My friend and former sister-in-law, Sandi, gave me one of my favorite things. It’s a “Rebekah Pitcher” she made. It lives in my kitchen window, often holding flowers picked by my boys for me. It never gets put away because it’s a reminder to me of who I am and what God wants me to do. Go with me here…
Rebekah of the Bible (Genesis 22) was walking along one day, headed to complete the chore of carrying water. I can picture her (ok, in my mind she looks like me, especially for the purposes of this story, only she’s workin’ a type of B.C. style of clothing and footwear) with her pitcher perched on her shoulder, moving forward with the business of the day. The pitcher might have been heavy. She might have been in a hurry. But there was a man at the well, and when she saw he had need, she quickly lowered her pitcher and watered his camels. He didn’t even have to ask! Little did she know the man had been sitting there praying that the girl who agreed to water his camels would be the one God wanted him to choose for Abraham’s son, Isaac, to be a matriarch of the nation of Israel. She wasn’t looking for a meal ticket, she just helped a guy on the spur of the moment, but she ended up opening the door to quite an adventure. Through that one act of compassion, Rebekah became Isaac’s pride and joy, practically a queen, and gave birth the the house of Jacob, thus becoming part of Jesus’ bloodline as well. Imagine that… a random moment where she simply acted like a daughter of the Most High, doing something pleasing to Him, and lo and behold she walks right into His plan for her!!!
What has entrenched itself in my mind is the idea that Rebekah quickly lowered her pitcher and offered herself to help another, without thought of her schedule, her future goals, or her bottom line. God took care of those things. She just lowered the pitcher. She clearly had things to do and was in the midst of accomplishing her daily tasks, but evidently had the kind of freedom in living that lends itself to the impromptu lowering of one’s pitcher to participate in an act of kindness and compassion alongside another person. She wasn’t too busy, wasn’t in too much of a hurry, and wasn’t so wrapped up in herself that she might miss a moment of life’s joy shared with someone else. If Rebekah were around today, I imagine she’d have a constantly running coffee pot, a lot of miles on her vehicle, and a lot of smiles shared with those she’s touched along the way.
Sure, ol’ Bek had her faults. She showed favoritism between her sons, deceived her husband, and it seems she could be pretty demanding at times. She didn’t always get it right. Still, the way she lowered her pitcher to help the man at that well with such immediacy and ease speaks volumes about her. I imagine that she lived with her head up, eyes open and expectant, looking for the next opportunity to “lower her pitcher” and experience the joy of helping, serving, encouraging, or interacting with another person. That’s the Rebekah, or Rebecca, I want to be.
God has definitely given me a “pitcher” (we all have one) and I want the contents of mine to be used by Him. That means I have to be willing to lower said pitcher and share the contents. That’s the reason for this blog. Pouring out what God has given me to share. That’s the reason for my life. That’s what living out God’s calling means to me.
And that’s the deal with the pitcher.
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