# 228 “You’re In My Thoughts and Prayers”

The Book of Genesis

Day 228

  Ge 24:61 Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed. 62 Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South. 63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming. 64 Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel; 65 for she had said to the servant, "Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?" The servant said, "It is my master." So she took a veil and covered herself. 66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. 67 Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

 As improbable as it seems, Rebekah and her maids hop on the camels and off they go to a strange land to marry a complete stranger.  Wasn't it just yesterday that she was getting water from the well for the family, and now she is all bedecked with silver and gold and jewelry on her way to meet her husband! Talk about one's head spinning.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Isaac is out in the field, it's evening, and he's meditating.  The word meditate can certainly involve prayer, but in the original language it means to “muse pensively.”  It carries with it the idea of sad thoughtfulness.  Was Isaac having a little pity party?  Perhaps he was grieving the loss of his mother.  (Gen 23:2) He was estranged from his half-brother and his father was getting up in years. Will his father's servant have any luck in finding him a bride?  I think Isaac was feeling a void in his life and that void was filled by Rebekah as we read in v67 “Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.”

Whatever Isaac's meditation involved, we can be sure God knew of it and He heard it, and even as he is meditating, God brings the answer to the void in his life into view....Isaac spots the camels! It is as Jesus said in  Mt 6:8 "your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”

One of my petty irritants in life is when people say “You are in my thoughts and prayers.” I want to scream, “Your thoughts aren't going to help me, only God can help me! Keep me in your prayers, not in your thoughts!”

But after reading about Isaac's meditation in the field, maybe I better soften up on that one.  God hears them both! Thoughts and prayers! And He is a compassionate God! So maybe your thoughts coupled with your prayers will move Him to act with mercy and grace on my behalf.  So go ahead! Keep me in your thoughts and prayers! And accept my apologies for being a little too sensitive about the “thoughts” thing. Who knows how many of your thoughts toward me have turned into answered prayer from God!