I was reading in Genesis one day when I read this, “When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless”. Those words stuck with me and I couldn’t let them go. If you’re not familiar with the story of Leah, let me catch you up a little.
Jacob fell in love with and desired to marry a woman named Rachel. Rachel’s father agreed to this, and Jacob began to work several years for her father in order to later be permitted to marry her. After years of servitude, Rachel’s father tricked Jacob and gave Leah (his other daughter) to him in marriage in the evening hours. He awoke in the morning to find that he had mistakenly married and slept with Leah. Jacob then worked this issue out with his father-in-law, and agreed to work an additional 7 years for him in order to marry the woman he always wanted to marry, Rachel.
My heart stopped as I pondered what it must feel like to be Leah. I have sisters.. what if my brother-in-law chose to marry my sister. What if my Dad was worried no one would choose me for marriage, and so he tricked my brother-in-law into marrying me.
I can’t imagine the look of disappointment that Jacob gave Leah as he looked into her eyes in the morning light. I can’t fathom the metaphoric knife that undoubtedly pierced her heart as he looked at her with disappointment.
Leah, the one that the Bible describes as weak eyed, in comparison to her sister Rachel whom is described as beholding a lovely figure and beautiful. I sit in these words a bit and wonder if Leah had worthiness issues even prior to this betrothal mess.
And my heart just begins to ache for this woman.
Leah has been mistreated by her father in his insensitive dealings, and now she is married to a man that does not want her.
But God, the faithful one, leaves the 99 to find the one.
In Matthew 18:12, it reads “If a man has 100 sheep, but 1 of the sheep gets lost, he will leave the other 99 sheep on the hill. He will go to look for the lost sheep.”
When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless.
Leah was that lost sheep and God saw her. He saw her. Let that soak into your heart for a minute.
When life becomes unbearable, it can feel like I am drudging up a mountain in solitude. But much like He did for Leah, God faithfully shows me that I am never alone, and He is for me. God sees the pain in her heart, and he weaves redemption into her life.
He also sees YOU.
Jacob's Ladder 