Re-Dig the Wells
Day 35 · Genesis 26:18
📖 TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Genesis 26:18 (NIV)
“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.”
Today’s John 15 thread: Staying connected to the Vine means returning to the spiritual disciplines when life blocks them. The enemy will always try to fill in the wells — prayer, scripture, quiet time with God. Isaac didn’t dig new wells. He re-dug the old ones his father had already found. Sometimes the most important thing we can do is go back to what we know works.
✍️ REFLECTION
Isaac is in a difficult spot.
He’s in a land that doesn’t belong to him, under pressure from the Philistines, living in the shadow of his father Abraham. And what does he do?
He re-digs his father’s wells.
The Philistines had filled them in — deliberately. After Abraham died, they blocked every well he had dug so that no one else could use them. But Isaac goes back to each one, clears out the dirt and rubble, and gives it the same name his father gave it. He honours the old spiritual ground.
There is something really simple and really powerful in that picture.
Q1: Is there a spiritual well in your life that has got blocked? A regular time with God that slowly stopped? A habit of prayer that used to feed you but has dried up? What would it look like to go back and re-dig it?
The wells didn’t stop being good just because they were filled in. The water was still there underneath. Isaac knew that. He didn’t go looking for something new and better — he went back to the source his father had already tested and found faithful.
We do this in our own lives too. We start well — reading scripture in the morning, praying before bed, writing down what God is saying to us. And then life gets busy, or something disappoints us, or we just drift. And slowly the well fills in. Not because God left. But because we stopped digging.
Q2: When you feel distant from God, is it usually that God moved — or that the well got filled in with the busyness and noise of life? What has been filling in your wells?
What’s beautiful here is that God honours Isaac’s re-digging. In verse 24, the very night after Isaac digs out the wells, God appears to him and says: “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you.”
God shows up when we come back to the source.
The enemy wants you to think it’s too late. That the well is too filled in. That you’ve been away too long. But Isaac started re-digging — and God met him right there.
Q3: What is one well you can start re-digging this week? Not ten things — just one. What is the first shovel full of dirt you need to move?
🌿 REMAIN IN HIM
Take a moment before you move on. This isn’t a to-do. It’s an invitation to stay.
Reflect honestly: Think about the spiritual disciplines that have kept you close to God in different seasons of your life. Which ones are blocked right now? Don’t feel guilty — just notice. The well is still there.
Bring it to Jesus: Tell Him: “I want to re-dig. I don’t have a lot of energy for it, but I’m willing to start. Show me where to begin.” He will. He showed up for Isaac. He will show up for you.
Trust the Gardener: The Vine doesn’t need you to find a new source of water. The water has always been there. Stay connected, and let Him lead you back to what He already established.
🙏 PRAYER
Father, I don’t want to live on blocked wells. I want to be someone who keeps coming back to the source — to Your Word, to prayer, to time with You. Show me what I have let fill in. Give me the will to start re-digging, even just a little. You showed up for Isaac the very night he came back to the wells. I trust You will show up for me too. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
💡 MEMORY VERSE
Genesis 26:18 (NIV) — “Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham.”
This post is part of the Abide in Him Daily devotional series — reading Scripture through the lens of John 15:1–17. The branch doesn’t manufacture the fruit. It bears it because it stays connected to the Vine.
