The Trusted Servant - 1 December 2009
When I came to the spring today, I said, 'O LORD, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. See, I am standing beside this spring; if a maiden comes out to draw water and I say to her, "Please let me drink a little water from your jar," and if she says to me, "Drink, and I'll draw water for your camels too," let her be the one the LORD has chosen for my master's son.' “Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, 'Please give me a drink.'
Genesis 24:42-45 [NIV]
I read this story when I was in Sinai. It is a story which always has an emotional effect on me. I love the humility and effectiveness of this particular servant. Somehow the desert landscape and the presence of camels brought it alive. Abraham is looking for a wife for his son Isaac but as he is too old to make the journey back to his own kin to find one so he sends his servant. There are a few things that we can draw from this story which may help us in our own service.
Firstly, Abraham trusts the servant to do his will. Do we realise how much God has entrusted to us? We are His hands and we go out in His name to serve.
The servant has learned how to pray and to trust His master’s God for an answer. Prayer plays a large part in service. When we know what God’s will is then we can do it.
The servant must have appeared trustworthy. Rebekah’s father was willing to entrust his daughter to him and she was very eager to go off with this stranger immediately. He must have reflected what his master and his son were like. When we are serving we reflect the Father and Son that we serve.
Laban and Bethuel (Rebekah’s father and brother) answered, "This is from the LORD; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master's son, as the LORD has directed."
Genesis 24:50-51 [NIV] | 