Some Things Aren’t Meant To Be Shared – Rachel’s Story
God calls us to share our talents, our material possessions, and our time with others. What he doesn’t require us to share is our spouse. Marriage is meant for one man and one woman for life.
Rachel’s Story
Once Jacob had cheated his brother out of his birthright, Rebekah decided it would be best if Jacob left for a while so she sent him to her ‘hometown’ to find a wife.
It’s safe to say that God wasn’t pleased with Rebekah and Jacob, but the Bible tells us that God specifically chose Rachel to be Jacob’s wife.
Jacob and Rachel quickly fell in love, but her father wasn’t nearly as quick to agree.
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He finally consented on the condition that Jacob stay and work for him for seven years. Love won out, Jacob agreed, and when the wedding day finally came, Rachel’s father, Laban, tricked the happy couple by putting his older daughter, Leah, in Rachel’s place.
Hmm, did someone say payback?
Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to make love to her.” So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her.
And Laban gave his servant Zilpah to his daughter as her attendant. When morning came, there was Leah!
Jacob was very angry and demanded that Laban give him Rachel as his wife. Laban did after he spent a honeymoon-like period with Leah. Oh, and he had to agree to:
- Keep Leah as his wife
- Worked another seven years before leaving to go back home-taking both women with him
Rachel was the woman Jacob loved, but she was not able to give him a child.
This made her resentful toward her sister. They were in constant conflict; Rachel’s resentment over being infertile and Leah’s for knowing she was the consolation prize and unloved.
God finally answered Rachel and Jacob’s pleas for a child and allowed her to have Joseph and Benjamin, but it wasn’t because of Rachel’s pure and sincere heart.
What We Can Learn From Rachel
Rachel wasn’t perfect, but then who of us is?
Lesson One:
An unmet heart’s desire is undeniably painful but shouldn’t turn you away from God.
Many of Rachel’s less-than-God-pleasing actions stemmed from her anger and resentment over not having children.
She desperately wanted to give Jacob a child-especially since Leah had no problems doing so. Her heart ached for a child. But unlike Hannah, she let her aching heart make her bitter rather than draw her closer to the LORD.
Whether it be infertility or another deeply personal issue, we cannot allow Satan to fill our hearts with bitterness which leads to sin. Instead, we need to rest in the arms of our Heavenly Father and let him comfort us, heal our hearts, and open our lives to what he desires for us.
Lesson Two
Family conflict is never solved by getting even.
Leah and Rachel were constantly trying to one-up each other. It never ended well. It won’t end well for you, either.
Getting even is impossible because the battle is never-ending. Seek or ask forgiveness, do what is right in the eyes of God, and then let it go.
Lesson Three:
Protect your marriage and keep it a priority.
To Sum It All Up
Rachel and Jacob had a tumultuous relationship the reasons not being their fault. Had they
Trusted the LORD to honor their love for each other and
Concentrated on their relationship rather than scheming to undermine those who were at the root of their problems, they would have been so much better off.
In other words, they had their priorities out of whack. Don’t let this happen to you.