Sunday, October 11, 2015

Rachel and Leah - Is your heart ache making or breaking you?




 Will you be made complete (whole)?

Is your heart ache making or breaking you?
The definition of whole is a thing that is complete in itself 

God’s heart aches will lead you to Him

Your heart aches are the things you love
  To have a feeling of love for; to regard with affection or good will; as, to love one's children and friends; to love one's country; to love things, positions, passions, or status, to love one's God.

This will always lead you back to you no matter what you do or what is done for you it is never enough because it leads back to you.  Because you will try to fix it by whatever means possible and it never works. When it come back you find  another fix but no satisfaction so you go after the next available thing. Whatever you try is never enough to make you whole and satisfy the heart aches of that particular love

We want to fix things that only God can fix

Love is what you have in the heart not in the field.  In the field you always think that someone else has it better than you, someone gets more opportunities than you, someone is loved more than you, someone has more things than you, your case is worse than everybody’s so you want that fixed, however your fixes are not enough because you have the wrong perception of the problem and the solution.   

Whatever ever you are longing for, it does not matter what it is, it may be something that you want, to hold, to look good, to be smart, to have an education, to be married, to have children if you are married or to get married and have children, to be single (which is not the same as being unmarried), to be rich, to be famous etc.  It will not be enough because what you desire is to fill a place in you that belongs to God.  He loves you, cares for you, will keep you, feed you, take care of you, anything you ask that is in His word you can have because He is your husband but He will not give you that thing that you love more than Him.  He is a jealous God!

Trying to fix things that can’t be fixed causes wasted time, frustration, and misuse of authority

RACHEL.  Who is Rachel?   Her name means (Lamb) - the youngest daughter of Laban, who is the brother of Rebekkah, who is the mother of Jacob.  She is Jacobs second wife.  What is known of the character of Rachel?  One of the first noticeable traits of her character was deception and lying in that she stole her father's idols and hid them from him when he accused Jacob of taking them.  The Bible does not say why she thought she needed those idols, but perhaps she though that they could help her in some form or fashion, maybe even in child bearing.  She seems to be more like Laban her father, in that she intentionally hid from Jacob the fact that she had stolen her fathers idols when they left to return to land of Canaan. She envied her sister and demanded children from her husband.  Gen 30:1 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. 


She was beautiful on the outside but on the inside she needed change – She stole her father’s idols and carried idol god’s with Jacob when they left her father’s house to return with Jacob to his home and the consequence of that was mentioned in (Jeremiah 31:15-22).  She was so stuck on what she though would make Jacob happy she lost track of all the blessing that God had given her. No matter what you think would make you beautiful, make you look good to other people, make you feel good because of this or that it will not be enough. 

Facts:  She was loved of Jacob – She was beautiful to Jacob – She was Jacob’s favorite -
Jacob only wanted her – She was offered the best of everything – her children were blessed one of them (Joseph) saved the nation of Israel.  Her name means lamb (lambs need constant care) so she would always think like a lamb and never grew up to a mature state.

She had a special heart ache (she wanted Children by her husband – she was barren), the following are the characteristics of her heart ache:
  1. Low self esteem
  2. Envied her sister even thou her sister was not loved
  3. Discontent because she wanted children
  4. Fretful and impatient with Jacob because he did not produce children
  5. Greatly grieved because of lack of children
  6. Moved Jacob to anger because he could do nothing to give her children
  7. Being beautiful was not enough
  8. Being loved was not enough
  9. Being the favorite was not enough
  10. Being the only one that Jacob wanted was not enough
  11. Receiving the best of everything was not enough
  12. She had one son by her maid and that was not enough
  13. She had a second son by her maid and that was not enough
  14. Finally God remembered her and gave her a son even as she was having him she wanted another that was still not enough Genesis 30:23-24 23 
  15. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, "God has taken away my disgrace." 24 She named him Joseph, and said, "May the LORD add to me another son." 
  16. She now has three son's and that is still not enough, she wanted another son.
 Jeremiah 31:15-22

15 Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
16 Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
17 And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border. 18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God. 19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.20 Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD. 21 Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities. 22 How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man. KJV

Who is Leah?  Her name means (Gazelle).  She is the oldest daughter of Laban, who is the brother of Rebekkah, who is the mother of Jacob.  She is Jacobs first wife.  Laban, her father deceitfully gave her in marriage to Jacob instead of her younger sister Rachel (Genesis 29:16-30). Although Rachel was the more beautiful of the two daughters of Laban and obviously was Jacob's favorite wife, the Lord blessed Leah and Jacob with six sons-Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah (Genesis 29:31-35), Issachar, and Zebulun (Genesis 30:17-20) - and a daughter, Dinah (Genesis 30:21). Leah's maid, Zilpah, added two more sons: Gad and Asher (Genesis 30:9-13).

What is known of the character her character, she was obedient to her father and to her husband.  She was willing to make peace with her husband, but never blamed him for her dilemma.  With the help of her father she sneaked and married her sister fiancee and did not tell her sister.  She deceived her sister and Jacob because she did not tell them that she was going to marry Jacob. She hoped to have him as her husband only. She blamed her sister for stealing her husband.  She believed that it was her sister's fault that she did not have her husband by herself.  She perceived that her sister took him from her.  She believed that marrying him first was good enough for him.   She thought that since she married him first, she must have done something wrong to lose him, therefore, it was just a matter of doing something right to get him back.  She was not a complainer but she kept those thought in her mind.  She wanted the best but did not understand that she already had the best.  She searched for love of her husband in her children and was willing to use them to get to him to love her.

