He’s In Charge – So Relax!
Genesis 24
September 19, 1993 | Ray Pritchard
Nothing is more important in the life of the children of God than becoming fully persuaded that God does indeed lead his children on their journey from earth to heaven.
Besides building your confidence in God, I also want to help you as you face the great decisions of life. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: You make your decisions, and your decisions turn around and make you. What you are today is nothing more than the sum total of all the decisions you have made in your life up until this point.
I want to help you so that this very week as you come to those moments when you must decide, when you come to those crossroads that everybody comes to, you will have confidence that God is leading you in exactly the direction he wants you to go.
With that in mind, we turn to our text—Genesis 24. Up until this point, we have been talking about discovering the will of God in general terms and laying down some general principles. Now we are going to study the question of discovering God’s will as it applies to one of the central issues of life—the question of marriage. After all, for most of us—apart from the decision to trust Jesus Christ—there is no bigger or more important decision that we will ever make in all of the days we are upon the earth. Of all the other kinds of decisions we make, I don’t think there is anything more important or more crucial.
Who’s the Lucky Person?
The question of marriage really resolves itself into two sub-questions. The first is, Should I get married? The second is, Who’s going to be the lucky person? Both questions are understandably difficult. Should I get married or should I stay single? Most of us could make a pretty good argument either way. There are always reasons to get married and, as Paul points out in I Corinthians 7, there are plenty of good reasons to stay single.
Our text is the story of finding a bride for Isaac. It is the longest chapter in the book of Genesis. It is the first great romantic love story in the Bible. It is wonderfully thrilling and encouraging. It is a charming story all by itself. And from it we are going to uncover some important biblical principles. Now I know that some of you who are reading these words are married. Many others, however, are not married—either you have never been married or you have been and are not now.
Two Great Fears
I’m sure you’ve thought about the first question at some point—Should I get married? Unmarried people face two great fears. One is the fear of somehow being passed over. That’s the fear of those who really would like to get married or have some dream about it, but they fear that they are too young or too old or they are not attractive enough or they don’t have the right kind of personality, or they feel that they have been used up in all of the difficulties and exigencies of life. They just fear that marriage somehow has just passed them by. Closely related to all that is a second fear, one which for many singles is even greater—the fear of making the wrong choice. That is, maybe they want to be married but they are very hesitant about it because they want to do God’s will. They are afraid lest they jump too soon or let their emotions carry them away and end up making a decision that they will regret for the next 50 years.
Most People Get Married
The second fear is well-founded. As someone has well said, “It is better to be single than to wish you were.” I also heard a man say, “Single blessedness is better than double cussedness.”
So my purpose is not to tell you to get married. That’s a decision you have to make for yourself. I don’t think God says that you have to get married. I don’t think the Bible says that.
Nevertheless, there are at least three truths about marriage that are obvious. The first truth is that marriage is God’s number one way of alleviating human loneliness. Genesis 2:18 says, “It is not good for man to be alone.” God meant for us to be in community with other people. We all need other people. God never intended for you to fight your way through life all by yourself. You need other people and they need you. Marriage is God’s number-one way of alleviating the persistent problem of human loneliness.
The second truth is that most people in America will get married eventually. The statistics bear that out. For all that we hear about singleness and cohabitation, and even given the huge number of divorces, according to American Demographic magazine more people are getting married today than ever before.
And the third truth is that some people will enjoy marriage so much that they will try it three or even four times. Remarriage once was thought to be unusual, but no more. We all know people who have been married twice. Some of us have friends who have been to the altar four or five times. Marriage is in the human bloodstream and even after repeated failure, there is something in us that makes us want to try again.
As we come to this charming story in Genesis 24 I would like to, if I could, help in two specific areas. First of all, I think this passage offers some very helpful advice for those who are unmarried and considering the possibility of marriage. Second, this passage reveals some basic biblical principles of God’s guidance that apply to all the situations of life. So whether you are single or married, I think there will be something for you in this message.
Back to Mesopotamia
In order to understand this passage of Scripture, we’ve got to go back, back, back to the very earliest days of human history, back 3800 years, back across the midst of time, back across the centuries, back to a time long ago, to a place far away from here. In order to understand this story, you have got to go back to the land of Mesopotamia. You have got to go all the way back to a setting that is so strange and so unusual that we can scarcely imagine it.
