Quick Note: Genesis 24:12, 15 – God’s Working Even Behind the Scenes

Genesis 24:12, 15 – “And he said, ‘O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham’…Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder.”

Being that the Christmas season just finished a few weeks ago and for some cultures only a few days ago, this illustration is not too hard to grasp.  During Christmas time, young children petition their parents for toys and gifts that they have been longing for throughout the year.  They mention what they would want for Christmas over and over, in hopes, that mom and dad will have that gift wrapped and lying underneath the Christmas tree.  They will beg and plead and do whatever needs to be done to get the assurance that they will have what they want on that Christmas morn, and if there is no inclination that they will receive what they want, then a sad countenance is upon their face all the way till Christmas day.  The funny thing is that usually the parents have already bought that toy months in advance and have kept it hidden in the closet until that day.  Instead of taking joy in the season, knowing that their parents will do and give what is best for them, they will live as if it was completely hopeless for them to ever get what they were looking for.  They will live their next few days like a pauper when they are already princes.

As Christians, we do a similar thing with God; in that, when we bring our petitions to Him in prayer, if we are not given an answer within our “appointed time,” which is usually right away, then we act as if God will never answer our prayer or do what is best for us.  We will treat the situation as one that is untouched and uncared for by our Heavenly Father above, which is completely untrue.  Even when we do not see or hear or feel like God is working in a situation, He is already moving the dials and cogs and wheels to bring out His best will for us.  Look at our passage today, which speaks of a petition given by Abraham’s servant to God.  This servant was appointed by Abraham to find someone from Abraham’s family who he could bring back to marry Isaac.  This request would almost be considered hopeless, for the servant was to go back to Abraham’s homeland, find a member of Abraham’s family, and then convince her to return with him to marry a man whom she has never seen or heard of.  How could something like that even happen?  To add to that, the servant made an almost impossible request of God by asking Him to bring about the girl whom he was supposed to bring to Isaac to the well and to fulfill a sign (must offer to water his camels without him asking) that would indicate it was her.  But even at this improbable request, God worked.  God worked even before the request was fully articulated from the servant’s lips – “Before he had finished speaking…”  God was already brining about Rebekah, Abraham’s grandniece, to water and eventually become a wife to Isaac.  It was no coincidence.  It was God working out the answer to the request even before it had been fully stated.  God was listening and responding in faithfulness.

The same goes for us.  Whenever we make a request of God, even before those words drip from our lips, He already knows it.  He knows every need we have, every trouble, and every petition we will bring Him, and the amazing thing is that He is already working out an answer to each one even before we make the request.  That does not mean that we no longer need to pray, for He still desires that we speak to Him and make our requests known; but, it means that we can trust Him to be faithful in answering our prayers and to bring about His will and our best interests.  God is a faithful and loving God who is working behind the scenes even now to answer whatever prayers we have brought Him in the past and will bring Him in the future.  We can trust our omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, loving God to answer our prayers even before we have finished speaking.

*Note:  An answer to our prayers may not always mean getting exactly what we want or how we think it should be.  Sometimes, God’s answers are completely different than what we personally think is best for us; but if we trust in Him, we can be sure that in the end, “All things will work together for good to them that love God…” Romans 8:28.