Women of the Bibleনমুনা

Leah

As recorded in Scripture, Leah's life is one of humiliation and rejection: forced by her father Laban to participate in the deception of Jacob, who loved her sister Rachel and thought that's who he was marrying!

Rachel was a "stunner," and Leah was viewed as "less than" – by her father, her unwilling husband Jacob, and probably within herself. But not by GOD!!

Look how God showed her that He cared. He took up her cause by enabling her to bear sons for her husband – the most incredible gift any wife could give a husband in that culture, and also viewed as a sign of God's favor. Through the names Leah gave each of those sons, we see her growing faith in God, along with her longing for her husband's love: #1 son named Reuben ("see, a son!"); #2 son named Simeon ("One who hears");#3 son Levi ("connected, attached"); #4 son Judah ("praise to the Lord"). Through that last son's lineage came the Messiah, the highest honor possible for a Jewish woman!

1. How do you respond when you find yourself in a hurtful situation over which you have no control?

2. Do you waste the suffering, failing to look for God's faithfulness in it? Or do you use it to mature in your faith, looking for His blessings despite the situation?

In every toxic situation, you are ONLY responsible for YOU! That's the only behavior or response you can control.

Prayer: God, help me choose wisely.