Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
"After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month, Laban said to him, "Just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be." Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was lovely in form, and beautiful. Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, "I'll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel." Laban said, "It's better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me." So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to lie with 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 gave her to Jacob, and Jacob lay with her. And Laban gave his servant girl Zilpah to his daughter as her maidservant. When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn't I? Why have you deceived me?" Laban replied, "It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. Finish this daughter's bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work." And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. Laban gave his servant girl Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maidservant. Jacob lay with Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years." Genesis 29:14b-30
At the end of the last devotional, we left Jacob with his mother’s brother Laban, and Laban’s daughter, Rachel, who Jacob took an immediate liking to the first time they met at the well as Rachel had taken her flock there for water. You’ll remember that Jacob was so instantly infatuated with Rachel that he kissed her and started to cry. He had traveled a long way to find a wife suitable for his father who sent him to Laban. Now, he had arrived and met the woman he would marry. Nothing could be better for Jacob. But there was something sinister looming…something that would take his time of joy and turn it into a time of disappointment and betrayal…something that would teach him, and I hope us, a valuable lesson about life.
Jacob had stayed with his Laban for a month when his uncle showed a desire to pay him for his labor because they were related. After Laban asked Jacob, "Tell me what your wages should be?", Jacob replied, "I'll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel." Laban agrees and Jacob gets to work, eager to reach the end of the seven years so he could have the wife he so desired.
In fact, scripture states that the seven years "seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her." And he had to truly love for her to wait that long.
Question: Have you ever had to wait for something you longed so much for? How hard was it to stay patient and wait until the proper time came for you to get what you had been waiting for? Think about something you want more than anything. Now imagine that you were told you could have it but you would have to wait seven years for it. How hard would it be to wait?
Well, it couldn’t have been real easy but Jacob stuck it out and reached the end of his seven years of labor. Rachel was as good as his wife now. Or was she?
You see, there was a plot brewing…a plot well off of Jacob’s radar screen. He was so caught up in Rachel and so trusting in his relatives, especially Laban, that he never would have dreamed that the very people he trusted would so easily cheat him. But cheat him they did.
We read where a great celebration and feast was held with "all the people of the place" in attendance. At the end of the feast, Jacob was to have received his dream girl, Rachel, but instead, Laban slipped his other daughter Leah into the dark room with Jacob and, unable to see that he was being duped, he had relation with her, thinking she was Rachel. It wasn’t until morning when light was put on the matter that Jacob realized he had been tricked and given Leah in marriage, not Rachel. It would cost him another seven years of labor to get Rachel.
Let’s rewind the Genesis story a bit and see Rebekah and Jacob conspire to trick Isaac into giving Jacob the birthright that belonged to the eldest son, Esau. Taking advantage of Isaac’s failing eyesight, they made Jacob smell and feel like Esau and then duplicated his cooking so Isaac wouldn’t doubt that he was dealing with the elder son when he was really dealing with the younger. Through deceitfulness, Jacob took away Esau’s blessing and hurt his father emotionally through his actions. Maybe it seems all too fitting that Jacob now had the table turned on him. Blind in the darkness of his room, just as Isaac was physically blind, Jacob was deceived by a relative who pulled a switcharoo on him, taking away the woman he wanted and giving him one he didn’t desire. It seems that what comes around does go around.
Question: Have you ever wronged another only to have the same wrong happen to you at the hands of another? You see, the Lord has a way of teaching us lessons in life in rather unique and interesting ways. Jacob might have thought he was going to get away with deceiving his father but God had other things in mind. Jacob going to Laban and being fooled was all part of God’s plan. And Jacob had plenty of time to think about it as he labored that additional seven years, just to get Rachel.
So next time you are thinking of doing wrong to another, think about Jacob and his experience. We never ever get away with doing wrong. Trust that God will teach us a lesson in His time and in His way. For what comes around, does go around.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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