Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
"Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother. Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there. When they got up the next morning, he said, "Send me on my way to my master." But her brother and her mother replied, "Let the girl remain with us ten days or so; then you may go." But he said to them, "Do not detain me, now that the Lord has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master." Then they said, "Let's call the girl and ask her about it." So they called Rebekah and asked her, "Will you go with this man?" "I will go," she said. So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham's servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, "Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the gates of their enemies." Then Rebekah and her maids got ready and mounted their camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left." Genesis 24:53-61
Before Jesus was born into this world, He was conceived in His mother Mary. You’ll remember that God sent His angel Gabriel to speak with Mary and deliver news from God. Mary was first frightened but Gabriel told her that she would become pregnant and deliver a son that she would name Jesus. Mary was puzzled because she was a virgin and wondered how she could possibly have a child. Gabriel tells her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the power of God would overshadow her so that the boy she would bear would be called the Son of God. He adds the awesome testament, "For nothing is impossible with God." Mary’s response is one of the most remarkable statements of faith in scripture. She says to the angel, "I am the Lord's servant…may it be to me as you have said." Mary never questioned the Lord’s plan. She didn’t laugh at what Gabriel was proposing like Sarah did when God tried to tell her she would become pregnant. No…she responded in obedience…in obedience as the Lord’s servant.
Rewind now to our scripture today from Genesis. God has helped Abraham’s chief servant find a wife (Rebekah) for Isaac and the servant has dined and received support from Rebekah’s family (Betheul and Laban). He now seeks to finish his task by returning to Abraham from Nahor and bring Isaac’s future bride with him. All seems fine…but then something comes up that threatens to derail the plan.
Question: Have you ever had a plan laid out and everything seemed to be going just as expected…and then, something happens that disrupts the plan? How did you handle that situation?
Well, Abraham’s chief servant faced one in our scripture. As he prepared to leave Nahor with Rebekah the day after his dinner with her family, the family propose a delay. Betheul and Laban ask, "Let the girl remain with us ten days or so; then you may go." It had to be hard for them to send her away. After all, she was a daughter and sister to them. They loved her. They were sending her off with a stranger to marry a stranger. I think we all could agree that would be difficult.
Faced with this request, we sense the chief servant is a bit annoyed at the proposal. He pleads with the family, "Do not detain me, now that the Lord has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master." The chief servant is ready to return home. He has accomplished the mission with the Lord’s help. He feels that it’s time to get going and get Rebekah to Isaac and her future father in law, Abraham. So there is an impasse in place.
Betheul and Laban propose a way to break the standoff saying, "Let's call the girl and ask her about it." They were willing to go along with what Rebekah wanted to do. One doesn’t know what Betheul or Laban were thinking when they made this proposal but possibly they felt that Rebekah would want more time with her family before leaving and thus anticipated that she would side with them. And so they ask Rebekah, "Will you go with this man?" She doesn’t hesitate in replying, "I will go." And so Betheul and Laban send Rebekah on her way, blessing her before she leaves them to go to meet and marry a man she has never seen before.
Question: Could you exhibit the same faith as Rebekah…one that would obey God’s call to go into an unknown situation and know He would be with you to guide you and watch over you?
We have seen examples of this kind of faithfulness before Rebekah in Noah, Abraham, and Abraham’s chief servant but this was the first time it involved a woman…a great woman of faith who never wavered in the midst of a mysterious, challenging time in her life. We remember Mary and her faithfulness because we revisit the miracle every year at Christmas. My prayer is that we’ll also remember Rebekah as well…for the faith she showed would be a prelude for faithful women to follow, Mary included. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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