Walking In The Will Of God
A Sermon On:
Genesis 24.1-27
PREPARED BY
KEN GEHRELS
PASTOR
CALVIN CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH
NEPEAN, ONTARIO
GETTING ADVICE
"Go ask your father. Go ask your mother." How often haven't you heard that? Not in a bad sense I mean, but when you ran into difficulties with a homework problem, or when as a newly married person there was a difficulty for which you needed wise advice, perhaps a baby that needed something but you couldn't figure it out.
Or you travel in a strange place and lose your way. "Go ask someone at that gas station which way to go."
Or you prepare your income tax with yet another revised form. Stuck again. Go ask your accountant.
Advice. Guidance. Direction. We all need it at one time or another. And all of us have benefited from it. Advice, guidance, and direction - given by other people, and given by God. That's the topic of the bible passage we just read.
An old man, Abraham's chief servant, Eliezer of Damascus by name (see Gen 15 for that), sent on a long journey by his old master, looking for what must have seemed like a needle in a haystack - finding a wife from his master's clan in a land he hadn't visited for decades.
Off he goes, ten camels and great quantities of gifts in tow, ready for use as a bridal dowry. Wondering how on earth it will work out. But confident of one thing. Whatever happens it WILL turn for good. Because he doesn't travel alone. God travels with him. And God guides him.
The advice, guidance, and direction which God gives - wonderful to read about, isn't it? But more wonderful still is to experience it in our lives. And that's what I want to discuss with you.
What does the bible have to say about such divine guidance, not merely for some old servant 3000 years ago, but for us? How can WE be helped in our daily activities by the story today?
RECEIVING THE GUIDANCE OF GOD
Seeking the advice, the guidance, the direction of God. You know, it's interesting that the Bible actually has precious little to say about direct methods of guidance for finding the will of God. But it has volumes to say about the relationship between God and His people, the relationship in which guidance is given.
And the key word in that is INTIMACY.
God wants to be a key factor in our lives. He wants to be considered in every decision that we make, though He doesn't say He will TELL us directly how to make these decisions. He wants to be right there -- just as a husband or wife wants to be right there in the life, the thought, the decision-making of their spouse.
And that's what we see here in Genesis 24.
I don't know about you, but I am quite attracted to this devout servant of Abraham, who simply and with great diligence carries out the task assigned to him. And in that simplicity he sees the hand of God constantly at work, moving and arranging circumstances to bring the desired end for his friend Abraham.
He sees God working in what more sceptical people might want to chalk up to coincidence or chance. "It just happened, Eliezer, come on!"
"No, it didn't just happen," Eliezer would respond. "When God is present in your life, things don't JUST happen. God either lets them happen or makes them happen. He ALWAYS knows they happen. But things don't JUST happen."
That's the basic attitude with which Eliezer does his work. With which he seeks the guidance of God.
How about us? What's our attitude in this sort of thing?
Philip Yancey, in an article written some time ago for Christianity Today (Christianity Today 16/9/83) identified three different attitudes that people could take to the whole process of seeking God's will. There are probably more. But these three are among the most prevalent.
The first attitude is that taken by us when we have our future all figured out, our plans all made, and we simply hope to have someone nod in agreement with them.
The second attitude is seeking someone else's advice or guidance, hoping that the person will make a complete decision for us, bluntly telling us exactly what to do, step by step, detail by detail.
The third attitude in seeking someone's guidance and advice is when we are honestly uncertain about which way to go or act. So we seek the advice of another. We want to bounce around a few ideas, dialogue with that person, get their input and then, on the basis of that, make a decision to act one way or another.
Consider the first attitude -- when our mind's already made up. All we want is God to rubber stamp our plans. It's an attitude more prevalent than we perhaps care to admit. But in terms of humility and honest desire to serve, it ranks rather low, doesn't it?
The second attitude fits better. Sometimes a task is difficult and we need a push from someone telling us explicitly what must be done. "Better see the dentist about that tooth, Jenny." "Brian, better take OAC calculus."
Sometimes we simply have no compulsion one way or another. We're ready to do whatever. quot;Hi, Mrs McDermid. Is there anything I can do to help? Cut the grass? Do some shopping. Whatever you want!"
Sometimes we are afraid or insecure and need a God-directed push or kick in the pants to get moving. Sometimes we are totally available and ready to do anything and we go to God to seek direction.
I wonder, though, how much we really mean it when we pray, "Lord, show me whatever it is you want me to do, and I'll do it." When we pray that as a church, for instance, in the context of the 2020 Project, will we really go in whatever direction God points?
And then there's the third attitude. Seeking to bounce around ideas with another, to get input and advice before acting. It's the "two heads are better than one"..... especially when that second is one who is much wiser, much more seasoned in the business of life.
Here are a husband and wife discussing retirement options, planning investments or buying a major item or enrolling their children in school.
Here is the doctor and family discussing options of treatment for a terminally ill loved one.
Here is a group of friends deciding what to do on their planned weekend together.
This, of all three attitudes, is the most likely one to compel a Christian to fall on her knees before God and say, "I need your guidance. Lead me in the journey of my life."
A Christian who is aware that she has been given a mind and the ability to think, reason, and choose, but who also knows that two heads are better than one - especially seeing as how that one head is much more experienced and wise in the business of life, for He created life!
ELIEZER'S ATTITUDE IN ACTION
Such is the case with Abraham's servant, old Eliezer, head of his household. Look at the request he makes of God. We see him genuinely looking for God's help, open to his direction. But he is also very much thinking himself, considering various options, planning a strategy.
