Verse
of the day: Genesis 29:31 And
when the Lord saw that Leah
was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.
In verse 23
of this chapter, Jacob, the supplanter, experienced a taste of his own
medicine. Laban deceived him and tricked him into marrying Leah, his older daughter,
even though Jacob had worked seven years for his younger daughter Rachel. After
fulfilling Leah’s week, he was given Rachel, and agreed to serve Laban for
another seven years. When all was said and done, Jacob favored Rachel over
Leah. The Word of God tell us that Leah was “less loved” than Rachel. Jacob did
not hate Leah as we define hate today. This is obvious by the fact that she
bore four sons, indicating that they spent much intimate time together.
However, what stands out here, more so, are God’s goodness, mercy, and grace
toward Leah. Although she lacked the favor of her husband in comparison to
Rachel, God took notice and equaled the playing field. Rachel’s outer beauty
won her husband’s affections, but God gave Leah something that Rachel could
never gain by her physical attributes, and something that her husband could
never give her outside of God’s intervention; for one of the sons born to Leah,
Judah, was the lineage from which the Messiah, our Lord and Savior, would come
from. So often, we make ourselves miserable because we seek after the
affections of men/women, whose affections are fickle, and often only last as
long as they are getting what they want. The only One whose affection is
unconditional and steadfast in our lives is God’s. Romans 8:38-39 tells us that
nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate us from the love of God. We spend far
too much time trying to gain the love and favor of people, whether in family
relations, friendships, at work, or society in general. We expend far too much
energy seeking the favor of the world, only to find that people will never be
satisfied or pleased, no matter what we do; and what might take years to
develop, as far as a favorable reputation, and worldly success, can crumble in
a second. The favor of others often determines whether or not we are happy,
have joy, or enjoy peace. Yet, we often cannot understand why those things
elude us in life. The answer, for us who are God’s children, is Jesus. Our
lives must be centered on a personal relationship with, and the love of,
Christ, that will not waiver. This must be what drives us every day. James 4:4
tells us that friendship with the world is enmity with God. If we are a friend
of the world, we are an enemy of God. The bottom line is that when we serve
God, we must do it in such a way as to seek to please God, and not men
(Galatians 1:10). When rejection, and unfair treatment, comes to us from those
from whom we seek affection, we must remember that God’s love never fails, and
He will never reject us or treat us unfairly. Sadly, we make far too many
decisions in our lives based on finding favor with people, only to find that we
will always fall short, and end up feeling hurt when we are rejected instead of
accepted. The bottom line is that all we do in life, all the decisions we make,
should come from a heart, and desire, that seeks to please God, and God only;
for it is God who will give us favor with those He calls us to be around and
serve (Genesis 39:21).
No comments:
Post a Comment