Gen 24:1-27 Guided by God ES 16 Feb 14 1534
This is our experience, if you honour the Lord and seek Him with all your heart.
Gen 24 records the story of how God guided Abraham’s servant to find a wife for his son Isaac. [Read Gen 24:1-9]
God will surely guide us to where He wants us to go, but first we must obey what He has already revealed.
FOLLOW WHAT GOD HAS CLEARLY REVEALED
Two things Abraham knew for sure and would not compromise:
(1) He will not get a wife for his son among the Canaanites
• Deut 7:3-4 “Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the LORD's anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.” This is God’s will.
• 2 Cor 6:14 “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?”
(2) Isaac is not to go back to where they came from
• Abraham said in verse 7 that the Lord promised him on oath to give his offspring this land. This is God’s will.
• The servant asked, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back, shall I just take Isaac and go over?”
Abraham’s response was firm. God’s will was for us to settle in this Promised Land!
• Verse 8 he said to his servant, “If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there."
• If you failed to get the woman back, you would be released from this responsibility.
• But even if this should happen, “you are not to take my son back there.”
Boundaries were set because Abraham knows God’s will. No compromise, whatsoever.
• We don’t bend God’s will to suit our convenience. We change our options to go with God’s will. We keep to God’s will and let the other pieces fall where they are.
• Whatever the outcome, Abraham was prepared not to compromise on God’s will.
Follow what God has clearly revealed. Don’t compromise God’s Word when it comes to finding your lifetime partner.
• I am not trying to scare you. I’m just restating what is plainly spoken in God’s Word.
• You are going to pay a price, if that is the choice you have made.
TRUST GOD TO GUIDE YOU
Look at what Abraham said. Verse 7: “He will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there.”
• Even though there was this uncertainty, Abraham chose to trust God. It was a declaration of faith that God will provide.
• He was speaking from experience. He left his home in Ur and eventually came to this Promised Land because God guided him.
If you want God to guide you (which He surely will), then declare your TRUST in God.
• Prov 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” [direct your paths; make straight your paths; show you the right path.]
• The issue is not with God’s unwillingness to guide us, but our unwillingness to trust Him.
• We often say, WHAT IF. What if I can’t find this woman; what if she does not want to follow me back. We are subtly giving ourselves the chance to compromise.
• Instead, let us say the positive with faith – God will help me find the woman, he will guide me; she will follow me back because God will provide.
What God has revealed, don’t ask. What He has yet to reveal, just trust.
• Trust is necessary because without that you cannot commit. You cannot commit to someone whom you cannot trust.
• This was what Abraham did. He chose to trust God to providentially provide a wife for Isaac, even though that was extremely difficult.
His confidence was based upon God’s revealed Word – if they are not supposed to intermarry with the locals and to go back to his native land (stay in the Promised Land Canaan), then God must surely provide.
• It’s almost like telling God: “If that is what You want, then You must provide the way!” It is a trust that God will provide what He wants.
• God honours those who honours Him (cf. 1 Sam 2:30). God honours the one who trusts Him.
Abraham believes God even thought this whole idea was exceptionally difficult.
• What are the chances that his servant can travel 800km, meet a qualified woman from his own clan, and convince her and her family to let her travel to a distant and marry a man she has never met?
• Human understanding, planning or even strategizing would rule that out.
But that’s precisely the point. It’s not humanly possible. Abraham knew that.
• Verse 7 tells us he expected God to send an angel to guide his servant. That’s faith.
• That’s what we can learn. Don’t just trust your good planning and wise strategizing. Our acumen, wisdom and insight cannot take us to where God can.
Prov 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with ALL your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in ALL your ways acknowledge Him…”
• For Solomon, the wisest man on earth, to say this is something. He is so wise and yet needs to consult God in all his ways.
• When was the last time you talk to God about your career plan? Your education or marriage? Or your calling or ministry?
• Commit it to Him and see God supernaturally and providentially arrange the circumstances, at the right time and in the right way.
The servant obeyed and prepared for the trip. [Read Gen 24:10-27]
PRAY FOR GOD TO SHOW YOU
James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”
The servant prayed. He needed a sign. And he got what he prayed for.
• When it happened, he knew it was God. God granted him success.
• His appropriate response was – verse 26 - he bowed down and worshipped the Lord. And praised Him for His kindness and faithfulness. He testified, the Lord has LED me.
If we trust God and seek Him, He will grant you success.
• If we are led by God, there cannot be any coincidences. Everything happens by God’s providence.
When I first felt the call of God to serve Him full-time – back when I was still studying in the Polytechnic, I wanted to be sure.
• I knew God has spoken, and yet I was afraid that I might be carried away by my emotions and the spur of the moment. When you are young, you can be passionate about almost anything.
• So I prayed and asked the Lord to show me clearly. Time was on my side then because I have to complete my studies and do my National Service.
• I asked the Lord to remind me again when I really needed to make the decision.
True enough, God reminded me. He speaks through those few years, but three months before my ROD (run-out date) from NS (national service), God said it again.
• It was the right time. After NS I would need to decide on what I want to do.
• It was in a church retreat held here at the Basement Hall. I still remember it very vividly - the scene, the speaker, where I sat that day, and the line he said.
• He said, “God don’t need you to earn for Him!” The excuse I had in my heart then. “Lord, you bless me with a good career and help me be rich, then I can give generously to Your work!” That’s another way of serving God.
• I knew it was Him! God guides you to where He wants you to be!
The servant prayed and God showed him.
• You pray and God will show you. If you are not sure, ask Him again. He will say it again. He will do it again. He will show you again.
• God’s desire is for us to know His will and to live life His way. Keeping you in the dark is the last thing He wants.
• He is a self-revelatory God. He reveals Himself. He initiates the move to reveals Himself. He reveals His plan to Abraham, His will to Moses (giving him the commandments for Israel).
• He will do the same today.
Don’t try to manoeuvre your way through life on your own. Don’t try to chart your own path in your study, business, career or marriage.
• King Solomon says, don’t lean on your own understanding. In ALL YOUR WAYS, acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.
• Don’t ignore these words of wisdom from the wisest man on earth!
God is sovereignly in control of the circumstances in and around our lives.
• Trust Him and He will lead you. Pray to Him and He will show you the blessed way.
