He said, Blessed be the Lord
God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master
of his mercy and his truth. I, being in the way, the Lord
led me to the house of my Master's brethren. Tonight I want to consider this
vast subject, but to try and consider a little bit of it tonight,
the subject of the Lord's guidance. The Lord's guidance. Guidance
is a a very difficult subject, a very vast subject, but is a
subject that affects us all. Because throughout life, I hope
it is our desire that we do the will of the Lord, it is our desire
that we go where He calls us, that we do what He instructs
us, that we take those paths that He leads us in. And there
are times, therefore, in our lives, perhaps when this is more
heightened in our attention than others, we need the Lord's guidance
every day, in everything we do, but there are times in our lives,
of course, when we are particularly reminded that we need the Lord
to appear and we need the Lord to show us what we should do. And we probably know Many times
when we had to join with the prayer of Saul of Tarsus on the
Damascus road, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Now, this can of course come
into many areas of our life when we're younger. Many of you are
maybe considering even at the moment where you're going to
study. what subjects you're going to
study, and if you're making university applications in the time to come,
where that might be. And I hope this is your concern.
It will, of course, I'm sure, be your parents' concern. What
would the Lord have you do? Where would the Lord have you
be? Where would He bless you? But
as we go through life, it's a question that we desire the Lord will
answer when we apply for work. What would He have us to do?
Where would He have us to be, then where we would live? Will
He give us a house to live in? Where is that place and how will
we know when it is the Lord's will? Where would He have us
worship? Should we move areas? Where would
He have us to be, gathered with the church? How will we know
that right people? How will we know where the Lord
will bless us? Who should we marry? Who should
we desire to be our partner in life, that we will be able to
walk together with the Lord, mutually desiring His blessing
and to serve Him? And so there are these big questions
in our life, these big decisions. And there are, of course, as
I say, the smaller decisions in our life, the everyday things.
But still we want to know the Lord's will, don't we? You see,
we all individually have our own walk with God. And we all
have our own individual life. No one or two is the same. And we all have our different
callings and our different paths. And therefore guidance can be
a very difficult subject because there is no one person who can
give you the answer. No one else has been where you
have been and no one else will walk exactly the path that you
will walk. And so it is an individual concern
but it is an individual concern with the Lord, because we can
believe that He knows the way that we take, and that He knows
the best way for us to go. And if we're a Christian tonight,
and this is the comfort, if we're a Christian, and let us pause
there for a minute, those that desire the Lord's guidance and
the Lord's way, to know the Lord's will? Or are
we currently desiring our will and hoping the Lord will not
frustrate it? About good of a believer, we can be sure that the Lord
knows the way that we take and that all things in our life,
present, past or future, works together for our good. But it
is difficult, although man can give principles and ideas and
experience to one another, we cannot tell each other what to
do. But we are so thankful that the Scriptures are full of teaching
on this subject. For the Scriptures do give vitally
important principles when we consider the subject of guidance,
but they also give instruction and examples of others who have
walked this way with the Lord. And so in the Word of God we
have here, and we have in this subject, in this event found
in Genesis 24, played out so clearly for us the Lord's guidance,
the Lord's appearing for Abraham, Isaac and his servant. And so
let us turn to this passage with this subject in mind. Firstly
let's consider the task that was before this servant. to go, I pray thee, put thy hand
unto my thigh, I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of
heaven, the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife
unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites among whom
I dwell, but thou shalt go unto my country, into my kindred,
and take a wife unto my son." Isaac, the task was to go and
to find a wife for Isaac. And now this was a vitally important
task, important to his master Abraham, clearly that his son
had that right permission of a wife, but it was a deeper concern
because Abraham desired that the messianic line would be preserved. He had been promised that all
the nations of the earth would be blessed through his seed.
And he had been shown clearly that Isaac was the son of promise.
And now, of course, it was vitally important that Isaac had a wife
and four children. For if he had not, the seed would
end, and the promise would end. And so the messianic line, that
is the line of Christ, was dependent on Abraham finding that right
wife for his son Isaac. And so Abraham knew, when he
asked and requested his servant to go on this errand, that the
future of the Lord's covenant and the future of salvation of
mankind was bound up in this mission to find a wife. And so
it was very, very important. Now this task would not be easy.
