Read:
“O LORD, God of my master, Abraham,” he prayed. “Please give me success today, and show unfailing love to my master, Abraham. See, I am standing here beside this spring, and the young women of the town are coming out to draw water. This is my request. I will ask one of them, ‘Please give me a drink from your jug.’ If she says, ‘Yes, have a drink, and I will water your camels, too!’–let her be the one you have selected as Isaac’s wife. This is how I will know that you have shown unfailing love to my master.”
Before he had finished praying, he saw a young woman named Rebekah coming out with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, who was the son of Abraham’s brother Nahor and his wife, Milcah. Rebekah was very beautiful and old enough to be married, but she was still a virgin. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came up again. Running over to her, the servant said, “Please give me a little drink of water from your jug.”
“Yes, my lord, she answered, “have a drink.” And she quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and gave him a drink. When she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels, too, until they have had enough to drink.” So she quickly emptied her jug into the watering trough and ran back to the well to draw water for all his camels.
~Genesis 24:12-20Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “The LORD has obviously brought you here, so there is nothing we can say. Here is Rebekah; take her and go. Yes, let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the LORD has directed.”
When Abraham’s servant heard their answer, he bowed down to the ground and worshiped the LORD. Then he brought out silver and gold jewelry and clothing and presented them to Rebekah. He also gave expensive presents to her brother and mother. Then they ate their meal, and the servant and the men with him stayed there overnight.
But early the next morning, Abraham’s servant said, “Send me back to my master.”
“But we want Rebekah to stay with us at least ten days,” her brother and mother said. “Then she can go.”
But he said, “Don’t delay me. The LORD has made my mission successful; now send me back so I can return to my master.”
“Well,” they said, “We’ll call Rebekah and ask her what she thinks.” So they called Rebekah. “Are you willing to go with this man?” they asked her.
And she replied, “Yes, I will go.”
So they said good-bye to Rebekah and sent her away with Abraham’s servant and his men. The woman who had been Rebekah’s childhood nurse went along with her. They gave her this blessing as she parted:
“Our sister, may you become
the mother of many millions!
May your descendants be strong
and conquer the cities of their enemies.”Then Rebekah and her servant girls mounted the camels and followed the man. So Abraham’s servant took Rebekah and went on his way.
~Genesis 24:50-61Isaac pleaded with the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children. The LORD answered Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant with twins. But the two children struggled with each other in her womb. So she went to ask the LORD about it. “Why is this happening to me?” she asked.
And the LORD told her, “The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son.”
~Genesis 25:21-23But Rebekah overheard what Isaac had said to this son Esau. So when Esau left to hunt for the wild game, she said to her son Jacob, “Listen. I overheard your father say to Esau, ‘Bring me some wild game and prepare me a delicious meal. Then I will bless you in the LORD’s presence before I die.’ Now, my son, listen to me. Do exactly as I tell you. Go out to the flocks, and bring me two fine young goats. I’ll use them to prepare your father’s favorite dish. Then take the food to your father so he can eat it and bless you before he dies.”
~Genesis 27:5-10
Read Genesis 24 – 28, for Rebekah’s full story.
Consider:
The story of Rebekah is one of a servant’s heart, a great faith, and a bit of doubt that God is going to deliver on what he promised.
Rebekah was not only beautiful but also had a servant’s heart. Eliezer was looking for a woman with a servant’s heart when he prayed and asked God for a specific sign: the sign that she would go above and beyond what he had asked.
Taking care of ourselves on the outside is important, but how much time and effort are we spending developing our inner beauty? Love, patience, kindness, and joy are what makes us beautiful on the inside and outside when God shines through us. We can use Rebekah as an example of a servant’s heart; when someone asks for help or when we see someone in need we can be willing to go beyond what is asked.
Rebekah was a woman of faith and trusted in God when she agreed to leave her family along with everything she knew to go with Eliezer to a strange land. Nothing was familiar, Rebekah had no family support, and she was asked to marry a man she never met. This took great courage and inner strength. Do you think she stopped to pray? Did she hear from God? The story tells us that after Rebekah and her family heard Eliezer’s story they knew this was from the Lord. Her family sent her off with their blessing!
