For the past two days, we’ve been looking at the lives of Rachel and Leah, two drastically different sisters with equally important lessons to share. Today, we’re shifting our story to our Creator! In every narrative of the Bible, God’s character bleeds through. I am excited about the lessons we can learn about our Father from the lives of Rachel and Leah.
What We Learn About God
1: God sees and cares about the distresses we go through.
Leah was quite distraught for quite sometime. God saw that. He saw that her husband didn’t love her. He saw that she had been played in a twisted game between Laban and Jacob. But He didn’t just see, He had compassion. He looked at her state and did something about it. He opened her womb (Gen. 29:31).
The beautiful thing is, this is our God. He sees what we go through. But He doesn’t just see – He cares! And because He cares, we can cast our cares upon Him (1 Pet. 5:7). Because He cares, we don’t have to worry (Matt. 6:25-34). Because He cares, we can get through anything, knowing He will work it out for good (Rom. 8:38).
2: God is the Giver and Sustainer of life.
Rachel resorted to mandrakes (an ancient aphrodisiac). She thought the power was in that, or possibly in her husband (Gen. 30:1). But in reality, God is the only Giver of life. God is the One who opens and closes wombs. God is the One who forms our inward parts. He gives and takes away. He numbers our days. Truly we are clay in His almighty hands.
If we aren’t careful, we can be Rachel-like in our view of things like fertility. We can constantly nag young married couples about when they’re going to have children, when they’re going to have their next child…what are we really saying? When we ask those questions, could the couples not answer in the same way Jacob did in Genesis 30:2 — “Am I in the place of God…?”
Let’s get back to seeing God as Who He is: the Giver of life.
I pray for our country — that her inhabitants will realize that while they murder the lives inside of them, that God is the true Giver and Taker, and they will pay for their sins. I pray they will have time to repent.
3: God is the Supreme Provider.
Leah didn’t know what life had in store for her, she simply trusted in God. And God delivered. In ways bigger and better than she could have ever possibly imagined.
When you look to Matthew 1 at Jesus’ lineage, you see that Jacob’s son Judah is listed. Judah was one of Leah’s sons. Leah’s. Could Leah see that far into the future, could she fathom what it would mean to be in the lineage of the Savior of the world?! I’m guessing no. Yet God knew. In the days that Leah cried for a child, God knew. In the days and weeks that Leah suffered because her husband didn’t love her, God knew He was sending the Beloved Son through her. God provides. In ways we can’t fathom, God provides.
When life seems like more than we can deal with, God provides. He sees the bigger picture. He knows the plans He has for us. Blessed be the name of the LORD!
