Suspended In A Beautiful Moment

And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become thousands of ten thousands, and may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate him!  Genesis 24:60

Eleazar enters Rebekah’s home and introduces himself to her family. He tells them why he has come.  Her father and brother acknowledge the hand of God at work and give Rebekah permission to marry Isaac.  As she prepares to leave home, her family bursts forth with this blessing about her future offspring.  They did not, and could not know, that they were speaking the very words God had spoken to Abraham.

Has this ever happened to you?  God spoke a word to you. Deep in your spirit, you heard it.  But then, you second-guessed yourself and wondered if you were mistaken.  The price of acting upon it felt reckless.  You needed to know for sure of God’s call on your life, so you asked Him to confirm it. Then, out of the blue, someone spoke that very word again on the day you put it all on the line with God.  Maybe you heard it in a sermon.  Or it came come from a cashier in a market or it was said over lunch with an acquaintance.  The same words were spoken and you knew that something consequential had happened.  You were trembling and suspended somewhere with God. It was a burning bush moment, and you knew at that moment that you could move ahead without fear.

Rebekah had no idea though that as she heard her family’s blessing, it was identical to the words God spoke to Abraham, her future father-in-law.  Only as she married Isaac would she learn the family story.  She would learn of Abraham’s exodus from Ur.  She would come to know the God who spoke to him and she would understand that her own story was part of the Covenant plotline.

And so it is when I step out to follow God’s path for me. What God leads me to do today may seem small and isolated but with time, I will come to understand that it is connected to the bigger story of redemption.  All my steps are connected by the consummate Storyteller.

Someone reading this today is waiting for You to confirm something.  When you do, they will ‘leave Ur’.  Their steps will go in a new direction and they won’t look back.  Speak, Lord.  Amen