Daily Thought

Abraham’s servant, Eliezer, was an honoured member of the household. He is called Abraham’s ‘eldest servant’, and ‘ruled over all that he had’, v. 2. At one time, it seemed that he would inherit his master’s estate, but God had other plans. We do not know if Eliezer ever seriously expected to succeed his master, and prefer to think that he gladly participated in the ‘great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned’, Gen. 21. 8. After all, we are very impoverished in spirit if we fail to rejoice in God’s blessing on other people.

Eliezer, now intent on finding a bride for his master’s son, arrived outside the city of Nahor, ‘at the time of the evening’, and we might have expected him to look for lodgings for the night. But he had other priorities, and these could not be achieved without divine help and guidance. Listen to his prayer: ‘O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham’. Eliezer thought only of his master, in the same way that we should make it our grand ambition to bring joy and pleasure to our beloved Lord.

It is worth noticing that there wasn’t a great deal left of that particular day, and Eliezer must have prayed with some urgency. We so easily rely on our own judgement when time is short, and decisions have to be made. Eliezer was evidently a man of proven wisdom and discernment who had earned the complete confidence of his master. But he did not trust in his long experience. He acted in the spirit of Proverbs chapter 3 verses 5 and 6, ‘Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths’.

Unlike the religious leaders in our Lord’s day, Matt. 6. 5, there was nothing ostentatious about Eliezer. Listen to him again as he recounts, over the evening meal, events at the well: ‘And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder’, v. 45. No human ears heard his prayer, but ‘the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers‘, 1 Pet. 3. 12. We are not surprised that God answered the prayer of this unselfish and humble servant and gave him ‘good speed this day’. We can expect similar help if we pray in the same way.