A Risky Chance At Love. This is how I see Leah, in at least part of her story.
Our stories are forever changing, so maybe this was more true of her before her marriage to Jacob.
If you think about it, Leah’s chances at marital bliss of any kind were not going so well. Her father had a full seven years while Jacob worked for the right to marry Rachel to find a suitable husband for Leah. Do you ever wonder if Laban (Leah’s father) hadn’t planned some scheme against Jacob all along? Or was Leah just undesirable? Were there really no eligible men in her area or her family? The reasons for putting of Leah’s marriage aren’t given but they seem pretty sketchy to me. Her father was a most dubious and deceitful man.
So there she was, the oldest daughter, the one who by all accounts and traditions of the day should already be running her own household when Jacob comes to town and falls in love with Leah’s sister. Not much is said of Rachel’s feelings for Jacob – only inferred, but we are told that Jacob loved Rachel. A LOT.
Leah couldn’t catch his attention – not when he looked at her sister that way – if she even tried. Did she want his attention?
I wonder what thoughts went through Leah’s mind when it came close to Rachel’s wedding day and Leah was wilting away waiting for a husband. Whose idea was it to switch her place with her sister? There is debate on that, but obviously her father had to approve and participate in the act. But was Leah given a choice? Did she willingly participate? If so, why?
It seems to me like she would have declined the offer or would have made things difficult for her father if she absolutely hated Jacob. My guess is she at least went along with the plan.
Did she do so for a risky chance that Jacob would come to love her?
Have you ever done anything, taken a risk, for the sake of love? Because you wanted someone to love you? Or to show someone you love them, but you don’t know how they feel in return?
Do we ever take risks that go too far? Did Leah?
Some say, “If you don’t take risks, you don’t need faith.” That’s true to a point. But we also need to be careful not to jump ahead of God just because we want something. He might have something better in mind, might have had a better man for Leah too, if she’d waited.
Risks might take faith. But faith determines whether the risks are worth taking.
#riskychanceatlove #leahsstory #whenlifedoesntmatchyourdreams #february192019
