Leah

It's quiet, and before I turn in this evening, I take a moment to collect some thoughts I have had today regarding Leah, Jacob's first wife.

Ladies, think for a moment; dare to put yourself in her shoes.

Perhaps you have been there or are currently  in her shoes. You know what it is to be the wife less chosen.  Whether it be the displacement by a husband's hobby, or job, or some possession he holds dear, or a mistress, or fantasy mistresses, you know intimately the deep pain of being relegated to the "lesser one."

When I arrive in Glory, I want to find Leah.  I want to sit and talk with her.  After carefully studying her saga, I find her altogether beautiful. 

She knew.... knew.... her husband "loved Rachel more." Genesis 29:30

Playing second fiddle to anything or anyone in a husband's life is a deplorable existence, but glory, to one's sister!  That is a double dose of misery!   

My heart melts at verse 31, "....the Lord saw....."    When this knowledge hits the present day Leahs out there on a personal level of knowing HE SEES, tears of joy surely come. The sign to Leah that He saw her state, that He saw her heart, was that He opened her womb.  Think on that for a moment. The Word does not record that Leah did not love Jacob, and we know she had six sons and a daughter by him. That takes love to a whole other level - I believe - completely missed by Jacob, at the very least in the beginning years.

She bore to Jacob his first three sons in a row, and she states, "Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons."  verse 34

Do you hear the absolute ache from her heart?  I do, and it about brings me to tears.  How many wives, who play second fiddle to something or someone, try one thing or another to gain a "step up" in their husband's heart? Did it work? No, Rachel still held Jacob's heart captive.

But an interesting thing occurs between son three and son four. We find its evidence in the naming of her fourth son - Judah - meaning "Praise."  The Word illumines her state-of-being with verse 35, "‘Now, I will praise the LORD.’"  Fascinating it is that her decision to praise the Lord that came in the midst of great personal sorrow .... and I do believe it was a decision.... gave birth to not only her fourth son, Judah, but the glorious lineage of King David.... and on to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

To the Leahs out there in the utter sorrow of feeling second to whatever or to whomever, I realize God seeing your sorrow does not lessen the pain in the least. A husband chooses his heart's priorities, yet the suffering under  misplaced priorities as a loving wife is a living death unlike none other. But I truly pray you, like Leah, will find a way to take hold of courage, wrestle with God, and come to a deep sense of praise in the midst of your sorrow.  Your husband's choices are his to own and to be given an account for, just as your choices are your own and to be given an account for.  But hear me on this: your husband's choices can not devalue you though you may wrestle against feeling devalued.   

God says emphatically you are His beloved... glorious through and through.

Through the on-going rejection, yet physical use, by Jacob, Leah had a choice to make, and she chose to press into God, finding both sanctuary and comfort in His arms.

As I close out my reflections this evening, my heart can't help but ache for Leah.  She was a daughter of the Most High, yet treated as the lesser one.  We can see her heart's cry throughout the entire saga.  The Word doesn't depict her as vengeful; no, it is her deep sorrow that takes center stage, and I can't help but believe her sorrow was God's sorrow.

With regards to present day when one wife and only one wife is lawful (at least in Western culture from which I am rooted), when a husband allows his thoughts to guide his actions and his affections towards something or someone NOT his wife, that kind of sorrow goes to the grave with her.

My prayer is that all the present-day-Leahs gather the courage and resolve to praise the Lord in the valley of sorrow.... for surely praise gives way to "Issachar" (Leah's fifth son) -- meaning "reward" .... and thereafter "Zebulun" (her sixth son) --- meaning "dwelling."    Perhaps as the years ticked off, she was eventually valued by Jacob as God had always valued her, as His beloved, but if not, I wholeheartedly believe she found a treasure like no other: her dwelling place smack in the center of God's heart. 

Sending my love to all the Leahs...YOU are God's beloved! 

May you discover YOU are given place... 
....the highest place there is....

the center of God's heart!