"And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, 'For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.'" (Genesis 26:22)
I was reading in Genesis 26 this morning about Isaac. The story tells of how Isaac had come to Gerar (Philistine territory) in a year of famine, and sowed into the land. During the same year, he "reaped a hundredfold because the Lord blessed him. The man became rich and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy...so the Philistines envied him." (Genesis 26: 12-14)
Isaac's father Abraham had dug wells in the land, and to get back at Isaac because of their jealousy, the Philistines filled them all in with dirt - stopping up the wells. Isaac set to work digging up the wells, and the interesting thing is that as he dug them back out and they began to flow with water, the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's men about the water, saying it was theirs! Well, Isaac, being a gentleman, didn't fight them over the water, he just went and dug out another stopped up well. But the more he did this, the more they followed him around hassling him about the water and how it really belonged to them! So finally Isaac went and dug a new well, and no one hassled him again. God had made room for him in the land so that he could be fruitful - the water was his and he had no competition for it.
This is a really fascinating story, because I think as business men and women and especially entrepreneurs, we face these scenarios day in and day out. There are two things that strike me about this story. First, what person in their right mind sows in a year of famine? A man of faith sows in a year of famine. When you are a child of promise - like Isaac was - you sow in a year of famine, and what happens? You begin to prosper. This year has been a year of famine in our economy as a whole. As financial navigators, we see more and more people struggling under immense burdens of debt, facing foreclosure, and feeling completely out of control in their finances. It has been a year that has challenged us personally in our business ventures. And yet the truth remains the same...if we are a child of promise (and as believers in Jesus, we are!), we can sow in a year of famine and expect to reap a harvest. To begin to prosper and to increase, in spite of the famine, in spite of the economy, in spite of what the press is saying. Take it for what it's worth...I needed that today!
Second, there are countless fruitful markets and deep wells of fresh prospects and consumers for our business just waiting to be sown into and dug out. But I think we find ourselves over and over again re-digging old wells that have been covered over and stopped up by jealous competition trying to undercut and undermine us, trying to stop up our wells to keep us from being prosperous. And sometimes these old wells even give fresh water if we work at it hard enough...but the fact remains that they are old wells with lots of other thirsty people around them waiting for you to do the hard work so that they can clamber for their share. What we need to do is seek out a place to dig a new well. Create a new market with fresh, bubbling springs of demand for what we have to offer. Open up some space and allow God to make room for us so that we can be fruitful.
And here you thought that "Blue Ocean Strategy" was a new idea..... : )
