"Waking Up With Leah"

Scripture Passage For Today

GENESIS 28:6-30:24

Scripture Focus


"But when Jacob woke up in the morning—it was Leah!" (Gen 29:25 NLT)


Observation


There are too many things to write about today! Skip ahead to “section B” if you want the meat of the morning. Otherwise, here’s some extra odds and ends:


Jacob, like Abraham—and before any Mosaic covenant required that he do so—believed in the tithe.


“…I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me.” (Gen 28:21 NLT)


Jacob would not be a slave to customs that no longer served any purpose.


3 It was the custom there to wait…[but] 9 Jacob went over to the well and… watered his uncle’s flock. (Genesis 29:3, 9 NLT)


If Jacob indeed told Laban his *whole* story, they likely had a particularly strong common bond—of “crookedness”! (cf. Laban’s later actions toward Jacob.)


13 When Jacob had told him his story, 14 Laban exclaimed, “You really are my own flesh and blood!” (Genesis 29:13-14 NLT)


And this whole scenario of “wife-swapping” (all of the wives being married to Jacob, however) would be comical if it weren’t so dysfunctional. All I can say is that it points to the value placed upon a woman as a “bearer of children” in Jacob’s nomadic, agrarian culture…and the disdain for a woman unable to conceive.

-----------------------------

"But when Jacob woke up in the morning—it was Leah!" (Gen 29:25 NLT)


Someone quick-wit suggested this was “every man’s experience”—you marry one woman, and wake up next to another! I’d suggest it’s not just every man’s experience, but every spouse’s experience—husband or wife!


And that’s a challenge—but not only in the marriage relationship. Every relationship of any significance will involve the element of surprise—the uncovering of unexpected character qualities, patterns of behavior, presumptions, reactions and more. Some of those surprise will be pleasant—others, not so much. And one of the most significant challenges any of us will ever face is navigating relationship well—not just diplomatically, but with grace born of insight. Knowing our God and ourselves well enough to accept and value others as they are, even while avoiding the entrapment of unhealthy patterns of connection.


Yes, I’m writing in vague generalities, because I’ve made the topic so broad. I’ve got to acknowledge that some people and some relationships are so unhealthy that they ought to be avoided or escaped from altogether. But my experience is that most people have a very narrow spectrum of tolerance when it comes to relationships. And my challenge is this: So what if you *thought* you married Rachael and instead woke up with Leah (expand that analogy to include any relationship you’re a part of). What can you learn from loving Leah? What can you learn about yourself, your God, and love that stretches beyond the “comfortable and easy” by sticking with a relationship that might not meet every expectation you had when you started it? Church and family come most easily to my mind—what relationship comes to your mind?