An overview for Sunday School teacher and Bible study leaders of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Genesis 24:12-20, 24-27, for Sunday, March 10, 2024, with the title, “Guidance Needed.” A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at:
INTRO: In 1898 Winston Churchill was a young war correspondent, covering the British Army in their war in Sudan, Africa. In William Manchester’s biography of Winston Churchill he writes:
“Various duties kept Winston behind on the river’s east bank; he had been told to join the column that evening at its first camp, fifteen miles away. His chores took longer than he had expected, and it was late afternoon before the ferry steamer Tahra carried him over to the west shore. He asked for directions and was told: “It is perfectly simple. You just go due south until you see the campfires and then turn towards the river.” He nodded and left. An hour later the sun sank; darkness enveloped him. To avoid the thorny bushes on the Nile bank he struck inland and rode down through the desert, steering southward by keeping his back to the North Star. After two hours of trotting he paused for a drink and rations. To his dismay, clouds drifted across the star, and the pointers of the Great Bear became invisible. He was lost. Unless the overcast lifted, he would have no choice but to wait. Picking a spot, he passed the reins around his waist, leaned against a rock, and tried to sleep. The night was sultry; “a hot, restless, wearing wind blew continuously with a mournful sound”; slumber was impossible. Then, at 3:30 A.M., the sky cleared and “the beautiful constellation of Orion (the Hunter) came into view. Never did the giant look more splendid.” He rode toward it, and after two hours he found the Nile.” (The Last Lion: Visions of Glory, pp. 271-272)
??? Anyone here ever navigate by the stars??? (I haven’t!) Winston Churchill (like many explorers and navigators over the years) got the guidance he needed from looking at the stars. But often we need the kind of “guidance” we can’t get from a telescope or a compass. We need God’s wisdom and knowledge to guide us in making important decision in our lives.
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