We pick up the story of Isaac, and for starters I would recommend going back to Genesis 24:1 to get the whole picture. Abraham has sent his servant back to the old country in search of a wife for Isaac.
The explicitness of Abraham's instructions are worth taking note of here: under no circumstances should Isaac be taken back to old homeland. This is going to be a bit of a challenge, as the prospective bride's family will have to agree to a marriage without interacting with the groom. This was most unusual.
But the key here is the "make sure you do not take my son back there" in Genesis 24:6. Abraham does not want his son to marry into the dominant pagan culture, but also does not want Isaac to return to Haran. The future must be secured without compromising with the wickedness around them and without giving up and going back.
What of our lives?
Many of us wander about, wondering what the future holds and how to secure it. Here is the principle in this passage: your decisions must grow out of trust in God's provision for the future and a complete abandonment of the past we had before we followed Christ. It's a place that we ought not return, a wilderness that there is no future in.
And we should be cautious to teach our children not to go back there. That includes our children in the faith--it is our responsibility, in the churches of God, to teach our children the importance of not returning to the sins of old. That means knowing what we've done, and even confessing it to them.
The servant makes the journey (traditionally, we assume this servant is Eliezer from Genesis 15:1 but that is not textually definite) and finds Rebekah. He brings her back, having secured her agreement to leave the homeland and come to a new place. It is interesting that her family leaves the decision on her, as if to say that it's entirely on her what the results may be.
Which is true, in its own way. She is going out into the far unknown, and they will not be able to intervene for (or profit from) her any longer. She returns, marries Isaac.
And he is "comforted" in the loss of his mother. Anyone may think they will be fine going forward alone...but we all need others in our lives. Look to the people God has placed in your life, and may comfort come through them for you.
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