· At times, our lives can seem like an impressionist painting that we are standing too close to and it doesn’t seem to make sense – it just looks like blobs of paint and senseless smears.
· But if we step back, we can see that there is a beautiful picture of God’s work that emerges. We can see His brush-strokes and we can see that God really has had a purpose all along.
· The effect of seeing God’s providence makes a difference in how we can trust God, it makes a difference in how we act in faith on His providence and it makes a difference in how we respond in the midst of His providence.
· Our enemy, the great deceiver, has worked hard to convince you that all of life is an accident; that we are here by accident as a result of the Big bang or some other random happening in the beginning. The enemy would have us believe that we are here by random chance and that our lives have no real meaning. The great lies we hear are that life is not controlled by and ordained by God; that we alone control our destiny; that God is not involved in our lives and that our lives have no other purpose other than to eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.
· Another oft-repeated and seemingly nobler lie is that our purpose is to help each other and find fulfillment in making the world a better place. But life is more than this, (as noble as it seems), even though we are indeed called to make a difference in the world around us as Christians
· Our life is meant to draw attention to God. Our life is meant to point to the God who is over all. Our lives are meant to glorify God and our life here on this earth is meant to be one that is continually being conformed into His image, for His great purposes. Our life is meant to be full of hope.
· But if we do not see God’s Providence, we will not see His purposes and it will be very difficult to trust Him, very difficult to have faith in Him and very difficult to respond in worship of Him.
· This story of Abraham, his servant, Isaac and Rebekah was put here by God’s kindness for us to step back and see His quiet providence at work. And this glimpse of God’s providence is meant to make a difference in how we live our lives.
Main Idea: God’s Providence is meant to make a difference in how we live our lives
· Although we do not hear the voice of the LORD speaking in these verses, they are really all about Him –the LORD is mentioned 17 times in this account· This historical account is meant to show us that God divinely works through the ordinary to bring about the extraordinary.
· It is meant to show how God uses people, places and time and works all of them for the good of His covenant people.
· It is meant to show us that God is a faithful God and always brings about what He has promised.
· Abraham has learned from seeing God at work in his life, that he can trust in God’s providence completely. Now, we see in the opening of this chapter that Abraham seems to have a settled, unwavering faith in God and we see him trust in God’s providence. And that is something we all need to learn.
1. Trust in God’s Providence
· Towards the end of Abraham’s life now, we see a picture of a man of great faith, whom God has blessed just as He said He would back in 12:2. Abraham is committed to faith in the Promised Land, even though all he possesses of the land is a small parcel with a cave in it where Sarah is now buried. But despite the fact that no heir is in sight, he does not resort to pragmatism any longer. · The last words that are recorded in scripture of Abraham speaking, demonstrate his secure faith in the promises of God.
· In all things Abraham was blessed. This doesn’t mean everything in Abraham’s life was a blessing (we’ve seen that before) but that the LORD had blessed him in all things.
· There was no area in his life in which the LORD had not blessed him.
· There was no circumstance in which God had not been active to bless and Abraham got that.
· The same can be said of any child of Abraham by faith. God works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes – and the question for us, is will we get that truth from scripture ourselves as well.
· Will we learn from scripture and see the providence of God in the lives of the saints of old and even in our own life and can it be said of us that we are trusting in God’s providence?
· Abraham based his faith in God’s revealed will in the past.
· Abraham applied godly principles and trusted that God had shown His will for him through it.
· Abraham sent his servant, trusting God’s providence to guide him. In sending his servant, it was an expression of the faith of Abraham as he acted acting wisely and sent his servant trusting in God’s leading.
· The same is ordinarily true for us - God’s direction is found both through applying general principles that reveal God’s character and nature and then acting wisely in the details.
· Abraham was so confident in God’s blessing and in God’s presence with him continually that he proclaimed that God would send his angel before him to prepare a path for him – to provide a way for him to get a wife from there.
· He was trusting in God’s unseen providence – he didn’t have a word from God – but He knew God and knew God’s character and remembered God’s lessons and provision in the past.
· As we seek to learn from this story and the life of Abraham, we see that we can discover God’s will for our lives from the trajectories of His Word.
· We can see the general contours of God’s Word for our lives and base our paths on where God has been at work; on what God has said and then make a good decision on where to head – just like Abraham did
2. Act in faith on God’s Providence
· James 2:18 tells us that Abraham’s “faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works”· Abraham’s faith in God’s providence was active as he sent out his servant and he acts on God’s promises but he doesn’t presume upon them.
· Abraham was confident in God’s direction but he allowed that he could be wrong and he understood that there were other people involved in the situation.
· The servant clearly had faith as well. When the servant made an oath, he was not only making an oath to be faithful to his master, he was making a statement that said that he trusted in the God of his master as well.
· Then the servant made great preparations to go to and he obeyed the word of his master.
· He acted wisely and took steps of faith based on the prior providence of God in the life of Abraham.
· The servant didn’t act rashly or unwisely – we read of his wise actions based on God’s words to Abraham.
· The servant acted wisely based on principles as well.
· The servant made wise plans in response to his master’s command. He went to the well in the evening, when it was cool and when it was customary for the women to draw water.
· God expects us to live our lives wisely, planning and preparing and trusting Him with every plan, every preparation, with all of our hard work, done with His will in mind.
· The servant worked hard and planned and then, the servant prayerfully asks for guidance from God.
· So, in addition to working and planning and going and doing, he demonstrated his active trust in God’s providence that flowed from his heart, with a simple heartfelt prayer.
· The servant obviously had great faith in God and believed that the LORD would help him and be faithful to His promise to cause Abraham to be the Father of many nations.
· And before he had even finished his prayer, God sent Rebekah and he saw her.
