Digging New Wells of Living Water

Tuesday, March 3, 2026

Digging New Wells for Living Water 

…the Philistines envied him.
(Now the Philistines had stopped up and filled with earth
all the wells that his father’s servants had dug …)
Genesis 26:15 (NRSV)

Every time I pass the old water well near the coffee shop on Broadway Street in Prosper, I notice how it tilts at a 45 degree angle, as if tired from years of holding its place. It’s been abandoned for as long as I can remember. I often wonder who dug it, when it mattered, and what finally caused someone to leave it behind. Did the water run dry,  or did life simply move on?

That image feels especially meaningful during Lent.

Lent is a season of preparing our hearts to experience the passion and resurrection of Jesus more deeply. It is a time of honest reflection … a time to notice which wells in our lives are full of living water and which have slowly filled with dirt. It is also a time to dig new wells of faith so that we can walk more closely in the image of Jesus in our everyday lives.

Isaac understood something about wells. He inherited land and the wells his father Abraham’s servants had dug, wells that meant survival in a dry place and testified to God’s provision. But when God blessed Isaac, envy grew among the Philistines. They stopped up those wells, filling them with earth.

Isaac could have fought to reclaim what was his. Instead, he chose a different path. He moved. He dug again. When conflict followed, he moved again. And again. Each time, Isaac chose peace over pride and trust over control.

Lent invites us into that same kind of movement.

Sometimes the wells we rely on — old habits, relationships, familiar routines, even comfortable ways of thinking about others and God — become clogged. Pride, fear, hurt, resentment, distraction, or exhaustion can quietly fill our wells of faith with dirt. The water that once refreshed our souls no longer flows the same way it once did.

Lent gently asks us:
Where is God inviting you to dig again?

Digging new wells of faith might look like creating space for daily prayer, practicing forgiveness, letting go of something that numbs your spirit, or paying closer attention to where Jesus is already present in ordinary moments. The digging itself can feel slow and uncomfortable, but it prepares the ground for living water that is Christ in us to flow again.

Eventually, Isaac came to Rehoboth, a wide, open place where there was room to flourish. After all the moving and digging and letting go, God met him there with reassurance and promise.

That is the hope of Lent.

Digging wells takes time. The ground may feel hard. We may uncover roots we didn’t expect. But Lent is not about spiritual performance. It is about preparation. As we walk toward the cross and the empty tomb, we are not just remembering what Jesus has done; we are allowing God to reshape our hearts. We loosen our grip on old wells so we can receive living water anew. We make room for resurrection life to take root in us once again.

Some wells close not to punish us, but to prepare us.
Some losses guide us toward deeper trust.
Some dry places compel us to seek the Living Water that never runs dry.

This Lenten season, may we have the courage to keep digging. For every small, faithful practice — every prayer, every confession, every quiet act of love — becomes another shovel of soil removed and draws us another inch closer to Living Water.

Reflect: Where in your life does it feel like a well has been filled in —something that once flowed easily but now feels blocked, dry, or contested? What might God be asking you to release, move away from, or trust Him with instead of fighting to reopen what no longer gives life?

Pray: God, You see the places where I’m tired of digging and tempted to defend what used to work. Give me the grace to let go when You say move, the humility to choose peace over pride, and the trust to believe You are leading me somewhere wider and better. Help me follow You until I reach the place where Your living water flows freely again. Amen.

By His Grace,
Gloria Ashby
Lay Leader