Everyone faces Valleys of Disappointment/Displacement/Disagreement more than once in life. For the sake of our future success it is vital to learn how to successfully traverse these Valley of Dis…!
Genesis 26 (MSG) There was a famine in the land, as bad as the famine during the time of Abraham. And Isaac went down to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
2-5Â God appeared to him and said, âDonât go down to Egypt; stay where I tell you. Stay here in this land and Iâll be with you and bless you. Iâm giving you and your children all these lands, fulfilling the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. Iâll make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky and give them all these lands. All the nations of the Earth will get a blessing for themselves through your descendants. And why? Because Abraham obeyed my summons and kept my chargeâmy commands, my guidelines, my teachings.â
6Â So Isaac stayed put in Gerar.
7Â The men of the place questioned him about his wife. He said, âSheâs my sister.â He was afraid to say âSheâs my wife.â He was thinking, âThese men might kill me to get Rebekah, sheâs so beautiful.â
8-9Â One day, after they had been there quite a long time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out his window and saw Isaac fondling his wife Rebekah. Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, âSo, sheâs your wife. Why did you tell us âSheâs my sisterâ?â
Isaac said, âBecause I thought I might get killed by someone who wanted her.â
10Â Abimelech said, âBut think of what you might have done to us! Given a little more time, one of the men might have slept with your wife; you would have been responsible for bringing guilt down on us.â
11Â Then Abimelech gave orders to his people: âAnyone who so much as lays a hand on this man or his wife dies.â
12-15Â Isaac planted crops in that land and took in a huge harvest (reaped in the same year a hundredfold). God blessed him. The man began to prosper, continued to prosper, and became very prosperous. He accumulated flocks and herds and many, many servants, so much so that the Philistines began to envy him. They got back at him by throwing dirt and debris into all the wells that his fatherâs servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham, clogging up all the wells.
16Â Finally, Abimelech told Isaac: âLeave. Youâve become far too big for us.â
17-18Â So Isaac left. He camped in the Valley of Gerar and settled down there. Isaac dug again the wells which were dug in the days of his father Abraham but had been clogged up by the Philistines after Abrahamâs death. And he renamed them, using the original names his father had given them.
19-24Â One day, as Isaacâs servants were digging in the valley, they came on a well of spring water. The shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaacâs shepherds, claiming, âThis water is ours.â So Isaac named the well Esek (Quarrel) because they quarreled over it. They dug another well and there was a difference over that one also, so he named it Sitnah (Accusation or Hostility). He went on from there and dug yet another well. But there was no fighting over this one so he named it Rehoboth (Wide-Open Spaces), saying, âNow God has given us plenty of space to spread out in the land.â From there he went up to Beersheba. That very night God appeared to him and said, âI am the God of Abraham your father; donât fear a thing because Iâm with you. Iâll bless you and make your children flourish because of Abraham my servant.â
25Â Isaac built an altar there and prayed, calling on God by name. He pitched his tent and his servants started digging another well.
26-27Â Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his advisor and Phicol the head of his troops. Isaac asked them, âWhy did you come to me? You hate me; you threw me out of your country.â
28-29Â They said, âWeâve realized that God is on your side. Weâd like to make a deal between usâa covenant that we maintain friendly relations. We havenât bothered you in the past; we treated you kindly and let you leave us in peace. SoâGodâs blessing be with you!â
30-31Â Isaac laid out a feast and they ate and drank together. Early in the morning they exchanged oaths not to interfere with each other. Then Isaac said good-bye and they left him in peace.
32-33Â Later that same day, Isaacâs servants came to him with news about the well they had been digging, âWeâve struck water!â Isaac named the well Sheba (Oath), and thatâs the name of the city, Beersheba (Oath-Well), to this day.
The name of the Valley of Gerar has an interesting meaning: “to sojourn (stay temporarily); be dragged off, to chew over, chew the cud, ruminate.”
Have you ever felt like a sojourner â wandering without a clear sense of purpose?
Have you ever felt like youâve been dragged away from something you love; or had something dragged away from you?
Have you ever felt chewed over, chewed up, spat out?
Have you ever been disappointed? Displaced? Had an ongoing disagreement?
Have you ever had to start all over again?
