God's Providential Provision in Genesis 24

But does the Lord fulfill his promises because of my performance or only because of what I could potentially offer him? No. He fulfills his promises because he is faithful and full of steadfast love. That is often another theme of Genesis, but especially Genesis 24, the kindness, the steadfast kindness of the Lord. And so let's ask ourselves, what would our life look like if we truly believe in God's faithfulness, his covenant faithfulness to us in Jesus? [00:26:50] (43 seconds)  #CovenantFaithfulness

The ideal situation for a child is is not to have to wake up each day and and wonder, am I gonna be taken care of? But to even not necessarily have to think about, to just understand that because of the love of my mom, because of the love of my parent, these things are taken care of. Can we not rest in the fact that God appoints what we need? Just as God appointed Rebecca for Isaac, God appoints what you and I need. It is God who guides us and secures our success in life. [00:23:45] (39 seconds)  #GodProvidesForUs

He's not only the God of past promises. He is the God of current kindness as well. When we think of the ideal picture of a mother, a mother's love doesn't stop at birth. Right? Ideally, when a child is born, the mother isn't just overcome with love on the day of birth and then afterwards, okay, you're on your own. I hope it works out for you. Ideally, our ideal picture of a mother is one of love and nurturing that happens all through the child's life. [00:19:07] (40 seconds)  #CurrentKindness

The servant's test that he laid out before the Lord was all about remembering God's control. It wasn't about twisting God's arm. It wasn't about forcing God's hand. In verse 14, the servant lays out this this test, displeased as it were, and it's all about an understanding that the Lord is in control, that the Lord is designing this circumstance so that the one who was appointed to be Isaac's wife would be revealed to the servant. [00:20:44] (38 seconds)  #TrustGodsControl

Now granted, people certainly still lived quite a bit longer then than we typically do today, but still, 40 years old, it would have been a reasonable expectation that Isaac would have been married by then, but he's not. And so the tension here is that, well, God promises that he has made Abraham that I will bless you. You'll have descendants beyond measure, too many to count. If Isaac is not married, then it would seem the promise hangs in the balance yet again. [00:06:28] (35 seconds)  #WaitingOnGodsPromise

And so what this woman, potential wife for Isaac, is being tasked with is drawing water up to 300 gallons with a maybe three gallon water jug. And so she's going to have to draw water at least about a 100 times to draw water for these candles. And so that would not only show her hospitality, that would certainly show her work ethic. Let me also say that, you know, if you find a woman that can draw 300 gallons of water for camels, that's quite a woman. [00:17:15] (38 seconds)  #RemarkableHospitality

And telling his tale as the servant eventually makes his way to Rebecca's relatives and their household, he recounts all of these events to them that have transpired. And in verse 44, in retelling of these events, he emphasizes that it's God who has appointed Rebecca to be Isaac's wife. He says, Rebecca is the one appointed for this. It is God who is behind these events. In telling of the success of his journey, he says in verse 48, it is God who guided him to Rebecca. [00:21:21] (39 seconds)  #GodGuidedRebecca

Now Abraham is probably less concerned about ethnicity, but he's probably more concerned about belief and the promises of God. If Isaac were to marry into the the Canaanite people amongst whom he lives, then that, again, would seem to jeopardize God's promises, that he would bring his promises to fruition through this one family, through this one people group. And so Abraham is adamant that this servant, this slave, cannot find a wife for Isaac among the Canaanite women. [00:08:08] (39 seconds)  #ProtectThePromise