I love the Bible. Some things mean one thing when you read them casually, but when you slow down and really take a look at them, they mean something else entirely. Today’s verse is like that.
Genesis 24:14 (GW)–I will ask a girl, ‘May I please have a drink from your jar?’ If she answers, ‘Have a drink, and I’ll also water your camels,’ let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. This way I’ll know that you’ve shown your kindness to my master.”
At first blush, this is kind of like Gideon’s fleece. (By the way, Gideon? He’s my all time favorite Old Testament dude. Long story there. We’ll have to talk about that someday.) It seems like Abraham’s servant throws out this random sign about watering camels.
But, oh… it’s so much more than that. See, hauling up water was a hard job. Hauling up enough to water several camels? That was backbreaking. To do it voluntarily indicated a certain kind of heart in a person… The kind of heart Abraham would have wanted for his son. If he’d asked, she likely would have said yes, simply because of the female roles in that day. But he didn’t ask. She volunteered. She could have stopped at giving him the water he requested, but she went above and beyond.
I guess, even then, being an animal lover said something about a person, huh? She thought about those poor camels. I’m just sayin’…
Know what else I love? A bonus part of a verse, 15a says, “Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came with her jar on her shoulder.” Love it! “Before he had finished praying…” How awesome is God? He was answering before the servant even asked.
Hm. How often do we miss out because we don’t ask?
Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
So, have you ever had a time when God answered… even as you were asking?
-JB
I have read this chapter a bunch of times, and started to write this a bunch of times, but today, one of the verses I had previously underlined jumped out at me. I don’t remember if I underlined it in a sermon, or from one of Jodie’s blogs. The first part of verse 12 and 15 “O lord, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham “ and “Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder.”
Clearly this prayer was in line with God’s will! God always has an answer for our prayers. He may not always reveal them to us this quickly, but he already has one. He has so many wonderful gifts for us, but we need to ask.
More importantly, I love that his prayer wasn’t so that he could get his job done quickly so he could return home. I love the compassion and care that he prayed for success so that kindness could be shown to his master, Abraham.
One of my best friends in the world is an amazing prayer warrior. One of the ways she shares her faith is often telling people she meets, that may have something going on in their world, that she will pray for them. This isn’t just some kind of lip service to her. She is sincere and makes sure she prays about whatever she said she would pray about. She has taught me so much about prayer and praying for others. I am getting much better at it, but can always stand improving. I know that God is all knowing, but there does seem to be something about praying specifically. I am not sure that Abraham’s servant could have been more specific here. I know it is important in prayer that we raise people’s names up to God (since we know names are so important). I know it is important to raise specific areas that need prayer. But I also know that God knows all those things and in places where we don’t have all the details, we still need to pray to God and he will cover the rest.