Gen 30:1 When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister….
Much of Genesis 30 makes me sad. It seems to be a tale of infertility, family jealousy, and competition. We know that because Jacob loved Rachel so much, he worked for her father for 14 years with no wages to earn her hand in marriage. Rachel was beautiful, but for years and years proved infertile. Leah, the older sister, was plain at best, ended up married to Jacob because of her father’s deception of Jacob, yet was incredibly fertile and had many children. Neither woman was happy or content, and Jacob doesn’t seem very content either with his snappish reply to Rachel in Gen 30:2.
Gen 30:2 Jacob became angry with her and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”
If only Leah, Rachel, and Jacob could have all remembered the lesson of Gen 29:35: “This time I will praise the LORD.” When I set my plans and they don’t pan out, as is apt to happen, disappointment, anger, jealousy can often result, especially if I think someone else got something I “deserved.” But that’s not the way God works. He has a plan for my life. He’s working all things for my good and His glory, even the things I don’t understand, even the things I count as disappointment and heartache. He’s using all of it to draw me closer.
Gen 30:3 Then she said, “Here is Bilhah, my servant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and I too can build a family through her.”
Lord, Thank You for this day, for this scripture, for the reminder to put my hope and trust in You. Help me to praise You no matter what comes my way, knowing that You are with me and that you will somehow use it for my good and Your glory. Thank You for being my shield and my very great reward (Gen 15:1). Draw me closer. Amen.
Gen 30:8 Then Rachel said, “I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.” …
Have a blessed day.
My faith, my life, my teaching–it's all a work in progress.