Yet after you read the story and let its details sink in, this story has a very familiar ring.
It begins with an anxious father and his unmarried son. The father is concerned about carrying on the family name. He hatches a plan that leads to a prayer, a chance meeting, the watering of the camels, an amazing revelation, a dinnertime speech, a hurried conversation, a crucial question, a decisive answer, a reluctant decision, a long journey, a meeting between a beautiful bride and a bashful husband, a happy wedding, a consummation and joy all around.
When you read this story, though on one level the details are very unfamiliar, on another level, though 38 centuries separate this story from us, there is something here that we can understand. We know all about love, longing and loneliness. We know about waiting for the “right man” or the “right woman.” We know about “love at first sight”—even if we’ve never experienced it.
Some Things Never Change
Yesterday we had a wonderful wedding here in the sanctuary. Hundreds came to see Bonnie Bruce marry Tom Krumsieg. I had the unique privilege of sitting out in the audience instead of leading the ceremony myself. For the first time in a long time I got to sit back and relax and enjoy the candles and the music and the singing. There was so much joy and so much happiness. And the bride was radiant. Tom was glowing from ear to ear as he watched Bonnie come down the aisle. One of the highlights was hearing Don Krumsieg and his four sons sing “Be Ye Glad.”
As I thought about it, it occurred to me that although our customs are different, the passing of all these years has not changed the essentials of marriage. The basic things haven’t changed over the centuries—two people coming together in the plan of God to live together forever. In that sense the story that is given to us in Genesis 24 is very similar to what happened in the sanctuary between Tom and Bonnie yesterday.
The story of Genesis 24 begins with Abraham. Verse 1 says that he was old and advanced in years. As Abraham was coming to his last days, he reflected upon the promises of God, how God had promised him long before that he would have a son. He remembered that through a miraculous conception God had given him Isaac. Now Sarah is dead and Abraham is near the end of his life. But God had promised to bring forth a great nation through his son, and from that great nation, he would bless the whole earth. But in order for the promise to be fulfilled, not only must he have a son, but the son must necessarily be married, and out of the marriage must come forth children. So Abraham, as he is approaching the end of his life, calls his servant, and says, “I want you to go find a bride for Isaac.”
Don’t Marry a Canaanite!
He gave the servant two very specific instructions. Number one, “You must find a bride for Isaac who does not come from the Canaanites.” Number two, “The bride you find must come from our people.”
Abraham understood that it is always a tragic mistake when a believer marries an unbeliever. I know many people who could stand today and give testimony that years ago—perhaps in a flush of emotion—they walked down the aisle and said, “I do,” when they really shouldn’t have, and now they are joined together in an unequal yoke.
As Abraham looked to the future, he knew that his son needed a godly wife. He needed a woman who had been raised among the people of God. So he says to his servant, “I want you to go back to the land of our relatives.” That meant traveling 500 miles across the desert to a place called Nahor. Abraham had learned that a branch of his family was still living there and he had learned about a marriageable girl there whose name was Rebekah. So he says to his servant, “Go back to my people. Don’t take Isaac with you.” He said that because he wanted Isaac to stay in the land of promise. So with his great faith looking to the future, believing that God was in it, believing that God would indeed guide his servant, he says to his servant, “I am sending you to find a bride for my son.”
“What If She Won’t Come?”
Immediately the servant thinks about it and asks a very practical question. “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land?” Good question. “What if I find the right woman and she won’t come? What should I do?” The servant asked him, “Shall I take your son back to the country you came from?” Abraham answers in verse eight, “If the woman is unwilling to come back with you”—the woman; that is, Abraham believed that God was going to lead the servant to the woman—”then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.”
Right here you have a very interesting principle for discovering the will of God. Abraham believed it was the will of God for his son to be married, and he believed that by sending his servant to search for the wife, he was actually doing the will of God. But the servant had raised a very legitimate question. “What if I find the woman and she won’t come back? What do I do then?” And Abraham says, “Well, don’t worry about it. If she won’t come, then you don’t have to worry about it. Just come on back. And we’ll decide what to do next.”
