Clearly, as cheated as Jacob must have felt when he was given Leah for a wife, instead of Rachel; Leah was probably feeling so much more cheated. She had not signed on for this duty, but as the days wore on, Jacob clearly forsook any feelings for her and instead loved only Rachel. Still, in the midst of the pain, God blessed the marriage with 4 sons. Rachel had not been able to bear kids, and so, Jacob continued to have his lineage started through Leah.
While not the fairy tale story one would like to hear, God was building a nation through this family. Each son would ultimately represent a people group that were as diverse as the named patriarch they represented. Interestingly, it was the diversity of the peoples, that allowed them to become a great nation. But, at the beginning, Leah simply felt sad, lonely, but vindicated by God.
So much happens in our lives that we do not understand. Twists and turns that seem at best unusual and at worst completely unfair. As we press forward to somehow make sense of our lives, we have to learn from history and realize three important things:
1) It is not about us, as much as we are the hero in our own stories, much of the circumstance in our lives; are the results of many lives and events of which we are only a tangential part.
2) If we will focus on our walk with God and allow him to lead, he will use us in a major way. Leah–while sad,continued to point back to God as the vindicator of her life. She would have loved to have Jacob worship her, but, despite his lack of love, she continued to trust her God!
3) What we are building in our lives–will impact generations of our families for years to come. If we focus on him and his lead, families will have a better chance of continuing that lineage over time. If we abandon the truth, we can almost guarantee a spiral away from the principles of grace and love, that only God can give us.
It always comes back to trusting God daily and following him humbly. As we do, though life may not make sense–it will have meaning and purpose. In addition, who knows–you may a part of the family that somehow leads the world back to God, just like Leah’s.
God Bless You
When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless. 32 Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben,[b] for she said, “It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.”33 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Because the Lord heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon.[c]
34 Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi.[d]
35 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” So she named him Judah.[e] Then she stopped having children.
Walking With God 