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.
Sometimes in life people just want to stop every bit of progress that has been made. They often do it out of jealousy. Abraham has made a temporary move and his new neighbors don’t like the fact that he has so much wealth. They are jealous, and jealousy is a very powerful emotion. If it is not kept in check by the Spirit, it can destroy people. In a desert climate water is everything. Without water everything and everyone dies. So the new neighbors decide to fill in the wells with dirt thinking, “That will fix him.” But they were hurting themselves as well. In the future those wells would water their flocks and herds. But their jealousy is such that it blinds them to the consequences. Often jealousy blinds the person so that they don’t even consider what will happen after they act. Their focus is so great on acting, on getting even, on preventing something, that they don’t spend even a moment thinking about the “what next.” Maturity is about considering the “what next” in every situation. This is one of the checkpoints of adulthood. When someone considers the consequences of the actions we say they are becoming an adult. When they don’t consider them, they are still a child. Even societies can collectively act like children. Their leadership can convince them of a false picture of the world and lead them down a destructive path. The World Wars are examples of this, but there are modern examples in the news every day. Some nations are trying to force their way onto the world stage, but have not fully considered the consequences of their negative actions. Abraham’s neighbors attempt to drive him from their land by depriving him of needed water. In the end they hurt themselves. Are you jealous of any people in your life? Are you taking actions out of that jealousy without fully considering the consequences? If so, you need to step back and consider the “what next” of your actions.
The Arnold Journey 