“Do not fear, for I am with you”

Isaac now goes up to what would be called Beersheba. The Lord  appeared to him saying “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you.“ He reassures Isaac of His promise to Abraham, and his descendants would come through Isaac. He builds an alter, calls on the Lord, and digs a well calling it Beersheba.  Isaac had reason to fear, Abimelech and the commander of his army would soon appear. They hated him, had filled in Abraham's wells,  and claimed Isaac's wells as theirs (Genesis 26).

The believer too lives in a hostile world. Isaac was in many ways peace loving, but it made no difference. Jesus tells us “If the world hates you,  know that it hated Me before it hated you (John 15:18).  So then the Lord is not saying that in the natural there is nothing to fear, rather He we do not to fear, because He is with us and will never forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).   So then He does not promise to keep us from trials, but rather “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you” (Isaiah 43:2).  Jesus suffered for us on the cross to put us right with God, but He also suffers with us. If we let them, these things can draw us even closer to Him in the fellowship of His sufferings (Philippians 3:10).

But there is another promise too “When a man's ways please the Lord He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Proverbs 16:7). And this promise is illustrated here.  As it turned out   Abimelech feared Isaac and wants to swear an oath that he will do him no harm. Abimelech claims falsely that he had done Isaac no harm, and Isaac graciously lets it go. He makes them  a feast signifying and sealing the oath and “they departed in peace”  (verses 28-30).  

I have seen the principle behind this  proverb acted out in my own life on two separate occasions, and I am claiming it for a third. We need wisdom knowing when to act (speak) and when to let it go. On the one hand Isaac was very frank with Abimelech, and had asked him “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you” (verse 27). On the other, as I said he let the untruth go. The Bible instructs us that “a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient,  in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,  and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will (2 Timothy 2:24-26).

Father one of the things You are telling us here is that the real enemy is not people, it is the Devil who captures people to do his will. Help us to trust You Lord and to find the balance between speaking the truth in love,  and in simply letting go.  Thank You for Isaac's example and for Your promise to be with us through it all, the good the bad and the ugly. We give You honour and praise again this morning Lord in Jesus Name Amen