The stories of Leah, Rachel and Jacob are very dramatic love triangles. I would recommend you read it for yourself from the words, but to help you understand where this article came from here, I will briefly summarise how it starts.
A man named Jacob begins working at Laban. He discovers Laban’s young daughter Rachel and falls in love with her.
After asking Jacob what his wages should be, Laban said, “Jacob fell in love with Rachel and “worked seven years in return for your young daughter Rachel” (Genesis 29:18).
When these seven years are made through his father, he plays a big switcher with Jacob, giving him his sister Leah on the wedding night instead. After realising what had happened, Jacob married Rachel a week later, but after he promised to work at Laban for another seven years.
There are many lessons I can learn from this story, but for me it is the emotional undercurrent that attracts me most. Rejection, jealousy, and desire to be pursued are emotions that are still familiar to this modern age. Let’s take a look at three ways that Leah and Rachel’s stories teach us about safety that only God can find.
1. What God thinks of burnt beauty
Have you ever felt left behind, looked around, or rejected? It is clear that Jacob’s negative reaction to Jacob waking up with Leah as his bride, not as his desired Pick Rachel, but as his bride, was taken by Leah as a flashing neon sign of rejection. To be fair, it was Laban who blamed this wife for swaps, but I felt Leah had seen it, just like you.
The Bible says that she first says, “It is said that she has Weekies, but Rachel has a lovely figure and is beautiful.” (Genesis 29:17) If the only adjective used to describe me in the story was that I had weak eyes, I wouldn’t feel very good about myself.
How is this sitting with you? Do we tend to first prioritize the quality we notice about ourselves and others about our physical characteristics? “Your beauty should not come from outwardly ornaments, such as elaborate hairstyles, gold jewelry, or fine clothing, that should belong to your inner self.
I am grateful for this poem because it reminds me that what God sees as greater value to the kingdom is not the beauty of the outside, but the inner heart. I like to take care of myself, and I know that beauty is in the eyes of those who see me, but I also know that my body and strength fades over time. As you can see when this story unfolds, the sisters with more outward ornaments are not as strong inside as she hoped.
So, what will we take from now on? Security was not seen only in the inner strengthless exterior of faith and endurance.
God makes no mistakes, and our human eyes will enjoy some more joy than others, but for justification (e.g. marriage), we must not rely on our charms to be everything we stand.
As you can see for Rachel, as her jealousy grows, the security expected to be held by someone who appears to be nice and beautiful.
2. Jealousy blinds God’s blessings
Je is an ugly emotion and unfortunately we can all be involved. Je can sneak into any situation and not only affect one type of person more than others.
In the case of Leah and Rachel, I think it’s safe to say they both had to deal with the ugly side of jeal by feeling themselves and being on the receiving side.
Starting with Leah, she is not only said to be an unattractive sister, but also sees from the start that her father used the fact that she is the oldest and still single sister as the reason she makes Jacob marry first.
I can’t put words in her head in her mouth, but I think it’s safe to say that Leah may have been jealous of the warning her sister received on her.
It was pointed out that Jacob’s “…love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah.” (Genesis 29:30).
Because of this, God gave Leah special attention and was able to have her four sons.
For Leah’s blessing to give birth to Jacob’s children, this gave birth to jealousy in Rachel. “When Rachel saw that she had not given birth to Jacob, she jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, ‘Give me a child, or I will die!” (Genesis 30:1).
Does this resonate with you? You pray for something, wait seriously, receive the blessing, and the ugly monster of jeal says, “It’s not enough!”! ”
God blessed Rachel by getting her child pregnant, but she wanted more, so je was on that path, so she became pregnant again. Unfortunately, Rachel passed away from giving birth.
Did jealousy eventually kill Rachel? It’s between her and God, but it seems like her rage at how her younger sister, the heir, took her life in a terrible downward spiral.
From Rachel, we believe that God is sufficient if we do not appreciate the blessings we have, je always gets even more tired of us and wants us.
3. God will chase us, even if no one else does it
As women, we are designed to be pursued. It is God’s design that our hearts compete when our hearts are pursued in romantic relationships by those who also want them.
As can be seen in Jacob’s deep desire to be a bride, he worked for not only seven years, but for 14 years, even if a big switcher was playing on him in the middle. Rachel is sure the man made her feel like the queen of the ball that she wanted so much.
On the contrary, we can imagine the deep longing that Leah had to be wanted by Jacob. She gave birth to him multiple children, but every time he wanted him to eventually want her, like he did Rachel, she was bored with him. “When she was pregnant again and gave birth to a son, she said (Genesis 29:14).
This is probably pretty close to many of our single minds. It may be difficult to see other women pursued, cared for and loved by men, a physical manifestation of love on earth.
To feel overlooked or insufficient is a deep wound, snowballing, and a fear that you haven’t forgotten or that you’re not wanted just because you haven’t been chosen yet.
I love the way God had a special place in his heart for Leah. You know, God allowed Leah to have four sons. God saw the rejection Leah faced and knew what it meant to her to have a son.
He saw that she was not loved as she deserved, and because of her age and lack of suitors, she married a man who wanted someone else… her own sister. Her safety eventually changes from human to heavenly Father. He pursues her heart, even if no one else did.
The blessing seen in Leah’s life is that her dependence on Jacob’s love and attention is slowly moving towards God.
We see this when she named her fourth child, Judas. (Genesis 29:35).
God’s Plan for Safety – What We Can Learn from Leah and Rachel
This story of Jacob, Leah and Rachel shows how God has worked through this family to ultimately constitute the 12 tribes of Israel by his sons. What stands out from me is that things aren’t always visible.
In Leah’s case, she was denied and deeply hoping to be dealt with and pursued by Jealous feelings. What she noticed was that despite her own sister, Rachel, was sought and pursued, Rachel herself had her own demon to deal with it, including jealousy and anger. My husband didn’t fix it.
Leah found her safety in her main and no one could take it.
Remember that God’s plan for our lives doesn’t necessarily lead to us being stars of romantic comedy, the most popular or most beautiful names.
We are not promised a pain-free life, but what is given to us is much more. Using our lives for the safety of God’s love, his pursuit for us, and his glory, we can appear in a love story that is far more special than what we can see on the silver screen.
And on top of that we can be safe.
Mandy Smith is a fun single in his 30s who lives in Georgia. She is a full-time speech-language pathologist. Her love includes Jesus, family and friends, creativity, guitar and singing, coffee, laughter and of course writing! Read more about her writing at her website www.myjoyousheart.com and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
Photo credits: ©gettyimages/ridofranz
