For a long time I hated my name.  Why?  Well firstly it seemed that nearly every other girl my age was called Rebecca. In my year at school there were five of us. Five! Admittedly between the five of us there were three different spellings of the name. Which brings me on to the second reason why I hated my name so much. No-one could ever spell it.  And this still seems to be the case.  Without fail people spell it ‘Rebecca’ and when I try to correct them, it throws them into total confusion. Conversations, usually at the bank with a queue of people behind me, go something like this,
            ‘um… my name’s actually got a ‘K-A-H’ at the end.’
            ‘No, no ‘C’ – just a ‘K’.’
            ‘Yep, then there’s an ‘H’… I know it doesn’t sound like  it, but it is there…’
            ‘Yes, well it is quite unusual. It’s actually the Hebraic spelling.’
            ‘No, no I’m not Jewish…’
I should say here, however, that since going to university and meeting my friend Xanthe, my name troubles have paled into insignificance…

Anyway, I’ve now decided that I actually rather like my name. Mostly because I’ve come to love the story of Rebekah in the Bible.
Rebekah's Tale
            ‘Abraham was now an old man. God had blessed Abraham in every way. Abraham spoke to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of everything he had, ‘Put your hand under my thigh and swear by GOD – God of Heaven, God of Earth – that you will not get a wife for my son from among the young women of the Canaanites here, but will go to the land of my birth and get a wide for my son Isaac.’…
            The servant took ten of his master’s camels and, loaded with gifts from his master, travelled to Aram Naharaim and the city of Nahor. Outside the city he made the camels kneel at a well. It was evening, the time when the women came to draw water. He prayed, ‘O GOD, God of my master Abraham, make things go smoothly this day; treat my master Abraham well! As I stand here by the spring while the young women of the town come out to get water, let the girl to whom I say, ‘Lower your jug and give me a drink,’ and who answers, ‘Drink, and let me also water your camels’ – let her be the woman you have picked out for your servant Isaac. The  I’ll know that you’re working graciously behind the scenes for my master.’
            It so happened that the words were barely out of his mouth when Rebekah, the daughter of Bethel whose mother was Milcah the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with a water jug on her shoulder. The girl was stunningly beautiful [I rather like that bit], a pure virgin. She went down to the spring, filled up her jug and came back up. The servant ran to meet her and said, ‘Please can I have a sip of water from your jug?’
            She said, ‘Certainly, drink!’ and she held out the jug so that he could drink. When he had satisfied his thirst she said, ‘I’ll get water for your camels, too, until they’ve drunk their fill.’ She promptly emptied her jug into the trough and ran back to the well to fill it, and she kept at it until she had watered all the camels.
            The man watched, silent. Was this God’s answer? Had God made his trip a success or not?’  (Genesis 24: 1-4, 10-21, The Message Remix)

Obviously Rebekah’s story does not end there – in fact her adventures were just beginning. However, it is this part of her story that I’ve really been struck with recently.  These are some of the lessons that Rebekah’s story has been teaching me:

1.      Rebekah was just getting on with life

As far as Rebekah was concerned, this was just an ordinary day. She’d probably done the mundane task of collecting water hundreds of times. Was she bored of doing it? Probably. Resentful? Possibly. Frustrated? Perhaps. Yet what she didn’t know was that God had an incredible plan for her life, and that this ordinary day marked the start of an amazing adventure.

There are times when I feel bored and frustrated by life. Day after day of doing the same mundane jobs.  Wondering when it’s ever going to get exciting.  In those times it’s sometimes so easy to get resentful, frustrated and even wonder if God has forgotten me.

He has not. 

God not only knows where my life is heading,
      ‘Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
         all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
      The days of my life all prepared
        Before I’d even lived one day.’ v. 16
But He’s also with me every step of the way,
      ‘ I look behind me and you’re there,
         then up ahead and you’re there, too –
      your reassuring presence…’ v. 5

And the same God who had amazing plans for Rebekah’s life, has equally amazing plans for my life too,
‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ (Jeremiah 29:11)

2.      Rebekah used her mundane time to develop a good character

‘The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”
“Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.
After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking.’ (Genesis 24:17-19)

Apparently the word used by Abraham’s servant when he asked for a drink literally means ‘a sip’. He only asked for an incredibly small amount of water from Rebekah, and it would have been perfectly acceptable for her simply to give him the amount requested. Yet she not only quenches his thirst, but then offers to water his entire retinue of camels until their thirst had been completely satisfied too.

Through this incident Rebekah demonstrated her amazing generosity. She didn’t have to provide water for this foreigner. Undoubtedly she had many other responsibilities to be getting on with, and there was no evidence that she would receive any particular reward or recognition for her time and effort. Her actions flowed naturally from her character.

The New Testament talks a lot about the type of character that we as Christians should be developing through the power of the Holy Spirit (c.f. Galatians 5:22-3). Generosity is just one of these attributes,
‘Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously… for God loves a cheerful giver.’ (2 Corinthians 9:6-7)

Rebekah didn’t know it, but her actions and character were being closely watched by Abraham’s servant and were to have a far greater impact on determining her future than she ever could have imagined.

When I feel like nothing is happening in my life, it can be so tempting just to let my spiritual life slide. To not bother with becoming ‘transformed into [Christ’s] likeness’ (2 Corinthians 3:18).  Just to think, ‘Well nothing’s happening in my life anyway, so what’s the point?’

The point, I suppose, is that God will only lead us forward when we’re ready. 

3.      Rebekah was prepared and ready

‘They called Rebekah and asked her, “Do you want to go with this man?”
She said, “I’m ready to go.” (Genesis 24:58)

The time had come for the next stage in Rebekah’s life, and, having been prepared by God, she was ready for it.  She had proved that she could be trusted with few things, and was ready for many things (Luke 16:10).  She had used her time wisely and developed a good character.  And she was ready to go when asked.

I love The Message paraphrase of Romans 8:15,
‘This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life.  It’s adventurously expectant…’
We need to lead adventurously expectant lives, ready to do whatever God asks – even if it is just watering some stranger’s camels.

I am sure there were times in Rebekah’s early life when she thought, ‘There must be more to life than this’.  But I am also equally sure that years later, as she looked back over her life and realised God’s intricate planning and involvement at every stage, she could join the Psalmist in saying, ‘As for God, his way is perfect…’ (Psalm 18:30)

And I know that’s what I’ll be saying too.