Genesis 24 — Thougths

Is This About Nose-Piercings?

I can hear the exchange now...

Christian mom: "No, you cannot get your nose pierced."

Christian daughter: "Why not? Rebekah had HER nose pierced."

Christian mom: "Rebekah was getting married to Isaac. When you're old enough to get married, you can do whatever you want."

This chapter really isn't about nose-piercing though.

Instead, we're shown a really cool case of God answering someone's prayer. When Abraham's servant went to get a wife for Isaac, he asked God to reveal the right woman in a specific way. She would have to give him water and then offer some for his camels as well. This wasn't an arbitrary qualifier though, it was a demonstration of that woman's strong, servant-hearted character. And that woman turned out to be Rebekah.

We have to be careful about how we apply this story to our lives, though. We can't assume that because God did what this servant asked, He will always present us with signs according to our own terms. God doesn't work that way. He rarely does things the same way twice, and He rarely does things the way we would like Him to do them.

What it does show us, though, is that when we depend on the Lord to guide us, He always comes through.

To me, the amazing thing about this story isn't the way God answered this servant's prayer, but the fact that the servant prayed it at all. He clearly had great faith. This servant knew that God would hear him. He knew that God would care. He knew that God would respond. And He knew that God would be glorified in whatever happened next.

I want to pray like that — not for God to show up the way I want Him to, but with a complete and total dependence on God to show up however He chooses to and with the expectation that He will show up in whatever way is best.

(Originally Written July 18, 2020)