Trouble, Trouble, Trouble
And that’s a very important principle, isn’t it? Many times we start a new project believing that what we are doing is the will of God, and yet after we do what we believe to be the will of God, very often things will not work out just exactly the way that we think they ought to.
What do you do when it doesn’t work out the way you thought it would? You took the job, and it didn’t work out. You made the investment, and it didn’t work out. You entered the relationship, and it didn’t work out. You started school, and it didn’t work out. You made a big decision, and it didn’t work out. What do you do then? Our first reaction is usually to say, “Well, I must have been wrong, and it couldn’t have been the will of God.” I don’t think that’s the right answer.
Trouble is no sign that you are out of God’s will. It might mean that you doing exactly what God wants you to do. Sometimes God sends trouble not as a judgment but as a sign that we are doing right. When Jesus was crucified, was he out of God’s will? No, but his life ended in the midst of pain and suffering. No one was ever more in God’s will than Jesus, yet he was murdered by his enemies.
When you have made a choice, and the choice has brought you difficulty after difficulty after difficulty, the outcome of your decision does not retroactively affect whether it was God’s will or not. The fact that your life hasn’t worked out exactly like you planned doesn’t necessarily mean that your decisions were wrong. Sometimes there are other factors at work.
That perspective helps us understand Abraham’s instruction to his servant: “Look, I believe it is God’s will for my son to have a wife so I’m making this plan, and I want you to go, but if you come back without a woman, don’t worry about it. We’ll think of something else to do because if you fail in your mission, that doesn’t mean that the mission itself was wrong or the decision to seek a wife was wrong.”
The Woman, the Water, the Camels
So the servant sets out on the long journey northeast to Nahor. We are told in verse 10 that the servant took ten of his master’s camels and left. It might have taken him a month or so to get there. I am sure the servant prayed everyday: “O Lord, when I get to Nahor, please show me which woman you have chosen for my master’s son, Isaac.” He arrives on the outskirts of Nahor in the evening, just about the time the women would come out to the well to get water for the camels.
What’s his first step? How will he know which girl is the right one for Isaac? Should he have a drawing, a contest, ask them to complete an application, or what? He’s made the journey, but what now? His next step is all-important. He stops and asks God to give him specific guidance.
This is a crucial point. He asked for specific, direct, unmistakable guidance from God. He even tells the Lord how he wants it to happen. “May it be that when I say to a girl, ’Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ’Drink. And I’ll water your camels, too,’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.” (14)
The Girl of My Dreams
Here’s the key point. When he got to the place where the eligible women were, he prayed. He didn’t get there and start taking notes. He didn’t run a Miss Nahor contest and start scoring the eligible women in different categories—”well dressed, good posture, carries the water pot gracefully.” He didn’t do that. Before he looked at any of the women, he prayed, “O God, show me your choice.”
Something like that happened to me 21 years ago. I was a student in a Christian college, and my roommate had been dating a girl who was—if you’ll pardon the expression—a Christian college floozy. Which by the world’s standards might be pretty tame, but for that time and for that place, it meant she was wild. A few months after he broke up with her, my roommate began dating a lovely Christian girl. Eventually they fell in love were married several years later. Together they raised up a wonderful family to the glory of God.
I remember that when he broke up with the first girl and began dating Anna, I said to him, “Jim, how did you do that?” And he told me a story. He said, “Ray, I got tired of just dating one girl right after another after another after another.” Then he said, “I knelt down by my bed and prayed, and I asked God, ’Give me a pure girl to date.’ And the Lord answered my prayers. I’ve been dating Anna ever since.”
“Lord, Give Me a Pure Girl to Date”
That sounded good to me. So that night when I was by myself. I knelt down and began to pray. I thought, “It worked for him, it might work for me.” I prayed the same prayer: “Lord, give me a pure girl to date.” Please understand. I hadn’t been dating floozies. I don’t think I had been dating anyone. But I said to myself, “It worked for him.” It was just an experiment. “Lord, give me a pure girl to date.” I prayed the prayer and promptly forgot all about it.
