Rebekah

I don't know about you sister, but I'm not a big fan of detours. Roads diverted. Plans foiled. Life interrupted.

If I'm travelling to Iowa, I want to end up in Iowa. (You Iowa haters, hold your comments.) No blown tires. No destination changes.

I don't want phone calls blowing up my to-do list. Friends cancelling a night out. Last-minute project demands. A job in Minnesota when I want to live in Texas. I have my plans. You know?

That's probably why when I was reading in Genesis and stumbled on Rebekah, I had to do a double take. Who just packs her bags and leaves her family and country with a stranger? In one day. And for the purpose of marrying a stranger? I mean seriously. Who does that?

Abraham's servant was staying with Rebekah's family, having just met them the night before, when he asked to leave with Rebekah the next morning. "But we want Rebekah to stay with us at least ten days," her brother and mother said. "Then she can go." But he said, "Don't delay me. The Lord has made my mission successful; now send me back so I can return to my master." "Well," they said, "we'll call Rebekah and ask her what she thinks." So they called Rebekah. "Are you willing to go with this man?" they asked her. And she replied, "Yes, I will go." So they said good-bye to Rebekah and sent her away with Abraham's servant and his men. (Genesis 24:55-59a)

"Yes, I will go."

The words echo in my spirit.

Will I go where God calls me? This is a daily request from Him.

Will I help my friend who calls in urgency, and I have a long to-do list? Will I let the older lady ahead of me in line at Wal-Mart even though I'm in a hurry? Agree to let my teen go on a mission trip in another country? Confront that friend in love? Feed someone who is hungry? Get help for a problem? Take on a commitment I feel His Spirit nudging me towards?

Rebekah's family modeled the same. They didn't have facetime back then and yet they sent her off. "The Lord has obviously brought you here, so there is nothing we can say. Here is Rebekah; take her and go. Yes, let her be the wife of your master's son, as the Lord has directed." (Gen. 24:50-51)

Do I relinquish control that easily? Do I trust God's plan for me and my loved ones when it looks different than I wanted or planned?

When I was young my plan was to stay single, live in a city high rise, have an adoring puppy and a high-level job. I ended up married, in a small town with a gun store and a gas station, two kids changing diapers, and a dog who could care less if I was alive.

And you know what? I really wouldn't change it.

I am learning. Relinquishing control can bring great joy, peace, and blessings. Ultimately. But I don't always see it right away, daily, in the trenches. The struggle is real some days to let go of my best-laid plans.

Lord, may I and my dear sisters hold onto our lives loosely. Like Rebekah, who became the mother of a great nation. May we say like Rebekah, "Yes, I will go."

Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21

Glory comes streaming from the table of daily life. Will I be there to catch the rays or will I remain blind to the holy because I'm too busy to see? Am I too busy with my own agenda to let God's agenda bless me? Macrina Wiederkehr