This world will try to shut me down
Push and shove me to the ground but I
I been covered by the blood of Christ
I am His and He is mine
May be hated but this ain’t my town
Persecuted constantly beat down
But there’s a joy in the suffering
Cause He is my identity
I’m not of this world

I’m a stranger in this land
There’s a narrow road ahead
No matter what comes my way
I’ll be okay, okay, okay
I will keep my eyes on you
Knowing You will see me through
No matter what comes my way
I’ll be okay, okay, okay
Cause You got me in Your hand
Cause You got me in Your hand

(By Robert Pierre)

I have learned from God that as “newcomers” to traditions with a culture unlike our own that it is best to follow God’s guidance with every thought, word, and deed.  If we do not follow God’s guidance, quarreling quickly escalates, based on faulty information.  Those who are not like us and we are not like them fosters anxiety caused by the sin of assuming you know but you don’t know. This is followed quickly by the sin of presuming that we must do unto them before they do it to us.  Many disagreements arise from lack of knowledge and misinformation between both parties.  It seems to be human nature to size each other up at first glance and assume they will respond in the way you imagine without really getting to know them.

One thing is for certain, those who know God, believe in God, ask God for direction and follow in His ways, are noticed by those around them—no matter culture!

It’s always darkest before the dawn
But I can see the rising sun as it
Shines bright of what’s to come
My hope will never be undone

I’m a stranger in this land
There’s a narrow road ahead
No matter what comes my way
I’ll be okay, okay, okay
I will keep my eyes on you
Knowing You will see me through
No matter what comes my way
I’ll be okay, okay, okay
Cause You got me in Your hand
Cause You got me in Your hand

There’s a day coming
There’s a day coming
There’s a day coming I’ll see Your face

Isaac has now taken the leading role in the story of God, following in the footsteps of his father, Abraham who believed God and walked with God.  It is interesting to note that Isaac made the same errors as his dad when faced with adversity.  Despite God’s clear promise to Isaac, he lacked faith. But through his encounter with Abimelek, Isaac learned to trust that God would protect him, provide for him, and fulfill his promise.

Genesis 26

Isaac and Abimelek

Now there was a famine in the land—besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar. ² The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. ³ Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. ⁴ I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, ⁵ because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions.” ⁶ So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

⁷ When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”

⁸ When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelek king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. ⁹ So Abimelek summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?”

Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.”

¹⁰ Then Abimelek said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”

¹¹ So Abimelek gave orders to all the people: “Anyone who harms this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

¹² Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him. ¹³ The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. ¹⁴ He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵ 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.

¹⁶ Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.”

¹⁷ So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar, where he settled. ¹⁸ 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.

¹⁹ Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. ²⁰ But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him. ²¹ Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. ²² 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.”

²³ From there he went up to Beersheba. ²⁴ That night the Lord appeared to himand said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”

²⁵ Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.

²⁶ Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. ²⁷ Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?”

²⁸ They answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’—between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you ²⁹ that you will do us no harm, just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the Lord.”

³⁰ Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. ³¹ Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully.

³² That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!” ³³ He called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.

Jacob Takes Esau’s Blessing

³⁴ When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. ³⁵ They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God protects and provides for people who follow him. Even though we may be afraid, God’s faithfulness does not waver.  Where God guides; God provides. No matter what we face; new job in a new city, new marriage with new traditions for each family, new baby with new beginnings, new church family with customs and traditions, new neighbors down the street who are not like you brings new opportunities to grow in our faith and extend our love.  No matter what—God goes before us, behind us, beside us, while surrounding us with His holiness to lead us where we have never been for the purpose to grow in our love for God and each other who share His creation. 

Issac enters the land God has promised, but he comes as a stranger to its inhabitants.  After a few years the inhabitants realize Isaac is a blessed man who knows God.  “We see clearly that the Lord is with you.”  What a testimony from those who observed the life of Isaac who comes in peace.  What a testimony to God who blessed Isaac and led him to make peace with those with whom he shared the land—and the water!

So, it is important—to know and trust our God who leads us to wherever He wants us to reside.  We’re all strangers in a world of unbelievers who don’t know God, yet.  So, don’t get too comfy in this world we share momentarily; for we are merely passing through.  But on our way through may all know Who we know so they will know.  All who believe God who gave His Son, Jesus to save us and redeem us of all our sins, look forward to the day when we will see Jesus face to face in all His glory in a new land called eternity.

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”  Romans 12:18

Lord,

Give us wisdom and courage to live with others who you have created with the same love you have given to us.  May your love, mercy, and grace flow freely from us to others.  In Jesus Name, Amen