Reading this passage, we may conclude that the senior servant - who played such an important role here - was Eliezer (Genesis 15:2). Eliezer was a man of faith. This is not only reflected in his name - which means ‘help of my God’ - but also in this story.
What a heavy responsibility it was, to find a wife for Isaac! Eliezer knew he could not possibly accomplish this, and Abraham knew this too. Therefore Abraham said, ‘He will send His Angel before you’ (:7b). And because Eliezer was deeply aware of the fact that he was not able to find a suitable wife for Isaac, as well as of the fact that the Angel of the Lord would go before him, therefore he dared to ask God for a sign, an indication.
Often it is said that it is dangerous to ask for a sign. That is partly true. When Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, asked for a sign, he was punished with temporary muteness (Luke 1:20), but of Maria we read that God did not become angry at all (Luke 1:34-37). Why is it sometimes wrong to ask for a sign, and other times right?
When someone faithfully asks for a sign, God will give it to him without hesitance. But God gets angry when someone asks for a sign out of unbelief, without any willingness or desire in his heart to obey God. The latter is - by the way - something we only learn in a continuous relationship with God.
Eliezer knew God was with him. And he knew he truly needed God’s guidance to be able to persevere and to succeed. With Gideon (Judges 6) it was the same. How would he be able to keep trusting, without a sign of God? Therefore, also today, God will reveal Himself to anyone who desires to obey Him in everything.