Genesis 29:30
So Jacob
went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban
for another seven years.
Jacob
loved Rachel more than Leah and everyone knew. Jacob knew it. Rachel knew it.
Leah knew it. And God knew it…
Genesis 29:31
When the
Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
When no
one else was looking out for Leah, God saw her and provided for her. Her father
offloaded her, her husband ignored it, but God took notice and took care of
her…
Genesis 29:35
And she
conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.”
Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing.
And
finally, God won her over. While the sting of being ignored and overlooked
still stung, the attention God gave her served as salve for her wounds. He was
the Father and Husband she always wanted. Leah could have just as easily said
that she didn't need a father or a husband because they failed to live up to
her desires. But the longing of her soul was not to be fatherless or
husbandless, but to find a father and a husband that matched the depth of her
true desires. In God, she found both.
I have always found this so beautiful. That God saw Leah. That he blessed her, even in her hurt and jealousy. BECAUSE of her hurt and jealousy. He didn't withhold good things to teach her a lesson about being content in him; he continued to shower her with good things until she trusted that being content in him alone was enough.
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