Friday, April 15, 2011

Crazy Faith

I was reading Genesis 24 today.  It's the story of Abraham's servant travelling back to Abe's home town.  He arrives, with ten camels and "all kinds of good things", looking for God's chosen wife for Isaac.  The servant (whose name we are never told) prays for God to lead him in a very exact way and before he is even finished praying, Rebekah shows up and does everything the servant was praying "the right girl" would do.  He gives her a gold nose ring and some gold bracelets and follows her to her family's home where he pops the question on behalf of Abraham & Isaac.  Her father and uncle respond with "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." (Gen. 24:50-51)

Wow.  Can you imagine?  A man and his ten camels show up and you send off your daughter with him?  Really?  THAT IS FAITH.  CRAZY faith.

Maybe this was normal back then.  But I doubt it!  Rebekah must have had dreams about marrying and mothering and likely that included having grandparents nearby and uncles and aunts and cousins.  That day, she woke up and went about the day like she had done hundreds of times.  But it the cool of the day it all changed.  My, how it changed!

I wonder how she felt.  I wonder if she slept that night after all of the celebrating had finally ceased.  I suspect not much.  I bet she prayed.  I bet her thoughts were spinning and her stomach was all butterflies and she kept thinking to herself "I can't believe this is really happening!"  "Did I imagine all of this?"  If she slept, I wonder if she woke up and her first thoughts were of the normal things she did every morning and all of a sudden she noticed the nose ring and bracelets and remembered.  Her life was changing.

Crazy.  Yet she and her family trusted God and trusted this man.  Was it crazy or not?  Can you imagine?  Would you go?

Day 34

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