The ways of God are what God wants to do in us. Our first illustration is found in Genesis 24. Recall the story in which Abraham said to the servant who ruled over all that he had, "Go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac" (v. 4). This was a formidable undertaking. Abraham was living in Canaan. In order to reach Mesopotamia one had to cross the Jordan River, the Euphrates River, and the stretch of desert lying between them. It was a difficult matter for a servant to go to a strange place a great distance away and persuade a young woman to accept this offer of marriage. Eliezer, however, was looking to God. Although it seemed as if he was going to the ends of the earth to seek Abraham's relatives and find a woman, he was trusting in God. The record in the Scriptures about his trip is very marvelous. It says that when he came unto Nahor, the city of Abraham, he prayed, "O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham. Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water: and let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou has showed kindness unto my master" (vv. 12-14). This prayer seems difficult to answer. But he had not even finished praying when Rebekah arrived at the well.
We all know the story here and that to the detail everything transpired as he had requested. But what if this damsel was not of Abraham's family? As we know, the type here is of Christ and the church, both being of one family. "He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of One" (Heb. 2:11). Rebekah needed to be of the same source as Isaac. What if she was of another race like Syrian or Babylonian? So Eliezer asked about her family background. Yes, she was Abraham's kin. Eliezer immediately bowed his head and worshipped the Lord (Gen. 24:23-27). Do we see? These are the ways of God. If we only will learn to acknowledge the Lord in all our paths as in Proverbs 3:6, we will be acknowledging God in His ways. If we request Him to do this and that and believe, looking trustfully to Him, then when things happen according to our requests, we will worship Him. Thus, we will not worship God merely because He is God; we also worship Him for His actions. Eliezer immediately bowed his head and worshipped the Lord as if to say, "You have given grace to me. You have given grace to me as You have given grace to my master Abraham, and You have led me in the way."
Brothers and sisters, do we see what it means to worship God? It means to render all glory to Him. Giving glory to God does not mean that we meet with a situation which turns out well after prayer and then we say that we were lucky, that things fell into place at the right time, or that we did things well ourselves. One who knows and has seen God is one who can do nothing but bow down and worship when he sees God do something. Abraham's servant did not even stop to talk with Rebekah. The first thing he did was worship God. He did not feel embarrassed; he instantly bowed his head and said, "God, I worship You."
What is worship? Worship is giving glory to God when He has His way with us. Giving glory to God is worship. Have I made myself sufficiently clear? I hope that we would see the connection between glory and worship. Giving glory to God is worshipping Him. The glory we give to God can never be more than worship. Bowing before Him is the worship He receives from us. Worship is being able to bow before God and say to Him, "I submit to You." The proud cannot worship God. Proud people can never worship God because when their way is prosperous, they attribute it to their own ability or to chance. They say, "I was smart to do this or to say this." They think, "I was lucky to meet this person." This kind of person can never give glory to God because He does not worship God. Being a true worshipper of God is offering praise and thanksgiving to Him for everything He has done for us and everything He has given us along the way. Let me say that many times we will not be able to refrain from bowing down and giving glory to God. We will have no other choice but to say, "God, I worship You."
When Abraham's servant went with Rebekah to her house, he explained his mission to Laban, Bethuel, and the rest of her family and told them that he wanted to take Rebekah back with him (Gen. 24:34-49). When Laban and Bethuel heard his story, they acknowledged Jehovah and let Rebekah go (vv. 50-51). We might say that he was very lucky or that he was very shrewd because the matter prospered so well. If we say this, however, it shows that we do not know God, nor have we seen Him. But here was a person who knew God and saw His acts. He had a special trait. Even when his way was prospered to such an extent, he did not rejoice or thank those he was with, he just bowed down to the earth unto the Lord (v. 52). This is real worship.
Brothers and sisters, we must learn to recognize God's ways. I do not know how to press this truth home, but I would reiterate that we need to know two matters. We have two roads. After becoming Christians, we must learn to know the will of God and the work of God on the one hand, and we must learn to know the ways of God, the methods by which He deals with us on the other hand. We must worship God, and we also must accept the ways in which He deals with us. The journey of Abraham's old servant was very prosperous, but he had an outstanding characteristic: His reaction to everything he met was to immediately worship Jehovah.
We have said before and we will say again that if we really want to worship God, we will find again and again that He gives us many opportunities to worship Him. When the old servant arrived at the gate of the village, he worshipped God, and he worshipped again at the door of Laban's home. When he got inside, he worshipped yet again. When we worship God the first time, He will give us a second opportunity to worship Him. God will do one thing to cause us to worship in speechless wonder. Then He will do something else for which we cannot help but worship Him. Many times God will give us a prosperous way. In these times, we must confess that it is not by our own hand or ordination. It did not happen because we are capable, but because Jehovah did it all. Jehovah led us; therefore, all the glory should go to Him.