Isaiah 65:24 “Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.”
· God isn’t dependent on our prayers but He honors our prayers· The servant was expecting God to answer his faith-filled prayer, specifically because he believed that God’s angel was really present, even though he was not visible
· John Piper once said that “God really does work powerfully for those who aim to do his will. He sends his angel before them”
· If our aim is to do His will – if we are seeking to love Him with all of our heart and mind and soul and to love our neighbor as ourselves, we don’t have to wonder – we can be confident that God will send His angel before us – even though we probably won’t see His angel with our eyes.
· Rebekah’s performance had surpassed the servants prayers – clearly this was from God.
· The servant wisely evaluated the woman though. He watched her diligently serving him and he was trying to discern what to say next and then he acted. And he obviously saw her admirable character as he watched her diligently serve with a good attitude.
· He evaluated God’s will for Isaac based on her clearly observable character. He wasn’t acting stupidly or impulsively – he was acting with great wisdom.
· God confirmed His providential will, step-by-step along the way and most of the time that is how the Lord confirms His will with us as well – just one step at a time as we act wisely based on God’s revealed will and godly principles and prayerfully trust Him to reveal His will to us.
3. Respond to God’s Providence
· The servant immediately responded in worship. · God had yet again proven Himself faithful – God had shown His steadfast – His reliable, unshakable, dependable, unwavering love for Abraham yet again.
· There was no mistaking it – clearly this was God’s work and Abraham’s servant was full of wonder and praise to God.
· And when the woman heard him say these things, she took off running in response – she was full of wonder and joy and she responded to God’s clear providence
· In addition, although the servant was likely tired and hungry, he was determined. He had to tell why he was there and he had to speak of God’s amazing answer to prayer before they ate.
· The servant was clear that Abraham and he worshipped God and that this was an act of God to bring him there to their family
· The servant was undeterred by attempts to delay him and he gave a round-about warning that if they delay him, they will be interfering with the providence of YHWH.
· Rebekah wanted to go along with the servant, in an act of faith similar to Abraham’s own faith to leave his country at the Lord’s command – now Rebekah understands this is from the LORD and leaves her own homeland trusting in the God of Abraham.
· After the servant told Isaac everything and in response to hearing that this was from God, Isaac immediately makes Rebekah his wife.
· And then, for the first time in scripture, it speaks of marital love – Isaac didn’t just obey God and he didn’t just dutifully take a wife - he loved her.
· What a beautiful picture of God at work through normal circumstances, in the midst of the unknown, to bring about His purposes and show His steadfast love and faithfulness.
· In response to God’s providence we too are called to worship God and actively take dependent steps of faith
“The providence of God does not relieve us of responsibility. God works through means (the integrity, hard work, obedience and faithfulness of Christian people, for example). The providence of God does not relieve us of the need to make wise judgments or to be prudent. On the other hand, it does relieve us of anxiety in God’s service. “If God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith?” (Mt. 6:30). Rather than being a cause for self-indulgence, compromise, rebellion or any other sin, the doctrine of providence is actually a sure ground for trust and a spur to faithfulness.”
–James Montgomery Boice
“Oh!" says one, "I cannot understand that; Providence seems to be very adverse to me. Mrs. Hannah More, I think it is, says, she went into a place where they were manufacturing a carpet. She said: "There is no beauty there." The man said: "It is one of the most beautiful carpets you ever saw." "Why, here is a piece hanging out, and it is all in disorder." "Do you know why, ma'am? You look at the wrong side." So it is very often with us. You and I think Providence is very bad, because we are looking at the wrong side. We do look at the wrong side while we are here, but when we get to heaven we shall see the right side of God's dealings; and when we do we shall say., "Lord, how wonderful are thy works: in wisdom thou hast made them all: glorious are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well." You have been puzzled sometimes to think why that friend was brought into the grave. You have said, Why was I made sick at such a time? Why that trouble and that calamity? That is no business of yours. It is yours to believe that all things work together for one great purpose: that one thing never crosses another. But you must not expect to see it so just yet. Here on earth the machine appears to be broken into pieces, and we can only see it in confusion: but in heaven we shall see it all put together. Suppose I go into a place where some great artist is manufacturing a machine: I say, Do you mean to say this is a machine? Yes, and an exquisite one it will be. It does not look like it; I could not put it together. O, no, sir, you could not, but I can: and come and see it when I have put it together, and you shall see that each part fits—that each cog on one wheel will work on the cog of another wheel, and all the parts will move together when I adjust them. Do not find fault with it, and say, One is too small and another too large, because you know nothing at all about it. So, dear friends, you and I can never see but parts of God's ways. We only see here a wheel and there a wheel; but we must wait till we get to heaven, then we shall see the right side of the carpet; we shall see it all put together, and then we shall see it was one piece of machinery, had one end, one aim, one object, and was all one.” –James Montgomery Boice
- Charles Spurgeon
· We can trust in God’s providence, we are called to act in faith on God’s providence and we respond to God’s providence with worship and by resting in Him in the midst of our works.
Potential Application Questions1. What are some ways that you can look back and see God at work in your life in the past?
2. How are you trusting in God’s Providence on a daily basis? Are there any current circumstances that make it hard for you to trust in His Providence?
3. How has His work in the past been for your good and how has He blessed your life thus far? How does this help you trust in Him for hard times?
4. When we are faced with the unknown or difficult, how do we go about trying to discern God’s will generally?
5. When things are unclear, what does it look like to work hard, plan wisely, depend on God and expect God to bless our works done in faith?
6. Where is God calling us to trust Him currently?
7. How is God calling us to Act in faith on His providence?
8. How can we cultivate a lifestyle of worship in response to His providence?