Facts:  She was not considered beautiful by man but that was not God’s idea of beauty, she loved a man that did not love her, would never love her because he did not choose her.  If he had chosen her perhaps she would have been beautiful to him, but she was disillusioned because she though she could do something to make him love her but she could not.  She did not understand that she was beautiful because God said so not man.  She kept trying to please people and though that this next thing that I do will do it but she did not know that other people’s idea of you cannot be your reality. She was submitted to her father and to her husband.  She never blamed her husband or her father for her predicament.  She never asked to be free or to leave because she was not loved.  She thought that she could make love happen so she used people or whatever she could to make that happen.  God saw that she was not loved so he opened her womb and blessed her with an abundance of children and one of them was used to bring Jesus Christ who came to save the world. Rachel’s son helped save a nation but her descendant was in the bloodline of Jesus Christ who saved the world.  Her name means gazelle (gazelles are wild and can take care of themselves) so she was always going to be able to make it thru whatever she had to.  Letting God take care of her was not in her mindset at first but she learned that there are some things that you cannot change.  She is remembered as Jacob’s ugly wife that gave birth to the son through whom Jesus Christ came into the earth.

Her special heart ache (she wanted her husband to love her - she was unloved) the results of which are as follows:
1.     She perceived that she had lost her husband's love to her sister
2.     No one loved her, no one was  making her their choice
3.     No husband prospects so she settled for being second
4.     She was the other woman not by her husband’s choice but by her father’s
5.     She was never going to have the upper hand no matter what happened.
6.     She thought she could change things by what she did or how she looked
7.     God blessed her with 4 sons to encourage her so that she would have a family and some children that loved her unconditionally. But that was not enough she did not see that as a blessing all she wanted to do was use that blessing to help her win a love that she had lost to her sister that was never lost, you can’t lose what never belonged to you.
8.     God blessed her with a son because she was not loved she named him REUBEN [ROO ben] (behold a son) - the firstborn son of Jacob, born to Leah in Paddan Aram (Genesis 29:31-32; 35:23). Leah named her first son Reuben because the Lord had looked upon her sorrow at being unloved by her husband. By presenting a son to Jacob, she hoped he would respond to her in love. But that was not enough
9.     God blessed her with a second son.  She named him Simeon[SIM ih un] (God hears) - Genesis 29:33 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.  But that was not enough
10.  God blessed her with a third son.  She named him Levi - [LEE vigh] (joined)  Genesis 29:34 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. NIV But that was not enough
11.  Finally she get's the revelation that Jacob’s not loving her has nothing to do with what she can do or not do it was always his choice about who he loved.  Now she understands that it is God that really loves her and God gave her another son and she called him Judah 29:35 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. Then she stopped having children. NIV.  It was thru Judah that the whole world was saved.  But that was not enough
12.  Now she begins to compete with her sister and continuously looks for opportunity to spend time with Jacob.  The opportunity comes and she jumps on it. Surely all of this will be over if I can win my husband over my sister.  I want what she has and that will be enough.  But that was not enough
13.  She uses mandrakes to acquire from her sister time with Jacob.  She has a fifth son and now she is using that to compete with her sister 18 Then Leah said, "God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband." So she named him Issachar. But that was not enough
14.  Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 Then Leah said, "God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor, because I have borne him six sons." So she named him Zebulun.  
15.  But that was not enough

Look at what she says in this passage Genesis 30:14-21 14 During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants, which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes ."
15 But she said to her, "Wasn't it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son's mandrakes too?" "Very well," Rachel said, "he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son's mandrakes ."
16 So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. "You must sleep with me," she said. "I have hired you with my son's mandrakes ." So he slept with her that night.
17 God listened to Leah, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son.
18 Then Leah said, "God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband." So she named him Issachar.  
19 Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son.
20 Then Leah said, "God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor, because I have borne him six sons." So she named him Zebulun.  
21 Some time later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah. NIV

Rachael wanted children.  She needed that to complete her life, she did not want to live without children, she wanted them so bad that she said give me children or I will die.  In fact at the birth of her second child she did die.

Genesis 30:1-2 30:1 When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, "Give me children, or I'll die!"
2 Jacob became angry with her and said, "Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?" NIV

Do you have a heartache that is leading you to die in some area?

Leah wanted Jacob to love her as his wife.  She was willing to use her children and even purchase him sexually with her mandrakes and God listened to her.  Mandrakes were pagan fertility practices.

Are you willing to be second just to have a man?
Are you willing to raise his children knowing that he is comfortable with his wife and is not planning to leave even thought he has been telling you that for years?
Is your makeup the reason you look beautiful?
Could you stop using makeup today and still think that you look beautiful?
Do you need to be constantly reminded that you look great?
What is the price that you would pay to get your heartache fix?

Both of these women were blessed of God, but they did not see themselves blessed.  Each of them kept trying to fix the heart ache that they imagined would make things complete,(whole)

Can you see your blessing?
Do you know how much the Lord loves you?

Is your heart ache bigger to you than all that God has given you?  If so, consider the matter and let the Lord make you complete (whole).


No comments:

Post a Comment