Genesis 24: The Day I Heard Hope

(upbeat music) - Welcome to chapter by chapter, for your journey through the greatest book given to the human race, the word of God, the Bible. We get to go through a chapter by chapter seven minutes a day and seven days a week. Join us each day and share it with others so they can join this journey that will be life changing. We'll stop at unexpected places on the journey and be challenged. Some verses will create awe and wonder, and we'll even have chapters that will be instructive and others will find joy and comfort. We'll occasionally be convicted and need to change, but all in all the journey will be worth it. Once in a while we may take a detour on the journey and hear from some of God's servants on their favorite passages from a chapter of scripture and let them give their insight. Every journey needs a small detour occasionally. The best way to get the most from this podcast is read the chapter we're discussing before after. It's his word that transforms. You will find more and see more than I can ever articulate. Welcome to chapter by chapter. And today's chapter is Genesis 24. I couldn't believe what I was hearing on the phone from this young pastor. He was inconsolable. He woke up in the morning and his wife died in their bathroom that night. He found her when he got up in the morning and he couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it. I did their wedding and I did her funeral. She was so young and all of us were in shock by her sudden passing. This widow pastor was in deep grief. He would call me almost every day for a season. He would go to her grave site every day and would wish that he would die. He was angry with God and confused. He had amazing support around him but he could not be comforted. I remember from all of our conversations and time of prayer on the phone. It seemed my words were no help and he was not breaking free from this deep grief. I've never seen grief so deep in my decades of ministry. I'm embarrassed to admit this but there came a time months later that I would be reluctant to pick up the phone when he called. It was my own pride and in my despair. I felt I had nothing else to say to snap out of it. I ran out of verses and what to pray and saw no change. His grief and his despair was no match for my pat answers. Then it happened. I remember where I was and I remember where I was going. Cindy was in the car with me and we were heading to a store called Sports Authority for something for our children's sporting event. My phone rang, I saw the caller and my heart sunk. I had to get into a whole different mindset to take his call. I was going to have to shift from a family journey to outfit a child for their first softball games to grief counselor and I wasn't sure I was ready to do that. Cindy said to me, you need to take that call. I did take it and heard something that I remember vividly. I heard hope, hope for the first time in over a year. How does my story of anything to do with the hunt for a bride for Isaac in Genesis 24? Hang on, it does. When you read the longest chapter of Genesis, it's all about a journey that is filled with prayer, instructions, the providence of God and faith. It's about a man and a woman finding each other. Seriously, this is a great chapter to talk about how to find the love of your life. Books have been written on this chapter for the topic of finding love. I have even preached the sermon from this chapter for the singles in our church, but everything changed for me by the tragic death of a precious pastor's wife and the last verse of this chapter. There was much more here for me and for him and it came alive to me in the day I heard hope. In Genesis 23, don't forget what happened. There was a huge funeral for Sarah, Abraham's wife and Isaac's mother. I think the father of faith knew something deeper about the Genesis 24 journey than any of us. Right after the burial of Sarah, Abraham sends his servants on a journey to find Isaac a wife. This unnamed servant went on a journey for his master that would change Isaac's life. Abraham's servant found Rebecca the well outside the city of Neor in Mesopotamia. I think there is more emotion to the story than a lonely single man who reached the age of marriage and children. I think we have before us a young man that was fighting grief of losing his mother. After reading how God worked out every detail for this servant who prayed for him to find V1, his prayer went like this in Genesis 24, verses 13 and 14. Behold, I'm standing by the spring and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Now may it be that the girl to whom I say, please let down your jar so that I may drink and who answers drink and I will water your cameras also. May she be the one? May she be the one our words prayed by many single men, but there is more here. This story has more to it. When all the boxes were ticked and every party agreed that this was the Lord, the servant took Rebecca home on the journey to meet Isaac her new husband. And when their eyes met for the first time something happened and here's what the Bible says in verse 62. Now Isaac had come from going to Beryl a whole rye for he was living in the Nagev. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening and he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, the camels were coming. Rebecca lifted up her eyes. And when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel. She said to the servant, "Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?" And the servant said, "He is my master." Then she took her veil and covered herself. The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into his mother's service tent and he took Rebecca and she became his wife and he loved her. Thus Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. The sports authority phone call just changed. Hope came to Isaac that day. What happened to Isaac happened to my pastor friend. Love trumped grief. This wasn't just the Bible version of Tinder, e-Harmony, and match. This moment was showing the power of love. The last verse of this chapter says and he loved her and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. Love fixed grief. The words on the other end of the phone that day went like this. Pastor Tim, you're not going to believe this. I fell in love. I wasn't looking for it and it happened. I heard hope that day. I heard love that day. Almost 10 years later, a number of children, that family and their ministry is thriving and God is using this couple. The grief that comes from death can be unbearable, but the love that comes from God wins every time. When I would see someone deeply grieving, I would pray for comfort. Now I pray for love, whether that comes from remarriage or from friendship. Love truly trumped grief. I heard it with my own ears. Thank you for joining chapter by chapter. Every chapter from the greatest book, the Bible, the Word of God. Seven minutes a day, seven days a week. We'll see you tomorrow.