It would not be easy for this servant. He was going to make
a long journey. He was going to come to an area that he did
not know, and he was going to come to a city in an area uninvited,
seeking and hoping that he would find someone, but he didn't have
anyone particularly in mind. And so this servant greatly needed
the Lord to appear for him. He was absolutely dependent on
God guiding him to that right person. depended on God to provide. He did not have any idea. It
was not that this servant had a good idea of who he was heading
towards and hoped that the Lord would prosper his way in going
that way, but rather he headed in the way that Abraham desired
the general area, but he did not have anyone particularly
in mind. So this man You see, it was not
in his ability himself to do anything. He needed the Lord
to guide. And so, although we may not be
like this exact example, so in daily life, God's people desire
that their steps will be guided. That their steps will be ordered
by the Lord. wander outside of the will of
the Lord. These desires are found throughout
scripture, found in the book of Psalms, particularly the well-known
text in Psalm 27. Teach me thy way, O Lord, and
lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. Teach me thy
way, And often is that not, I hope it is, our concern, our prayer,
that we would know His way, and that we would be helped to walk
out that way. Again, Psalm 143, teach me to
do thy will. For thou art my God, thy spirit
is good. Lead me into the land of uprightness. Teach me to do thy will. You
see, there's a concern to know the will of God, and there's
a concern to do the will of God. And there are times in our life
that these prayers, teach me thy way, what wilt thou have
me to do, become particularly relevant because we simply do
not know what to do. Many times in our life we have
a good idea of what we would like, but there are times, aren't
there, when we simply do not know. Is the Lord speaking in
this? Is the Lord leading in this?
What will the Lord provide? Where will the Lord lead? And
the situation feels to be impossible. We simply do not know what to
do. And we have to join with that
prayer of Moses. If thy presence go not with us,
carry us not up. Hence, we do not know what the
future holds, we do not know what the Lord's will is, but
the overarching desire in it all is that whatever it holds,
the Lord's presence will be with us. I hope that's our desire. That God's presence will walk
with us, whatever way he calls us to go. And so this account
here, and this God does open the way for His
people, but it challenges us, and that's what I want to look
at tonight, it challenges us to consider whether we are really
seeking the Lord's will or not. Are we openly, honestly, in a
true spirit of humility and submission, seeking His will and His way? And we see the signs of that
attitude in the servant and in Abraham in this passage. And
I want us to consider, in the sight of God tonight, whether
our desires for guidance fit with them. First thing I want to notice
is that Abraham and his servant, in going to find this wife for
Isaac, they had They have a right desire in their
desire for guidance. Abraham desires a wife for his
son. The servant desires a blessing
for his master. He says, we read in verse 14,
thereby shall I know that thou hast shown kindness The servant
desires to see the Lord's goodness towards his master. And Abraham
desires to see the Lord's goodness towards his son. They had a good
desire. Abraham did not want Isaac to
have a wife from the ungodly Canaanite women. He did not want
the seed, the royal seed, mix with the Canaanite people. He wanted to have a wife from
his own people who had stayed back in Mesopotamia. And I believe
bound up in here was a concern that Isaac's own spiritual health
would be preserved, that he would not be dragged into the idol
worship of the Canaanite people by mixing with their families
and their ways. And so it was a good and a godly
desire as they sought the Lord's guidance and the Lord's provision. And so in our desire, either
today or in times to come, that the Lord will guide us, is our desire a godly one? Is it a right concern? as we seek the Lord's guidance?
