In Pursuit of Excellence

I was reading the story today about Abraham's servant who was tasked with going to find a wife for Abraham's son, Isaac. The servant knew that finding the right person would be quite the challenge in a land and amongst people he probably knew nothing about. So he did what we all must consider to be our first step in any situation, he prayed. His prayer was specific, he wanted to know with certainty when he had hit the right mark. So he asked “May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘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.” (Genesis 24:14 NIV).

So Rebekah comes along, and does exactly this. She knows nothing of the servant’s prayer at this point, she just goes by instinct and serves as she is inclined to. There are 3 things we notice about Rebekah in this story in Genesis 24.

1. She was open to a challenge - As soon as the servant asked her for a drink, she agreed. Not only did she give him a drink, she looked around her for an opportunity to go the extra mile. So she said she will water the camels as well; exactly what Abraham's servant was praying for. Now, watering camels is no small task. A typical camel can drink 200 liters (53 gallons) of water in three minutes. (https://www.wtamu.edu/~cbaird/sq/mobile/2013/09/18/how-much-water-can-a-camel-store-in-its-hump/). And there was more than one camel. Still, Rebekah took up the challenge to draw water for all the camels. We can tell she’s an extra-mile kind of girl.

2. She was action oriented - In verse 18, we read that Rebekah "quickly lowered her jar". She didn’t spend time negotiating terms. She just took action. Her posture is important here. She did this quickly. When faced with a daunting task we are sometimes tempted to spend some time counting the cost, or looking around to see who else may be around to take on the task, or share the load. But Rebekah dove in head first into the challenge, giving us all a lesson in taking action. Right action in obedience done quickly serves us well.

3. She was committed to an outcome - Not only did she start to draw water for the camels, but she continued until all the camels had their fill. We don’t know how many camels there were, or how many minutes they drank, but she must have had to draw those 53 gallons more than a few times. So it was challenging, but she had committed to drawing water for all the camels, so she did not stop halfway.  She didn't try to recruit the help of the servant. She just stayed focused. And drew more gallons of water. And more gallons of water. Until all the camels were satisfied.

How can we emulate these lessons in our own pursuit of excellence? I would suggest that we follow Rebekah's example.

• Find opportunities around us to make a difference. The greater the challenge, the more significant the impact.

• Take action quickly. Ever heard the Law of diminishing intent? It says “The longer you wait to do something you should do now, the greater the odds that you will never actually do it.” (John C. Maxwell).

• Be results-oriented.  Some commitments will have challenges - some camels may drink for more than 3 minutes. Just stay with it; be committed to the outcome. The journey will be well worth it!

To your excellence and mine,

M.