Genesis 24:10 (A servant of Abraham was sent by Abraham to find a wife for his son Isaac) Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking all kinds of choice gifts from his master; and he set out and went to Aram-naharaim, to the city of Nahor. 11 He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water; it was toward evening, the time when women go out to draw water. 12 And he said, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. 13 I am standing here by the spring of water, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14 Let the girl to whom I shall say, ‘Please offer your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.” 

A couple of things get my attention here. First, in v.12 the servant addresses God as “God of my master Abraham”. He didn’t claim God for his own, but that didn’t matter. For much of human history the faith of the head of the household, or even the sovereign of a kingdom or nation, would dictate the faith of those under their authority. Even today, in some parts of the world, when the chief of a village converts to Christianity the entire village converts to Christianity. There is no expectation of individual faith as there is in the Western world.

The second thing that gets my attention is v.14 which explains the sign the servant is looking for, which is very specific. What I appreciate about the servant’s prayer is that it takes the selection of a wife for Isaac out of his hands and into God’s divine providence. Reminds me a lot of Gideon who we will read about later in the Old Testament.

Over the years I’ve learned to appreciate the power of “discerning” God’s leading when making important decisions rather than “deciding” by weighing pros and cons. That said it’s hard to do. There is always a part of me that wants to take control back and be the driver in a decision. That generally doesn’t work out so well.

Heavenly Father lead us when we are not sure which way to go. Amen.