♖ God's Well ♖

I: The Promise

Isaac paced nervously back and forth inside his tent. He'd been dumbfounded when his father explained that the woman he was to marry would be chosen by none other than Eliezer, and now the shock had transformed into a feeling of never ending anxiety. The man was like a second father to Isaac — no doubt about it. While his father had been busy overseeing the servants and his herds, Eliezer became a sort of extension of Abraham for Isaac, and they often spent their days working side by side, tending to his father's land.

Isaac was told that, before he was born, Abraham had thought of making Eliezer his heir. However, Eliezer refused to let him do this, and even swore that he wouldn't form a family of his own until God's promise that his mistress would give birth to a child was fulfilled. A pang of sadness nagged at him when Isaac thought of his mother. It had been three years since her death, yet the loss was like a wound that refused to heal. If only she was still here, she would have made his father see reason. Eliezer was very efficient when it came to overseeing Abraham's household, but what if the same wasn't true when it came to choosing the woman who would bear his children and become Isaac's companion until he breathed his last?

Isaac abruptly stopped in his tracks as a soft breeze seemingly infiltrated the tent. His eyes closed and it was as though he turned into a child again, obediently carrying firewood up to a mountain in Moriah despite the fact that his father had forgotten to bring the animal that they were supposed to sacrifice. "Father!" Isaac had exclaimed. "Are we not here to bring a burnt offering to our God? I brought the firewood for an altar, and you brought your dagger, but... where is the lamb to be presented as our sacrifice?" Abraham had placed a trembling hand on Isaac's shoulder as tears welled up in his eyes. "Don't worry, my son," he'd replied, his voice barely above a whisper.

"God will provide."