City Life Starter

Written by Efe Abbe

The Word

So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, camels and donkeys. And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old, and to him he has given all that he has. My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell, but you shall go to my father’s house and to my clan and take a wife for my son.’ I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’ But he said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you and prosper your way. You shall take a wife for my son from my clan and from my father’s house. Then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my clan. And if they will not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.’ “I came today to the spring and said, ‘O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now you are prospering the way that I go, behold, I am standing by the spring of water. Let the virgin who comes out to draw water, to whom I shall say, “Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,” and who will say to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,” let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’ “Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her water jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels drink also. Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her arms. Then I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to take the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son. Now then, if you are going to show steadfast love and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”

Genesis 24:34-49

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV

Reflection

Abraham was at least 137 years when he sent his servant to Mesopotamia to get a wife for Isaac – a very long time from when God called him at 75. By this time, he had many (many) years of learning to trust God’s wisdom through missteps and actions that didn’t always show trust. Like when he threw Sarah to the wolves (twice!) to save his own skin by telling a half-truth that she was his sister (Genesis 12:10-20; 20). Or when he and Sarah, in an attempt to take the fulfillment of God’s promise into their hands, completely ignored Hagar’s humanity and used her to get a son, Ishmael, leading to epic family drama and headaches (Genesis 16; 21:8-21). Abraham had to learn as he walked with the Lord that not trusting God has grave consequences.

But now, this is a different Abraham who is making plans for Isaac and posterity. This is Abraham who, on God’s command, had surrendered Isaac, the son of the promise, on Mt. Moriah only to get him back (Genesis 22:1-19; Hebrews 11:17-19). As he entrusted his oldest servant with the mission to Mesopotamia, the servant asked what to do if the parties who were crucial to the success of this plan, in their free will, refuse to participate. Without hesitation Abraham responded:

The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you and prosper your way. You shall take a wife for my son from my clan and from my father’s house.

Genesis 24:40

No back up plan, no scheming, no wringing of his hands; just a solid “God’s got this!”

Abraham’s trust planted a seed of trust in his servant, who then turns to the Lord for help, and we know from the story that God literally brings Rebecca to him. 

Application

In Proverbs we are cautioned:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

Proverbs 3:5-8

Trusting the Lord in all our ways requires a daily laying down of our lives in humility. It’s mind boggling that we created beings would presume to know more than our creator but that is what sin is. Trusting in our own wisdom is humanity’s original sin (Genesis 3). We can learn from history or look around today to see how bad things have turned out. 

But God, who didn’t give up on Abraham, didn’t give up on humanity either. He sent His son to be the perfect human in our place – to live, die, and be raised to life not just for us but as us (John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4). This means that we no longer have to keep going the way of trusting in ourselves! When we trust God by placing our faith in Jesus, we have unhindered access to God the Father and His wisdom, because of the Holy Spirit in us.

In what way do you need to trust God’s wisdom today? Is it by turning or returning to faith in Jesus to have access to God’s life now? Or is it taking up your cross daily and committing to a life of surrender to Jesus to fully experience God’s life? Whatever it is, let us respond by moving towards God so that we too like Abraham can know and say with confidence no matter what we are faced with, “God’s got this!”

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, you are the only truly wise One. Please forgive me when in my pride, I disregard Your commands and instructions. Please help me to lean only on Your wisdom to receive and experience the glorious life You freely give me, in Your Son’s name, Amen.