In Silence

The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the LORD had prospered his journey or not.
Genesis 24:21 ESV

This is an amazing chapter in the life of Abraham, his son, Isaac, and Eliezer, his servant.

Abraham sent Eliezer to find a wife for Isaac. He gave him very explicit instructions and prayed that God would prosper Eliezer in his journey (make it successful). When the servant arrived in the region, he prayed to the God of Abraham with very explicit requests for what the girl would do in order to make his journey successful. No sooner had he finished the words in his heart when Rebekah showed up at the well and began to do what Eliezer had silently prayed. 19 'When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they HAVE FINISHED drinking.” 20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water, and she drew for ALL his camels.' [emphasis mine]

I did some research on this. Camels drink between 30 and 50 gallons of water at a time depending on whether they have one hump or two (even though they don't carry the water in their humps). So Rebekah drew water for 10 camels! Now 5 gallons of water weighs about 41.5 lbs so if she only drew 300 gallons that would weigh 2,490 lbs or 1 1/4 US tons. If they were the two-hump ones at 50 gallons per camel, that's 500 gallons which would be 4,150 lbs- over 2 US tons of weight in carrying water!! How many trips do you make to fill that trough? It was no easy task, that's for sure.

When he saw that she also began to water his camels, he could have said something and acknowledged her work, but he "gazed in silence to learn..." He could have settled for good enough when she filled the trough the first time, instead he "gazed in silence to learn..." For how long? I have no idea how long that took, do you?

Do we have the patience to wait "in silence to learn" - to see the promise of God fulfilled in its entirety?

Prayer:

Father,
             Teach us well how to hold our tongue. To wait in silence before You so that we may learn... Our lives are in Your hands. It is not in us to direct our own steps—we need You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen