We can all be a “Leah”

Have you been feeling unloved?

Hi everyone! This is me again, Mariella and in the night of thanksgiving, I was binge watching Ascension Presents on YouTube and I had this mind blowing realization after seeing one video of Father Mike Schmitz, (Link: https://youtu.be/Jqb-k4o-kBE) which inspired me into putting this into writing.

Most of us are probably familiar with the love story of Jacob and Rachel in the book of Genesis in the bible. Jacob worked seven years for Laban for his younger daughter Rachel’s hand in marriage. How noble and how romantic right? But after the seven years, Laban tricked Jacob into marrying his older daughter Leah instead. Jacob didn’t love Leah so he asked Laban to work for him for another seven years, fourteen years then in total so he could finally marry Rachel.

Most of us wanted a Jacob and Rachel love story but actually there’s a greater love story than that and we often overlook it. We often forget Leah when in reality, at one point or another in our life, we can all be Leah.

God saw how Leah was so unloved so He blessed her with bearing children while Rachel on the other hand was barren. Leah saw each of her 3 children as a hope that through them Jacob will finally love her back so she named each one of them as such.

Genesis 29:31-34

When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he made her fruitful, while Rachel was barren. Leah conceived and bore a son, and she named him Reuben;for she said, “It means, ‘The Lord saw my misery; surely now my husband will love me.’” She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “It means, ‘The Lord heard that I was unloved,’ and therefore he has given me this one also”; so she named him Simeon. Again she conceived and bore a son, and she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, since I have now borne him three sons”; that is why she named him Levi.

It was when she bore her fourth child that she finally recognized how it was all God’s blessing for her so she said instead, “This time, I will give thanks to the Lord.” (Genesis 29:35) That’s why she named him Judah which means “thanksgiving” or “praise”. (What are the odds of seeing the Youtube video about this on a Thanksgiving Night, when this was posted last year in August? WOW. God!)

And it didn’t end on that, did you know that Jesus came from the lineage of Judah? We are mostly familiar that Jesus is a descendant of Jacob, the father of the 12 tribes of Israel. But often we overlook that Jesus, the greatest manifestation of God’s love, is also a descendant of a woman who felt greatly unloved by a man, yet God showed and manifested His greatest love through her. It was through Leah.

Jesus Lineage table credits from biblestudy.org

God did not just limit showing her she was loved in her lifetime but he extended that love thousands of years later through Jesus. So yes, it’s inevitable that people will hate you, will mistreat you, whether a person is a Christian or an atheist or agnostic, because people are people. We humans are all imperfect and broken. But God, as perfect as He is, His love will also always be perfect, adequate and never ending. No matter how unloved you felt by people, always remember that God always loves you.

PS. Realizing this I was crying for the next five minutes with my dog consoling me and on the next day because I’m so grateful for how God shows His love for you and me. 😭

May God be praised.

Love and prayers,

Mariella