Planning a strategy, but doing it prayerfully. Sort of like "Lord, here's what I'm thinking of doing. So and so and so. Please guide that accordingly. Move me not in my way, but in the right way." God to him is an ever- present companion who shapes and influences the way things occur, and so affects the way he plans.
Watch how that happens. Abraham's servant seeks a sign from God, direct divine input into his plan. But the one he seeks is a very practical one.
Now, it happened to be the case that women in those lands and that day did the watering work. Therefore, if one sat at the well towards evening, when the hot afternoon sun had cooled off, one would be able to check out all the eligible women of the community as they came to draw water. So, planning carefully, that is where Eliezer goes.
And there he prays. "Lord, grant that the woman who gives both me and my camels a drink would be the one who ends up as Isaac's wife."
Of course camels that just have come from a long desert journey would obviously be in need of water. And being camels, they would guzzle back vast quantities of it. Anyone volunteering to help the old man out would have to be an open, energetic and helpful, friendly sort of person, PRECISELY the kind of person one would want as a wife for one's master. So this is the sign he seeks.
"Lord, here's the process. Please guide things accordingly."
Please understand that what he asks for wouldn't be a terribly strange act. It happened more often. In fact, some commentators speak of travelling in the Holy Land and being greeted with similar kindness by the residents they encountered.
A girl comes, and sure enough she waters the camels. Notice that Eliezer doesn't immediately jump for joy and assume his request to have been granted. He carefully watches Rebekah pour out the water, gives her gifts out of gratitude for the favour shown and asks if he could spend the night.
That, too, was not unusual, for the land didn't have Hilton hotels with camel garages. Locals always took in travellers at night time, sort of an informal bed and breakfast set up, if you will.
But then, when he discovers that she is a relative of Abraham, it all clicks. She was of the right family stock. Her credentials and enthusiasm were good. This MUST be the girl God has chosen for him, he reasons, and he prays a prayer of thanks.
Do you see the process? Eliezer the servant thinking, planning, looking. God in the background setting the stage, preparing the circumstances, arranging the road for this obedient believer who trudged along it in faith.
So God works for us too, giving guidance and advice and direction. Sometimes in one way sometimes in another. Sometimes for one reason, sometimes for another. We with an attitude of openness to seeing him work through even very ordinary means. And he responding accordingly.
WALKING IN THE GUIDANCE OF GOD
A proper attitude in seeking the guidance of God. That is the main thing we learn from this chapter. But there is more. We also can learn something about our actions as we seek God's guidance.
One of the important things to remember as we seek to learn about living with the presence of God along the journey of life, as we seek to gain the guidance of God, as we seek to grow in knowledge of the will of God, is to not get all bent out of shape about what may happen way down the road, but to concentrate on today.
Jesus himself said, "...do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matt 6.34).
What does God want me to do today? That is the question. How can my living be obedient to him RIGHT NOW? Concentrate on that and one's ability to respond to God's will tends to grow stronger.
It is like learning to read. Give a child a page filled with many lines of tiny print and it will become overwhelming. So we start with a page that has two or three simple words in large print. Then on to a page with a few more words. And if there are too many lines we cover up all but the top line, read it, and then move down a line.
Obedience to God is such a one line at a time procedure. Do the task that is immediately at hand and the distant tasks will eventually grow clearer.
It is precisely this principle that Eliezer follows. He takes the oath - find a wife for Isaac from that distant land. But tackling that daunting task one step at a time. Begin by preparing. Then set out for the land. On arriving find a place where women congregate. Then worry about narrowing down the possibilities. Finally make a judgement about selection and discuss the matter with the family. And then..... SUCCESS!
It's a simple but very important biblical principle, one found in the well-known children's song "Trust and obey, for there's no other way." Attitude - Trust. Action - obey. Trust, obey, trust, obey, trust, obey.... step by step by step by step. That is the secret to the life of the believer who wants to live under the guidance of God.
WAYS THAT GOD GUIDES TODAY
Then, given all that, how WILL God guide? Well, here the possibilities are as varied as the different species of animals that our Creator made; as varied as the different personalities he has given to all of us here.
Often God works in subtle ways:
feeding ideas into our minds;
speaking through a nagging sense of dissatisfaction with a status quo;
inspiring our ability to think and make decisions, to choose better than we otherwise would have done;
helping our minds to discern the hidden dangers of various temptations or circumstances;
or - as in the case of old Eliezer - arranging certain circumstances to fall into place, the so-called "strange coincidences" of life;
or he will use another person to say "Have you thought about.....".
Sometimes God will choose to work in more overt ways, though these tend to be a little less frequent.
He can use prophecy, where a believer receives such a strong impulse of some direction the congregation or group or individual should move that she says "I know the LORD is telling me to say...."
Sometimes God will give such crystal clear thoughts to us for our own lives, where we are sure beyond the shadow of a doubt that this is what must be done.
Sometimes he can use visions or dreams.
And always, always, always, God stands to guide us by his infallible word. That's what he's doing even right now!
CONCLUSION
Just remember, the way God decides to guide us is not the most important matter. What is critical is that we are tuned in and ready to receive and accept the guidance he sends to us.
Advice. Guidance. Direction. We all need it at one time or another. And all of us have benefited from it. Advice, guidance, and direction - how privileged we are to receive it from God! Are you ready for it?