About three or four weeks later I began to notice this beautiful, sweet, attractive, capable, competent, very intriguing young lady that I had never seen around the campus before. She had been there long before I got there, but somehow in God’s providence, my eyes had been blinded, and then in the grace of God, my eyes were opened, the scales fell off, and I saw her, and when I saw her, something inside went thump-de-thump-de-thump. My heart flipped over. And I realized here was a wonderful girl, who, frankly, was probably far too good for me. I would be lucky if she ever even looked my way.
And so I turned on the charm. It didn’t work. But thank God for predestination and the sovereignty of God.
Three weeks ago, we celebrated our nineteenth anniversary.
It wasn’t until I started to seriously date Marlene that I looked back and remembered the prayer I prayed that night in my dorm. It hit me that God had precisely and exactly and specifically answered the prayer that I prayed. From that moment until this, I have never doubted that I am the luckiest man in the world because God gave me a wife in a direct answer to my prayers. It worked for my roommate and it worked for me.
“Let Me Water Your Camels”
But it also worked for Abraham’s servant. As the women approach the well with their water pots, he’s praying, “Lord, show me which one it is.” I love what verse 15 says, “Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder.” He can’t even get the prayer out of his mouth and God is already answering him. Isaiah 65:24 says, “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.” Perhaps you remember singing, “I believe the answer’s on the way. I believe the Lord has heard me pray.” Here is a biblical example. Before the servant finishes praying, here come the young ladies, and Rebekah is leading the way!
Now he still doesn’t know, he is not sure, but she is the first one out, and so he says, “Would you give me a drink?” And she gladly gives him a drink. Then she says, “Please, let me water your camels also.”
That’s exactly what the servant had asked for. He prayed and God answered precisely to the detail.
Here’s an important background fact that will shed light on this passage. Camels drink a lot of water. These ten camels had traveled 500 miles from the Negev all the way up to Nahor. Scholars tell us that a camel at the end of a day might well drink 20 to 30 gallons of water. So what she was volunteering to do was to take a bucket and 200-300 gallons of water. That might take her two or three hours.
That leads to a crucial question: Why did the servant ask for this particular sign? After all, presumably he could have asked for any sign he wanted. Why specify the watering of the camels? First, it was specific—thus easy to determine whether or not it had happened. Second, it was appropriate in that his camels actually needed water. Third, it was an excellent test to discover the kind of woman who would make a good wife for Isaac. After all, his wife was going to become the mother of a great nation. Not only must she be kind and courteous and hospitable, she also must be generous, gracious, industrious, and willing to bear her share of the load. So it wasn’t just a frivolous sign. It was a sign that fit the need of the moment.
One quick note. The servant still doesn’t know if Rebekah is the one. He thinks she is, the early signs are encouraging, the answer has come exactly as he asked, but he needs confirmation. He still doesn’t know if she is willing to return with him to meet Isaac.
The Steps of Good Man
I pause to note that this is a way to show how we discover God’s will. One answered prayer doesn’t mean we see the big picture. Although Rebekah seems like the right girl, the final determination comes later. All the servant knows is that he must take the next step trusting God to lead him on. Will Rebekah be the one? It’s too early to say for certain.
Nevertheless the servant stops to give thanks to God for his remarkable leading so far. “Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, saying, ’Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master.’” (27) His first thought is for the Lord; his second thought is for his master. His third thought is for himself, “As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey.” The King James Version uses a wonderful phrase at this point, “I, being in the way, the Lord led me.” He is saying, “Lord, I praise you because when I was 500 miles away with my master, and Rebekah was up here in Nahor, you knew exactly how to lead me from where I was to where she was so that I could be led specifically and directly to exactly the person who would meet my master’s need and be a proper bride for Isaac.”
It’s a fantastic thing to know that you are doing what God wants you to do. As I ponder this story, I recall Psalm 37:23, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” Did the servant know what was going to happen when he left Abraham’s house? Did he plan in advance to meet Rebekah at the well? Did he know he was going to ask for the sign of the watering of the camels? No, no and no. He knew none of those things. In fact, he didn’t know for sure that he would find the right girl or that she would be willing to return with him even if he did find her. The only thing he knew was that God would guide his steps one by one across the desert sands so that at precisely the right moment he would be precisely where God wanted him to be.
And that, of course, is precisely what happened.
