Genesis 26

Key Verse: "Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you..." (Genesis 26:3a)

In Genesis 26, a famine came upon the land of Gerar. Isaac and his family were living there, and Isaac planned to go to Egypt to escape. However, God spoke to him, and told him that if he would stay, God would bless him: “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” (verse 3). Though he was unsure, Isaac followed God’s command and stayed. The Philistines did not believe in God, and Isaac even created trouble for himself by lying to the king, but God protected him and was with him.

God continued to bless him and made him prosperous: so much so, that the Philistines became envious and even King Abimelech asked him to leave. Isaac complied and moved into the valley to avoid conflict, and reopened his father’s wells (which the Philistines had covered over after Abraham’s death). The Philistines, however, quarreled with them and took them back, claiming ownership of the wells. Isaac moved and his servants dug a new one, but his envious neighbors took it back. This happened twice before the Philistines finally left the well alone. His blessing brought hardships to him and his family. In the end, however, God blessed Isaac’s stay in Gerar. Abimelech the king recognized God’s work in Isaac’s life and made a treaty with him, also. Isaac forgave them and even held a feast for him and his officials. Isaac relied on God, and God blessed his obedience.


Myself, I have been struggling with my own famine—a spiritual one. Though I have been growing through Bible study, testimony writing, Narrowgate and praise and worship, I have been wary of buckling down and truly applying myself to anything. I have actually worried about being too committed to things, because I don’t always know when God is speaking to me. I don’t want to make the wrong decision and wind up outside of God’s will.

After this Bible study, talking with M. Joan, and praying, I think it is better to settle down and “stay in Gerar for a while” than to always be flitting back and forth based on my own feelings. God led me to UBF for a reason, and He is clearly growing me as a leader and has been using me in the ministry since I came. Though I may not be in UBF for forever, for now this is where I believe God means me to be. This has made me a lot more confident about attending meetings and committing to be a leader.

I still have a lot of things to work on, like writing testimonies regularly, and there won’t be an overnight change in my spiritual life, but I pray that I can put forth more effort and offer more of my heart to helping college students come to Christ, whether that be for a few years or for the rest of my life.

One Word: A new commitment to the work of God.