Seize the Moment – Day 416
Your Sordid Story for His Sovereign Glory!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, May 7.
The story of Jacob continues in Genesis 29. Rebekah sent her son away to protect him from Esau, but he went from the frying pan to the fire as Rebekah’s brother Laban takes over where she left off with the scheming.
Jacob falls in love with Laban’s daughter, Rachel. Yes, she is his cousin. Don’t judge them too harshly as this was very common at that time and place. The real scandal is that after Laban agreed to give Rachel, his youngest daughter, to Jacob in an arranged marriage for seven years of Jacob’s labors, Laban tricked him and gave him Leah on his wedding night. He didn’t realize it until it was too late and Jacob was now married to the wrong woman.
Jacob got a taste of his own trickery. Can’t you hear Isaac laughing all the way back in the promised land? I digress…
Jacob then agrees to work another seven years to receive Rachel as his bride.
If that isn’t enough of a soap opera for you, this scandal is just heating up as Rachel and Leah start competing with one another on who can produce the most children.
Where was God in this story? Listen to Genesis 29:30-31, “Indeed [Jacob] loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years. Now the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.”
This chapter ends with Leah conceiving four sons for Jacob—the first four tribes of Israel! What a scandal of God’s grace!
In Genesis 30, the scandal will only intensify as these sisters pull a play from Abraham and Sarah’s playbook and each of their handmaids are thrown in the mix. Hollywood has nothing on this story!
Seize the moment and walk in the mercy of God’s grace upon your story. No matter the details of your life, God can use your sordid story for His sovereign glory.