49 Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.
This servant has been away from home for months. He just wants to accomplish his task and get home. He sounds like soldiers who deploy for months at a time. They want to do their jobs and get back to their family. He has traveled to get a wife from his master’s family for this master’s son. He now meets this girl’s family and he needs to know if they are going to release their daughter to a stranger to travel hundreds of miles away. The release will mean they will never see their daughter again. I can imagine that this is a very hard decision for this family and the servant wants an answer now. I hate deadlines. I push against the stress of deadlines. As a result, I try to plan ahead and take hold of the deadline and embrace it early. I therefore take control of the deadline imposed by others and make it “my deadline” instead. This servant feels the pressure to bring his mission to an end. He wants to get back home. This family might have a competing deadline. Often in life competing deadlines meet. In marriage relationships we often move at very different timelines. One or the other moves at a faster pace. What do we do with these conflicting deadlines? Do we impose our timeline on the other, or are we willing to compromise? As you pass through this day, notice the various deadlines that will arise today. How are you handling them?
The Arnold Journey 