"There are no such things as coincidences." You may have heard that expression before. Personally, I believe that simple coincidences do occur on occasion. But I also believe that miracles sometimes happen in the guise of coincidence, and that what the world writes off as chance can be something much greater.
In Genesis 24, Abraham charges his servant with an important mission: Go get a wife for Isaac. The woman is not to be drawn from among the Canaanites where the family now lives; instead the servant is to go back to Abraham's hometown of Nahor and get a wife from there.
As you can imagine, this is a daunting task. How will the servant be able to find and identify a suitable young woman willing to come back with him to marry Isaac? It's not exactly Match.com!
Upon reaching Nahor, the servant asks Abraham's God to show him the way by pointing out Ms. Right. "Let her offer me a drink when I ask, and let her offer to water my camels, too," he prays.
"Coincidentally" a beautiful girl named Rebekah approaches at that very moment (vs. 15) and fulfills everything that the servant was looking for. Indeed, she gives him a drink when he asks (vs. 18) and then waters his camels (vs. 19). Even more so, this is a perfect match for Isaac - she is a relative of the family! (vs. 27). Such a status back then was considered desirable, not frowned upon as it is today.
When the servant is introduced to the Rebekah's family, he explains his mission and asks for her hand in marriage for Isaac. The final coincidence of this story is their being agreeable to this request (vs. 51). The servant returns successful, having found the right woman for his master's son.
What looks to the world as mere coincidence can be something much more.
No comments:
Post a Comment