Closing the Deal
The rest of the chapter tells how Rebekah introduces him to her brother Laban and her father Bethuel. In typical Middle Eastern fashion, they all gather for a great evening meal. But before the meal is served, the servant stands up and makes a speech. In it he rehearses for the family how God has led him from the Negev to Nahor. He also tells them how rich Abraham is and how Isaac is going to be the heir to his father’s fortune. He mentions Isaac’s miraculous conception and repeats Abraham’s specific instructions that Isaac’s wife must come from among his own people. Finally, he reveals the prayer he prayed at the well and God’s amazing, immediate answer. Every sentence reveals his great faith in the God who led him to Rebekah. Verse 49 is the clincher: “Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.” Like any good salesman, he presses for a decision.
Laban and Bethuel really can’t say anything when they hear what the servant says. “This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other.” (50) And so they give their consent. “Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has directed.” (50)
That leads me to another crucial observation: When God is leading your life, other people will recognize it. They will see it, they will believe it, and they will support you in what you are doing.
“Will You Go With This Man?”
So they give their consent—somewhat grudgingly, it seems—but they gave it. Then there is the touchy question of how soon she leaves with the servant for the trip back to meet Isaac. Understandably, her family didn’t want her to leave immediately. “But her brother and her mother replied, ’Let the girl remain with us ten days or so; then you may go.’ But he said to them, ’Do not detain me, now that the Lord has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master.’” (55-56) There’s a bit of a disagreement, so they decide to let Rebekah decide for herself. They said, “Let’s call the girl and ask her about it.” That’s nice. “So they called Rebekah and asked her, ’Will you go with this man?’” (58)
Consider the implications of this question. Rebekah has never met Isaac. She is not being asked, “Will you go with Isaac?” She’s being asked, “Will you go with the servant?” That means leaving her family permanently because she probably will never make the journey back to Nahor again. She’s never met the servant until 12 or 15 hours earlier. So on the basis of one evening and the next morning, she is being asked to make a decision that will cut her off from her family for the rest of her life, to go across the desert to a place she’s never seen, and to marry a man she’s never met. “Will you go with this man?” Most of us would say, “No.” But, of course, since God was leading, she said, “Yes.” This is the high point of Rebekah’s faith so far as the Bible is concerned.
So they left, made the journey back down to the Negev, back to where Abraham was, and back down where to Isaac was. When they arrive, Isaac is in the fields working. As soon as Rebekah sees him in the distance, she jumps off the camel and veils her face because of the modesty of those days. Then the servant introduces Isaac to his new bride. Isaac still does not really know her at all. All he has is the servant’s testimony. And Isaac says, “Let’s do it.” So he takes her into Sarah’s tent—a sign that she was taking Sarah’s place in the family. The story ends with these words: “So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.” (67)
Love Comes Later
By the way, notice something. “So she became his wife, and he loved her.” The love came later. Love is not necessary in order to get married. What is necessary is the leading of God and the commitment of the heart. Love grows with the passing of many days together. In a good marriage the love at the beginning is just the seed that later blossoms into a beautiful flower.
Now just let me wrap all of this up and draw some conclusions, and we are done. The overriding truth from Genesis 24 is that the choice of a bride for Isaac was God’s choice. He is the One who is working behind the scenes. He never speaks. He never says anything. And yet clearly the whole point of Genesis 24 is to say that the search was not just a human search but that behind the affairs of man stood Almighty God. He was the One who was leading the servant step by step, and the servant was in touch with God so that when he found the right woman and brought her back home, he knew it would be successful because God had made the choice Himself. God himself chose a bride for Isaac!
Abraham sought it.
His servant found it.
The sign confirmed it.
Laban recognized it.
Rebekah accepted it.
Isaac enjoyed it.
But God is the one who did the choosing. He is the divine matchmaker who orchestrated the details so that the right man and the right woman would come together at precisely the right moment.
John R. Rice said it this way: “It is a wonderful thing to know that you are in the will of God.
You can step out into the darkness if you know God is leading.”
Lessons Regarding Marriage
This ancient story teaches us many important lessons regarding marriage.
