I, Being in the Way

What great stories I’ve been reading the past couple of weeks!  So exciting.  And interesting!  Oh…did I mention that I’ve been reading from Genesis, the first book of the Bible?  Yep.  Exciting. Interesting.  While reading I’ve been reminded of several of my former Pastor, Dr. David Shepherd’s, sermons from the late 1980’s.   Could not help but chuckle to myself as I read in Genesis 8:7-8 about Noah sending out the raven and the dove to check and see if the waters of the flood had gone down enough for him and his family to leave the ark.  Only those of you who have also heard Bro. Shepherd’s sermon titled “The Raven and the Dove” will understand!  Trust me!

And then in Genesis 24 the sweet story of how the servant of Abraham was led by God to find Rebekah for a wife for Isaac, Abraham’s son.  Bro. Shepherd titled his sermon on this “Seeking a Bride for Isaac” …if my memory serves me correctly. This servant of Abraham had prayed before hand and asked God to let him know which woman He had chosen for a bride for Isaac by letting her not only offer him water from the well but also water for his camels.  Which is exactly what Rebekah did (Genesis 24:18-19 And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink. And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.)

Abraham’s servant was so awed that God had answered his prayer so vividly that Genesis 24 26-27 say “And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the LORD. And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master’s brethren.”

As I read this several days ago, the phrase “I being in the way” seemed to leap out at me.  Abraham’s servant meant that because he was in the right place …because of trusting God to show him the way….he was led straight to the woman God had chosen to be Isaac’s wife…Rebekah.

But then I thought about another way we can use that same phrase “I being in the way”.   Have you ever said to someone, “Would you mind moving? You’re ‘in the way’ “.  Or have you not thought that you needed to move some clutter that had accumulated because it was “in the way”?  This meaning of the phrase usually talks about something that is a hindrance.

So then I compared the two meanings as they might apply to our spiritual lives.

1.If I pray and ask God to guide me, then at some point I will be “in the way” , or in the right place for Him to use and bless me.

2. If I don’t seek God’s will in my life, then probably sooner than later, I will be “in the way” of His having His way in my life.  And most likely I will also then be “in the way” of others finding life in Jesus Christ. 

So it’s a matter of choice I guess.  I can chose to be “in the way” by  trusting God’s leading in my life and be where He can use me best.  OR I can chose to be “in the way” by ignoring God’s instructions and becoming a stumbling block to others. You have the same choice.  Which way will we chose to be in? The right one I hope!

 May God bless you greatly during this Christmas season as we celebrate the birth of Jesus!

Marilyn