Do we desire, like they did, that the outcome, the result
of His guidance, would be made a blessing for us? Do we desire
that the provision will be for our own spiritual good? That it will cause us to grow
in the Lord? It will cause us to grow in our
understanding of Him? It will cause us views of God, rather to walk
close with Him, not walk further away. Is it our desire that the
Lord would guide us in a way that will not lead us to wander
off? There are many dangers in our
life, there are many dangers in the world, there are many
temptations all around us. Is it our concern that the go
in a way that will take us further from Him. And so is our concern
that we will be kept spiritually healthy in the provision that
we seek? We think in one example of marriage. Many things go through our minds
perhaps as we're thinking of who and the future for us, so
we think of marriage. But is our concern, as we seek
the Lord's will in this, in the Lord, someone that will
be a spiritual companion, someone that we will worship with, that
we will seek the Lord with, that we will desire the same things
together. That is that the outcome of our
desire for guidance is a spiritual, healthy relationship. So what is our concern? Is it
that we will be blessed? And do we desire that God will
be glorified as a result of His guidance? And that His hand will
be seen, and as a result of seeing His hand, we will glorify the
Lord? That we will bow down You see, if that is our concern,
not dictating to the Lord, not telling the Lord what is best,
not telling the Lord what He must do for us, but rather openly
and willingly seeking His will for these reasons, that we might
be spiritually blessed and that He might be glorified, then that
is, like Abraham and his servant, a good and a godly desire. But if, under that test, we fall
short, then we have to question our real concerns. Because is it true that actually
we want God to do something for us simply to make us happy? We want God to do something for
us just to sort out our problems. Many people would say they're
seeking the Lord's guidance, but what they want is God to
just be a miracle worker. Someone just to sort out their
problems and make life easier and happier for them. That is
a selfish desire. It's not a God-glorifying desire. Do not desire the Lord's guidance
just so that He can make us feel better and then we will forget
what He has done. A true desire is for His blessing
and for His glory. So firstly we see they had a
godly desire. The second thing we see in this
passage is that Abraham and his servant were open to the idea
that the answer might be no. The answer might be no. The servant said unto him, Perhaps
a woman will not be willing to follow thee into this land. Must
I need to bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou
camest? Abraham said unto him, Beware
that thou bring not my son Bilaam again. And then verse 8, If the
woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt
be clear from this my oath. They realized that though they
had the right concern, and though the Lord was able to provide,
that it might be possible that the Lord would not provide in
this way. And He would provide in another
way, they were sure. But there may be a situation
where the woman would not be willing to come, and as a result,
the servant was free from his oath. And if that happened, Isaac would
not go, he would remain in the promised land. And he would remain
there serving the Lord as the Son of Christ. And so in our concerns to know
the Lord's will, are we willing for God to say no? Are we willing
for Him to shut the door This is a way that we can assess
our prayers and how we are bringing the matter to the Lord. Are we
willing to leave it with Him and acknowledge that should the
Lord shut the door, should the Lord say no to our requests,
that that is for the best, that that is His will for us. And if He does that, if He shuts
the door, him, will we, like Isaac, stay
in the land, continue to honour him, continue to do his will
where we are, acknowledging that it was not his will to have what
we wanted, or will we turn our back on him and say, if God didn't
do that for me, then I'm having nothing more to do with him.
If God would not answer my prayer in that way, then I will not
serve him any longer. Are we willing to hear no as
the answer. Or do we have a set outcome?
We have a set plan and really our concern is that God will
do what we call him to do. We've got a set outcome in our
mind and we're using God in a way that he will just sort it out
so that we can have what we want. We will not take no for an answer. That is not a right prayer for
the islanders. We have to remember, as Isaiah
tells us, my thoughts are not your thoughts. My ways are higher
than your ways. We cannot see the future. We cannot see what is right and
what is good for us. And it may well be that the time
would come that we would only wish that we had not forced our
way through when the Lord had said no. could see that it was
right to stop. And so this should be a comfort
for us, to realise that he knows best, that he works for our good,
or do we hate the idea that he knows best? So they were open to the idea
that God's will might be that she would not be willing to come.
And they left that with him. The third thing we notice here
is that his servant, Abraham's servant, ventured forward. He
made the journey. He took his camels and a few
men that went with him and he went. He went, not knowing what
would come. But he went. What didn't happen,
Abraham and his servant didn't stay in Abraham's tent and hope
and pray that a woman from the area back where his family was
would somehow miraculously come down to them. One day he would
arrive at the tent and that would be the wife rising. No, they
had this concern. They laboured and left it with
the Lord, and then they ventured, and they walked by faith, believing
that the Lord would provide and would guide. And so we, at times, are called
to move forward, even when we cannot clearly see the end, and
how the Lord will open the way for us. But he calls us to walk,
one step at a time. We have this in many examples
in scripture. We have it when Moses and the
children of Israel are standing at the side of the Red Sea with
the armies of Egypt behind them. And Moses says, sit still and
see the salvation of the Lord. And the Lord says, why cryest
thou unto me? Say unto the children of Israel
that they go forward. They didn't know that the Red
Sea was going to part, that they would go through on dry land,
but on the command of God, they got up and went forward. As 40 years later, when the children
of Israel stand on the banks of the river Jordan, the priests
carry the Ark of the Covenant, step into the river, and when
they stepped into the river, the waters ceased and they passed
through. But they had to, by faith, step
in. of Naaman. And he comes to the
prophet and is told to go and wash in the river seven times. And he went to the water and
there was no response. Nothing happens. And yet he must
go, he must get in, he must do it. Time and again. And the Lord
then healed him. You see, they had to, by faith,
step forward. And the Lord honoured that step. And there he made the way. And I believe the Lord honors
us as we, by faith, take just the next step. And we see a door
open, and then we take the next step, and we see the door open,
and the next, and the door opens. But we do not see, as it were,
the corridor right to the end. He opens a door at a time. But he ventured forward. believing
that the Lord would provide. But remember this, although we
don't have it in this passage, recognize when a door is shut. Recognize it when the Lord has
not opened that door, and see his hand in the shutting of it,
and realize that is his will as well. Again, we have that
illustrated for us in the Book of Acts when the Apostle Paul
and Silas, just before they had come to Philippi, we read in
Acts 16, that they had purposed to go to other places. They had
thought that they would go to places such as Asia, Athenia
and so forth. And we read, now when they had
gone throughout Phrygia to the region of After they had come again to
Mycenae, they were saved to go to Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered
them not. Now, we do not know exactly how
they came to that realisation that it was wrong for them to
do that, and that it was not the Lord's will at that time
for them to preach in these areas, for He had another plan. He wasn't
stopping them preaching, rather, He would call them in Philippi.
But you see, there was a door shut. and they didn't force it open. It's quite understandable for
them to say, well, we're called to preach the gospel, we're called
to be his apostles, and we're called to go to the nations of
the world, and therefore, we are going to force our way into
Bithynia, because they're a soul to who must hear the gospel.
But no, they recognize that when the Lord shuts the door, He was
going to open another door somewhere else. He was going to Philippi. And so may we, as we seek the
Lord's will, recognise a shut door. But I believe it is not wrong
to try doors. But be willing in trying them for them to be
shut. And to recognise that as the Lord's will. So he ventured
forward. trusting the Lord to bless and
to honour the next step. The fourth thing we notice is
that in this will, in this seeking of guidance, there was a vital
element of prayer. There was prayer. And this was
so vital and it is the key to real guidance. It's the key to
seeking the Lord's will in our lives. Because prayer expresses
to God that we are submissive to Him. Prayer expresses to God
that we desire Him to guide, we desire Him to show us the
way. And this man, this servant, was
clearly a man of prayer. Like Moses again in the book
of Exodus, Lord, show us Thy way. Show me thy way. And this prayer is to honestly
commit our way to the Lord, as this servant did. And he prays
to his God, O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee,
send me good speed this day and show kindness unto my master
Abraham. we can come and tell the Lord
where we are. That we can come and commit our
way to the Lord, who says, cast thy burden on the Lord and he
will sustain thee. Commit thy way unto the Lord.
You see, you have so many encouragements to pray about our situation and
about our lives. And this servant knew the power
of prayer. And as he now comes to the So he lays it before the Lord
and asks that the Lord as it were would take over, that the
Lord would reign in the coming hours, that he would appear,
said with good speed this day and showed kindness unto my master
Abraham. And so he ventured and he prayed
with an eye to the truth that God was sovereign that God was
almighty, that God was all-wise, that God was all-kindness, that
He would do what is right. And so in our desire for guidance,
in what the Lord would have us to do, pray, cast it on the Lord,
lay it before Him, but do so with an eye to the truth that
He is sovereign, not you, that He is all-wise, not you, and
that He acts in kindness and grace to His people. One thing we should address in
this passage is how this servant prayed. Because this servant
laid out what I would call a fleece, You know what I mean by a fleece?
We think of that account with Gideon. Gideon was desiring what
he should do, and he put out a fleece. And he said that if
the fleece is wet and the ground is dry, that it would mean one
thing, and if the ground was wet and the fleece was dry, then
it was reversed on the next occasion. And the Lord answered through
that prayer, and that's very specific of hearing, as to whether
the fleece was wet or dry. And this servant, in a sense,
laid out a fleece. And he laid out this test, that
if the woman who came and gave him drink, and gave drink for
the camels also, would be the one that the Lord had provided. But I want to express some caution
on laying out fleeces in seeking the Lord's guidance. Because
it can be used, we have it in two occasions in the scripture
here. It can be used, but it is not
the general way in which God guides. It's not the usual way
in which God guides. In amazing displays or signs. And we can be guilty of putting
a let us remember that the Lord
will never guide in a way which is contrary to Scripture. This
is our first guidance. And therefore, if we believe
the Lord is leading us in a way which is contrary to the teaching
of Scripture, then He is not. And it is a way we are convinced
of ourselves. And sometimes we can be guilty
of using a fleece prayer, if I can put it that way, of just
making a way that that gives like an ultimatum to God and
says, we want an answer quickly, or we want an answer now, or
we want this answer. Sometimes we can put out fleeces
in a way that tries to make the answer what we want it to be.
