In 2009, I moved to Nashville to take a job at a middle school that had no central heat or air. That summer was hot, and I spent day after day in my new classroom, cleaning out closets stuffed with books, mice feces, and dust. By the end of my first week in a new city, I was exhausted, friendless and scared that I’d made a huge mistake in taking this job.
That weekend, a friend reached out and invited me to a concert with a group of friends. “This guy Patrick is planning it,” my friend told me. “Here’s his number.” Maybe I was desperate for new friends. Maybe all that time in an airless classroom made me bold. But I called, and a man with a deep, soothing voice answered the phone. Patrick and I talked for a long time. When we met later that night, I saw in his eyes something familiar and kind. Much to everyone’s surprise, we were engaged five months later. People thought we were crazy, and for the record, let me say this: we were.
Isaac and Rebekah have an even crazier origin story. Camels, water troughs, long distances across foreign lands, prayers to God—all accumulated to create an arranged marriage between two people whose lives God would use to change the course of history. Their story is full of the kind of inexplicable coincidences that help us see God’s hand at work. I mean, what are the chances that Abraham’s servant would arrive at this well, at this hour? He asks her for water, and waits to see if this young woman will offer to quench the thirst of his camels as well. He’s searching for kindness, for goodness, for industrious character. And he finds it in Rebekah, the very first woman he meets.
What are the chances?
As a Christian, I believe that God is constantly at work, guiding His people in the way they should go. Scripture tells us that “a person’s steps are established by the LORD,” and that “all [our] days were written in [His] book” (Psalm 37:23; 139:16). “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which he prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). These are comforting truths when things seem to be going our way, but not so much when our circumstances seem to go awry, veering off into an unexpected direction. But even then, God is our protector, who never sleeps or slumbers (Psalm 121:4). He is always engaged with our lives, whether we realize it or not.
And so it was with Isaac and Rebekah. Their story reminds me that God builds unlikely families, restores broken relationships, and heals us from what seems irreparable apart from Him. He promised to build a family through Abraham and his descendants, a family line that would eventually lead to the Messiah, our Savior Jesus, who was born into this world to redeem His own Bride, the Church.
After pursuing and finding a bride for Isaac, his servant “knelt low [and] worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD,” the God of Abraham (Genesis 24:48). Jesus Christ pursued His own Bride, even to the point of death on a cross. May our response be to turn to Him in worship, thanking Him for His faithful love and mercies that never end (Lamentations 3:22–23).
Our God never sleeps or slumbers. He is our protector! Comforting words this morning. Now that’s our God. Thankful when I feel scared of the unknown. I’m reminded in His Word that He is with me.
I love this story because it reminds me how perfect God’s timing is! My husband and I just moved to a new city merely months after getting married, and God provided so many things for us in the PERFECT time! Praise!
Oh dear Tina, your words resound with me today. Thank you for them, for speaking this profound truth. Nothing in our lives is wasted. Every experience that occurs is under His sovereign control. Though we may not understand it or like it, He will most certainly redeem and restore it all. We eagerly anticipate His next move. It will be wondrous. Because He loves us. Resting and reliving on that today. Copying your words in my journal, Tina. From His heart in the heavenlies through you over there to me over here. Thank you, God. Thank you, Tina.
I take such comfort in knowing that the Lord will always go before me…He knows the plans He has for me. Amen and amen.
This is so funny or is it God…?
This morning as I brushed my teeth and half talking half praying to the lord, I asked Him, ‘Is this it? Am I to spend my days alone and without a companion, a love that I can be mad with..
I found myself apologising for the past, and looking back wondering what I could have done to change this course of my life that I am on..
There was no response… but there was this devotion when i sat with my tea to spend time with Him!
It’s nearly 15 years since I have been on my own/single/unattached.. it’s been hard some days, and some days I haven’t even noticed..
But here’s the thing…
I was at the right ‘well’ all those years ago .. for that season in my life.. for that time, for that experience, that part of my journey.., I bear no malice or anger, or anything negative… I wish my past well, and hold fast to the promises of the God who rebuilds, restores, remakes. God, has been bringing together since the beginning of time.. He never changes.. He is the same yesterday yesteryear/yester-decade, today, and I know He will be the same tomorrow, a year from now, ten years from now..
So…
For now, I wait, I wait in faith, and I praise and I worship, that when the time is right, my ever, ever so faithful God will place me at the ‘well’ again for the new chapter and season of my life…
Amen..
Happy Wednesday Sisters, with love wrapped hugs for today to be a God blessed day ❤
I love this
❤️❤️❤️
Beautiful words
Beautiful
Amen ❤️
Thank you! I needed to read this.
Imagine how much God delighted in the prayer of Abraham’s servant. He orchestrated the perfect solution, and all the servant needed was faith.
Where do you need to open your hands in faith? God delights in providing for His people. Let’s take a step of faith together today and let Him move mountains. To God be the glory!
I need faith today. My son has a rare illness that young adults die from every year. He is 31, 4 years past his life expectancy. There is a stem cell trial happening now. My prayer is that he gets into the study. I need faith to live with whatever God decides for Tanner. Hardest road I have had to endure. Sometimes I just don’t know if I can do it. God please give me that enduring faith through whatever road you put me on.
I just prayed for you and your son. Standing with you in faith…
I prayed for you and your son also, Traci. Praying for God’s healing power at work in Tanner. Hugs from Melbourne Australia.
Today’s story is much more joyful. God continues to be faithful to Abraham by showing him that his son Issac finds love and happiness. Today’s lectionary verse is from Psalm 37:4 “Take delight in the Lord”. I have been pondering what it means to take delight in the Lord. I put ‘delight’ a step higher on the happiness ladder. It is a lighter, more bouncy joy. Coming to my Lord in the morning is a solemn and reverent time, but God says to take delight. God is new every morning. His mercies are refreshed and renewed. That is something to be joyful for. Even take delight in. I smile this morning at this new day to spend with my Lord. To have fun and enjoy my Lord as we walk through this day together, whatever it may hold.
One of my favorite phrases is “It was a God thing!” It’s been used by myself, my husband, my daughters and my friends over and over throughout the years. It delights me every time. It is an acknowledgment of the surprising hand of God in certain situations where He wasn’t readily recognized. It’s as if we’d suddenly had our eyes opened, seeing His involvement, hearing His sweet small voice saying “Ta da! I was with you all along!” His ways are not always our ways and I thank God for that. He knows better for He is sovereign Lord over all and His heart is for His own. He surprises us. He blesses us with His faithfulness. Today, look for, and expect, His “Ta da!” He is so good at it.
Thank you for this reminder! I too love that phrase, “it was a God thing.” I first heard it in one of my favorite series, Christy Miller. It’s such a great reminder that many of those “good things” in our lives are actually “God things.”
Friends & I have used “God-incidence” versus coincidence. Same idea. No coincidence in God’s economy.