him. Jesus revealed secrets to her that she didn’t want Him to know. This further validated His authority. She realized He was a prophet. Jesus continued to dethrone her religious philosophy and belief system which was that God can only be worshiped on a particular mountain (way) that tradition dictates (verses 20-24).

Jesus declared to her that whoever worships God must worship Him in Spirit and truth. This triggered a prophetic truth in her spirit she no doubt had heard about before: The Messiah is coming and when He comes, He will explain everything to us! Finally, Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”

In the next scene some new opponents turn up: Jesus’ own disciples who questioned why He was speaking to a woman-a Samaritan one at that. But these opponents couldn’t or didn’t stop this woman who had ‘tapped in’ to life giving water and they certainly didn’t challenge Jesus further! She left her water pots and immediately went to town telling everyone who would listen about the man who told her everything she had ever done. She had found the Christ!

As we embrace the truth of Christ and His life giving water, there will be those who will receive the life giving waters of revival and eternal life amidst the opponents. It is our God given right to dig up the wells of life and it is our God given inheritance to receive and share this joy with others! We must continue to tap in to the Spirit amidst the opponents to the life giving truth of God’s word no matter what the cost because there are souls waiting on the other side needing to be refreshed! We too can declare that our God has made plenty of room for us and we shall truly be fruitful in the land of His Kingdom!