1 The best way to prepare for marriage is to become the best person you can be right now.
If you study Rebekah carefully, you can find at least six positive traits in her life. Number one, she was kind. Number two, she was industrious. Number three, she was godly. Number four, she was resourceful. Number five, she was pure. The Bible explicitly says that she was beautiful and a virgin and had never lain with any man (verse 16). Number six, she was decisive.
If you are interested in being married, then do what Rebekah did. Cultivate those qualities in your life that will make you a better person. Those same qualities will also make you a better marriage partner.
2 If you are interested in being married, focus less on future marriage and more on present faithfulness.
What was Rebekah doing when the servant found her? She was simply doing her job. She was going out to do the very frustrating, hot, discouraging duty of drawing water at the end of the day. She was doing her chores. She wasn’t thinking to herself, “Well, maybe tonight I am going to meet the man of my dreams.” No. She wasn’t even focused on future marriage. She was focused on present faithfulness.
And that’s a great principle for anybody who wants to be married. Don’t focus on marriage. Focus on doing the will of God faithfully where you are right now.
3 Remember if God wants you to be married, he will bring the right person into your life at the right time so you don’t have to worry about it.
If God wants you to be married, he will bring the right person into your life at exactly the right time so you don’t have to worry about it. It’s been my observation that those people who fret most over being married end up being the least likely people to get married. Nobody wants to marry someone who is fearful of not being married.
This is not a call for laziness, unconcern, or disinterest in dating. It simply means that if you truly believe your life is in God’s hand, you can put your dreams of marriage in his hands and leave them there.
Three Lessons Regarding Guidance
1 Knowing God’s will involves forethought, planning, preparation, and prayer.
Did Abraham do the will of God? Absolutely. He saw the need, conceived a plan, called his servant, told him what to do, and even gave his servant Plan B instructions. Abraham understood the will of God and then took practical steps to see that it was fulfilled.
Sometimes we get too mysterious about the God’s will. We want dreams and visions and odd things to happen to us. Most often God doesn’t work that way. Most often God works through forethought, planning, preparation, and prayer.
2 When you are faithful, God will guide you.
He takes responsibility to guide your life. When you put him first, he says, “I will make sure you get to the right place at the right time.” When you focus on God, then He takes responsibility for the details of your life.
Which is why obsessive concern over questions like, “Should I get married, or should I not get married?”, lead you down the wrong trail. Focus on God. Focus on being faithful to God and knowing God. Focus on doing what God wants you to do. He will take care of the details of your life. He did it for Isaac. He will do it for you.
3 Since God is in control of the minute details of life, you can relax, knowing that he will reveal his plan for your life step by step.
God’s will is more like a sunrise than sunburst. Early in the morning the sun begins to peek above the eastern horizon. At first the sky lightens, then the first rays streak across the sky, then the rim of the sun begins to rise slowly from the earth. Eventually the whole sun is revealed, rising until it dominates the sky, giving light to the earth and driving the darkness away.
God’s will is like that. At first we see his plan dimly, then the outline begins to emerge. Slowly over time, the clouds vanish, the darkness disappears, and the brightness of his presence fills our lives.
Do you get anxious at sunrise because all you can see is the tiny rim of the sun? No, because you know that if you wait long enough you will see the sun in all its brilliance. The same is true of God’s plan for your life. You never see the whole thing in advance, but if you wait long enough, God reveals his will.
So relax! God is in charge. Soon enough the darkness will vanish and all that is vague will be made perfectly clear.
God is in charge and he knows exactly what he is doing in your life.
He leadeth me, O blessed thought.
O words with heavenly comfort fraught,
Whate’er I do, where’er I be,
Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.
Lord, I would clasp Thy hand in mine,
Nor ever murmur nor repine.
Content what’er my lot may be,
Still ‘tis God’s hand that leadeth me.
He leadeth me, He leadeth me.
By His own hand, He leadeth me.
His faithful follower I would be.
For by His hand he leadeth me.
Loving Father, teach us to trust you. We want clear direction, and you say, “Give Me your heart.” We want precise answers, and you say, “Trust me to do right.” We want to know about tomorrow, and you say, “Follow me today.” So, Lord, help us today to give You our hearts individually and personally. Lord, make us willing to be made willing to do your will in everything. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.