Rebekah

I felt a calling to continue my studies after I finished college.  One of my favorite places to spend time was the library, nestled in a quiet corner, amidst a sea of books… it was so peaceful.  The thought of spending a few more years studying at the library didn’t intimidate me at all.

I applied to a few schools, and when I didn’t get into my first choice of institutions, I was devastated.  I questioned whether it was God’s will for my life to attend school now, or to wait.  I had been in prayer for months before applying, so it left me confused.  Did God really want me to go to this place?  Didn’t he know my desire for choice #1?

I wrestled with this decision, and prayed more.  Then, I concluded that since I had left this in God’s hands, this was it. Choice #2 it was! No matter how I felt, I was going to accept the invitation to attend this school, because God had answered my prayer…just in a different way that I had imagined.

Rebekah was also a woman who was faced with a choice.  Yet, unlike me, she responded far more confidently, firmly, and quickly. Her final decision had an impact on who she would spend the rest of her life with.  And little did she know, her choice would eventually lead to the birth of the nation of Israel.

Abraham was looking for a wife for his son.  He sent his servant on a prayerful search, and this servant came upon a well where Rebekah was also filling her jar.  

Coincidence?  No. Providence?  Yes.  

When the servant meets Rebekah’s brother, he spills the details of how God sent him to that well and the purpose of his visit.  Then, Rebekah is faced with a pivotal decision.  Will she go with this servant to a new family and marry a man whom she has never met?

Rebekah’s decision?  Her words, as written in Genesis 24:58, “I will go”.  

Her willingness to “go” changed the course of history.  Rebekah married Isaac and became the mother of Jacob, later named “Israel”.

What decision are you faced with?  Put it in God’s hands and watch what He can do.  There is no doubt the course of our lives will be changed when we follow the path He has chosen for us.  

~Betsy