Just to think of an extreme example, you might come into the house
of God one night and you can say, well I'm going to do a certain
thing, you've got a certain plan in your life, You say, I am going
to do that unless, I don't know, the minister reads Revelation
chapter three or something like that. What we are doing is not
openly and honestly laying the matter before the Lord. We are
trying to make sure that it always works out in the way that we
want it to work out. We are putting out an ultimatum to God. That
is not truly laying the matter before the Lord. and through the help and guidance
of others. And we want a quick response, we want a quick answer,
so we put out a fleece. That is not true submission to
the Lord. You should caution with the use
of this kind of prayer. But if we notice the servant's
fleece prayer was done with the right desire, because I believe to the camels also, he was seeking
for a right person. He was seeking for someone with
a kind heart, someone who was willing to give to others, someone
who was willing to work for the good of others. And then, later
on, someone who was hospitable in opening the home to him and
his men. And so there was a right desire A true prayer, true seeking the
Lord's will, should always be joined with Jesus' prayer. Nevertheless
not my will, but thine be done. Let's not forget that prayer
is answered. And prayer is amazingly, wonderfully answered for this. I'm sorry I'm going over a little
bit this evening, but let me just make one last point. The
fifth thing we see in this passage, and vitally important, is that
the result of God's guidance was worship. The result was that
the servant bowed down his head and worshipped the Lord. And really, when we consider
his prayer, when we consider his submission to the Lord's
will, when we consider his and Abraham's desires and the rightness
of them, the worship was the only right response when God
answered his prayer. He had to, he must give the glory
to the Lord. Because when he is was nothing of him and was nothing
of Abraham. It was all entirely of God's
hand and therefore amazingly, wonderfully, God had noticed
him. God had heard him. God had taken
notice of Abraham and Isaac. And so as he is filled with this
realisation to the right one. He puts the
crown on the right head. Our desire, as I said earlier,
in seeking the Lord's will should be that the outcome will bring
glory to Him somehow. And then when we have truly been
helped to leave the matter in His hands and truly been helped
to desire His will alone, when we then have his answer. And we see his all-wise and powerful
hand. It leads us to worship. And then
we realise that our desires were right, and that he had been in
it from the very beginning, and it was best to leave it in his
hands, even when it was tempting to take hold of it ourselves
and take control ourselves. And it was right to to push that
temptation away and to leave it with the Lord. When we see
His appearing, we realize that the journey, perhaps the days,
perhaps the years of prayer and of faith have been used to bring
us closer to Him and to show us more of how important He is
to us. And when we see Him providing
for us and we see Him guiding us in the way we should go, then
that provision will always be seen as God's provision. You think if we received everything
in the way that we wanted it, and in the timing that we wanted
it, then it would be ours. We would claim it. We would hold
it. It's my house. It's my marriage. It's my job. I obtained it. I got it. But if the Lord has
worked to make us pray, and make us leave the matter with Him,
then that provision when it comes will always be God's provision. And we'll see it in a completely
different way, a much better way. And we'll see, we see His
hand, His goodness, and His sovereignty, His grace towards us. In doing
more for us than we can even imagine. We see this man, this
servant, he could hardly believe what was happening. He prays,
and before he's finished praying, there's Rebecca, and she answers
in the way that he has asked. And he goes to the house, and
it's even a very family that he knows, that Abraham knows. and then they see it as the hand
of the Lord, and then Rebecca is willing to come immediately,
and as he sees the providence of it all unfolding in front
of him, he can hardly believe the magnitude of God's goodness,
who can do far more and exceeding abundantly than we can ask or
think. And when we see that, it leads
us to worship. and makes us realise, and you
will realise, that casting your all on Him, as hard as it may
be at times, will never, never be regretted. And so in this passage is our
encouragement to continue to seek the Lord, to continue to
leave it with Him, and to believe that in different ways, through
His Word, through our lives, He will guide. But let us challenge
ourselves. In our quest, our desire for
guidance, do we have these characteristics, or is it simply a selfish desire
that God will do what we want Him to do? Do we have a godly
desire for our blessing and for God's glory? Are we open and
willing that the answer may be no? Are we venturing forward
through the next open door, realising that we may come to a shut one?
And are we walking in prayer, leaving the matter within, believing
that one day if we do so, we will truly worship what He has
said, casting all our care on Him? for Haiti and Canada.