sandwiched by promises

Genesis 26 A severe famine now struck the land, as had happened before in Abraham's time. So Isaac moved to Gerar, where Abimelech, king of the Philistines, lived.

² The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt, but do as I tell you.

Famine leads to survival actions, which leads to the Lord's appearance to provide guidance and hope.  Isaac moves his family to a place where there is water when famine strikes but this places him in a foreign land, ruled by a foreign king.  It's interesting that Isaac is not spared from the challenge of famine, just because he is in God's special family.  It's also interesting that God would allow Isaac to have difficult trials at the hands of this king.  On the one hand, there are great promises for Isaac that God would bless him and his descendants, but in the "here and now" of Isaac's life there was strife with other people.  God blesses Isaac with abundant crops and wealth but this only leads to jealousy from the neighboring peope who weren't so blessed.  They push Isaac out and take over the wells he has dug.  After Isaac has dug several wells, only to be forced to abandon them by local shepherds, the Lord appears again to confirm His presence and promise.

Genesis 26:²³ From there Isaac moved to Beersheba, ²⁴ where the Lord appeared to him on the night of his arrival. "I am the God of your father, Abraham," he said. "Do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you. I will multiply your descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will do this because of my promise to Abraham, my servant."

It seems that there is a pattern of God's presence in the form of precious promises which might be compared to the bread of a sandwich.  Within the sandwich is a meal of trials by circumstance and mistreatment.  God seems to be developing a growing trust by Isaac in the promises He makes, just as He developed a similar trust relationship with Isaac's father, Abraham.  

It occurs that we also have a pattern of promises and difficulties.  We are caused to choose where we will go to dig our wells and whom will we depend on when trouble comes from all around.  Isaac was reminded by God's timely appearance that He was with Him and would ultimately bless him.  The trials had become the teacher.

blessings,

Rob Smith