Rebekah had tremendous blessings in her life because she obeyed God’s calling. What do we do when God calls us to do something that is out of our comfort zone? Do we pray then yield willingly, trusting in Him? When we can take that step of faith and trust in God we will see the blessings in our lives just as Rebekah did.
Rebekah had an advantage in this story. God had already revealed His plan to her! She just had to sit back and trust in Him. But, could she? NO! This amazes me. In my life, I have asked God on countless occasions to just drop me a note from heaven telling me exactly what I should do, yet I’ve never received a black and white note of instruction. Mysteriously, that is not how God works. It is when we are quiet in prayer that we hear God speak. When I am truly honest with myself, I can reflect on my life and know the areas when I should have stopped to quiet my mind and spirit to hear from God. When we hear from God and it feels as if he is taking His time to come through on a promise, what do we do?
Rebekah wasn’t a bad person, just a bit impatient. What can this story teach us? God spoke to her, she knew he did, she just wouldn’t trust Him to carry out the promise He had spoken. Isaac is on his deathbed and Rebekah hears him tell their older son, Esau, that he wants to give him his blessing before he dies. Can you imagine what she’s thinking? “This isn’t right, this is not what God has promised!” Instead of getting on her knees to pray about the situation, she takes matters into her own hands. Oh, how many times I have done just that! In that gut-wrenching moment, we are not thinking “I need to let go and let God…”! Instead of knowing God is in control, we attempt to “help” God by nudging others, control or manipulate. What a mess we create! Not only does Rebekah take the situation into her own hands but as she is doing it, she teaches her children a few ungodly things that day. Her elaborate, detailed, and well thought out plan teaches them to deceive, how to work the system, and how not to trust God. What about favoritism? She demonstrates to us the perfect example of what favoring one child over the other does. When we show favoritism, our children learn to hate instead of loving one another. Ouch! I hope I’ve never done this to my children. Now Esau wants to kill Jacob, so Rebekah devises another plan to send him away resulting in a long-term division between them.
Rebekah never stopped to think what the long-term effects of her actions would be. When we take control, we ruin it for everyone. We all suffer great setbacks by not trusting in God’s perfect plan. We miss seeing God’s miracles, where he provides a way where we could not see a way. We affect another person’s faith. We need to let the people we love have their own faith and trust that God is in control of their lives and situations. We need to know that God loves them more than we do.
When human nature kicks in and we think, “I must do it, I have to make it happen, it’s all up to me.” Feelings of anxiety or pressure about an event or situation should be our beacon to say, “Wait, I must stop what I am doing.” When we have those feelings, it should be a reminder to not act, but to pray.
Rebekah’s scheme caused division and strife. When I act instead of stopping to pray first I don’t get God’s best. Can you reflect on a time in your life where your actions caused division and strife or were just a plain bad idea?
God has the master plan and will always work things to His glory; if we trust in Him to move the mountains we can live a life of blessings.
Heavenly father, you are an awesome loving, forgiving father. Thank you for loving me, thank you for guiding me, thank you for pulling me closer to you day by day. I know you have created me just the way I am to fulfill your purpose I only need to trust you, trust that your plan is best. Father, I ask that you remind me to stop in every situation to pray. Pray for your guidance and wisdom, that I may follow the path you have set before me to bring you glory. In Jesus name, Amen.
Today’s post was written by Debra Vallier
Debra grew up going to church in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pa. The sun and beaches drew her to Florida at a young age. Wanting a better lifestyle for her 3 children, Debra moved them all to Clermont in 2004. Debra, along with daughter, Lorin, son-in-law Steel, daughter Jenna and son-in-law Christian all currently reside in Clermont. Debra’s son Matt lives in PA with his wife, Crystal, and their daughters, Allie and Olivia. Debra loves her career as a full-time Realtor, has a very active lifestyle enjoying many outdoor activities, enjoys cooking, being creative, and loves serving as a Life Group Facilitator and Life Group Coordinator at the Real Life Clermont campus. Debra’s favorite pastime is getting together with family and friends doing just about anything.