The Kitts

Today I was reading my bible and ran across a passage that spoke to me. Genesis 29:31:35 “But because Leah was unloved, the LORD let her have a child, while Rachel was childless. So Leah became pregnant and had a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, ‘The LORD has noticed my misery, and now my husband will love me.’ She soon became pregnant again and had another son. She named him Simeon, for she said, ‘The LORD heard that I was unloved and has given me another son.’ Again she became pregnant and had a son. She named him Levi, for she said; ‘Surely now my husband will feel affection for me, since I have given him three sons!’ Once again she became pregnant and had a son. She named him Judah, for she said; ‘Now I will praise the LORD!’ And then she stopped having children.” So let’s look at the meaning of Leah’s son’s names:

1) Reuben- “Look a son” or “He has seen my misery”

2) Simeon- “one who hears”

3) Levi- “being attached” and “feeling affection for”

4) Judah- “praise”

God saw that Leah was miserable because her husband didn’t love her so He showed favor for her by giving her a son, in which she named “he has seen my misery”. Leah hoped that Jacob would love her more now that she had given him a son, but Jacob didn’t love her any more. The Lord gave her yet another son and still she didn’t feel loved by her husband. Then a third son was born naming him “feeling affection for” hoping that Jacob would feel affection for her, but still nothing. So God bore her another son, “praise” in which Leah finally saw that she was to praise the Lord for his blessing upon her in her misery.

I can’t help but look at women and how this situation with Leah applies to all women. I can’t help but think about how women totally believe that if they do something for a guy he will love them more. In Leah’s case she has children hoping that Jacob will favor her and love her more than he loves her sister Rachel. A lot of girls think that if they put out with a guy than he will love her more, but most of the time this is not true. So girls, be cautious of that because if a guy doesn’t love you prior to the gifts you give him he’s probably not going to love you after.

This immediately makes my mind turn to the book, Lady In Waiting, by Debby Jones & Jackie Kendall. If you are a female I really think that picking up and reading this book would be a wise decision. A line in the book I will never forget “be sensitive to your motives whenever you find yourself in the presence of ‘available men’.” Then they quote Proverbs 16:2 “All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord.” So although God blessed Leah with a son, what was Leah’s ultimate motive in that? To be loved by her husband. We as women must watch our motives and not only that but we must realize that our deepest longings can only be satisfied by God.

This summer I read a book called, Lies Women Believe, by Nancy Leigh Demoss. One of the lies was “I should not have to live with unfulfilled longings.” I quote her on this, “the deepest longings of our hearts cannot be filled by any created person or thing…every living thing is created to disappoint us.” God has made us to only be truly satisfied in Him and in no other person or thing. In looking at Leah’s story in my devotional Women of Character, Lawrence Kimbrough states “the more we place our expectations on another person, the more control we give them over our emotional and spiritual state.”

We must realize that we cannot find satisfaction in anyone but Christ or in any thing. Leah was blessed by the Lord greatly by giving her sons and a daughter and in the end she was buried next to her husband and Rachel was not. God has taught me so much through this scripture. I had another paragraph, but after much consideration I realize that too many people are going to have differeing opinions on the subject at hand and cannot handle my own interpretation of such events.