Finding and Following God's Will
Genesis | Week 10
Leanne Benton preaches on the story of Isaac and Rebekah offers several principles from the story that help us discover and follow the will of God.
MESSAGE NOTES
Abraham + Eliazar + Rebekah
Genesis • July 16, 2023
Teacher: Leanne Benton
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Genesis 24:1-4 NIV
Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.”
Genesis 5:29 NIV
“He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.”
Principle 1- Search for answers according to God’s Word.
Genesis 24:5-8 NIV
The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?” Abraham said, “Make sure that you do not take my son back there. The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’ —he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine.”
Principle 2- Believe that God is faithful to His word.
Joshua 21:45 NIV
Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed;
every one was fulfilled.
Genesis 24:10-14 NIV
Then the servant left, taking with him ten of his master’s camels loaded with all kinds of good things from his master... He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water. Then he prayed, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant, Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”
Principle 3- Plead with God to reveal His will.
Matthew 7:7 NIV
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
James 1:5 NIV
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Genesis 24:15 NIV
Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder.
Genesis 24:16 NIV
The woman was very beautiful...
Genesis 24:17-20 NIV
She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again. The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.” “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink. After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink.” So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels.
Genesis 24:21, 23 NIV
Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful...Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you?
Proverbs 14:15 NIV
The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps.
Principle 4- Observe how God answers your prayer.
Genesis 24:26-27 NIV
Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, saying “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master.”
Principle 5- Worship God for His work.
Genesis 24:50-51 NIV
This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has directed.
Principle 6- Submit to God’s will.
Genesis 24:54-55 NIV
When they got up the next morning, he said, “Send me on my way to my master.” But her brother and her mother replied, “Let the young woman remain with us ten days or so; then you may go.”
Genesis 24:57-58 NIV
Then they said, “Let’s call the young woman and ask her about it.” So they called Rebekah and asker her, “Will you go with this man?” “I will go,” she said.
Principle 7- Obey God’s call.
Adam Barnett
When God calls us to something, it is natural to think first about the cost, the timing, and the consequences. When we delay, we might miss our window of opportunity.
Search. Believe. Plead. Observe. Worship. Submit. Obey.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.