Have you ever felt like every time things start to go really well, someone or something comes and dirties the water?
Secrets for climbing the Valley of Disappointment/Displacement/Disagreement:
 #1. Learn from the mistakes of the past
In trying to protect his life, Isaac made exactly the same mistake his father Abraham had of pretending his wife was his sister. It didn’t go well for Abraham the first time, and it didn’t go any better for Isaac the second time!
Some valley experiences are simply of our own making.
Us: âGod, what are you trying to teach me in this valley?â
God: âStop making the same dumb mistakes!â
Letâs not be the kind of people who continually repeat the same mistakes over and over, so we can get on into the valleys and mountains that are actually worth climbing.
 #2. Godâs purpose might look different to your picture
Godâs got a wide-lens, big picture, panorama view. Weâve just got a zoomed-in snapshot cropped to fit on a postcard with a message from God saying, “I wish you were here.”
God told Isaac, âStay here and I will be with you and bless you.â He was, and He did, but then things changed! Did God lie to Isaac? NO! Was God taken by surprise? NO! Did Abimelech interfere with Godâs plan or was he part of Godâs plan to get Isaac to move to Beersheba? I DONâT KNOW! But what I DO KNOW is that the Bible says:
Proverbs 16:9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord directs his steps…
Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a manâs heart but Godâs purpose prevails…
Psalm 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord…
Romans 8:28 All things are working together for good for those who love GodâŚ
 #3. God can prosper you wherever you are
Isaac prospered even though he was surrounded by famine. My memory of this passage was that âbegan to prosper, continued to prosper, became very prosperousâ (Gen 26:12-13) came after Isaac had gone through all of his disaapointments/displacements/disagreements. But on reading it again I realised, this was only the beginning and more trouble was still to come. However, Isaac prospered he was when sent away, prospered when he was moved on, and prospered when he settled.
 #4. Learn how to dig a well
A well symbolises a source of life and refreshing for you AND others. Wells can be experiences, wisdom, insights, revelations, examples. If we want to be refreshed ourselves, as well as be a source of help and blessing for others, we need to uncover old wells that we have dug and wells that others have dug before us, by reminding ourselves of lessons learned, or things God has spoken about previously.
We also need to continually dig new wells – i.e. not relying only on the past, but also continually learning, growing, and progressing.
#5. Choose your watering hole
Why would we want to drink from a well called “Quarrel” or “Accusations” or “Hostility”? Yet so often that’s what people do! They keep drawing from bitter wells and wondering why it leaves a bad taste in their mouth.
Remember Gerar means “to chew over, chew the cud, ruminate.” Chewing the cud has to be one the most disgusting things a cow does! Chewing, regurgitating, chewing again, regurgitating again, over and over. What cud of quarrels, accusations, hostilities have you been chewing over, ruminating on, and regurgitating? You canât change the past. You can only change the future by the decisions you make, and the actions you take, today.
Maybe it’s time to move on and dig a new well in some area of your life. Godâs got a wide-open space of blessing for you even greater than before!
 #6. You can always start again
Just remember that the way you end something, is the way you will begin the next thing. Make sure you finish things well. People who never finish anything always struggle to get beyond the Valley of Dis…
 #7. Show grace to those who hurt you
You just never know when your paths may cross again!
 #8. Say good-bye to your past and leave it in peace
In the famous words of Elsa…”Let it go!”
#9. Donât find fault. Unlock the vault
There is a Vault in your Valley containing great treasures of wisdom, learning, favour and blessing – for you and others. We get to choose whether we will find fault in the valley, or unlock the vault.
Vault finds:Â Value (something of worth). Fault finds: Loss.
Vault finds: Validation (proving of purpose & character). Fault finds: Failure and doubt.
Vault finds: Valour (strength & resilience). Fault finds: Fear & discouragement.
Vault finds: Valentines (new loves and passions). Fault finds: Bitter resentment.
Vault finds: Valets (people to do the journey with). Fault finds: Isolation.
Vault finds: Valedictories (goodbye to the past & hello to the future). Fault finds: Prisoner to the past.
Whatever your Dis… has been – do yourself a favour and say goodbye to that Valley so you can move into the blessing of God in and through your life ASAP! In the words we love to sing to fans of a losing opposition team at the football…“Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, good-bye!”