Never Less-Than

Now Laban had two daughters. The older daughter was named Leah, and the younger one was Rachel. There was no sparkle in Leah’s eyes, but Rachel had a beautiful figure and a lovely face…. When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he enabled her to have children, but Rachel could not conceive. So Leah became pregnant and gave birth to 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 gave birth to another son. She named him Simeon, for she said, “The Lord heard that I was unloved and has given me another son.” Then she became pregnant a third time and gave birth to another son. He was named Levi, for she said, “Surely this time my husband will feel affection for me, since I have given him three sons!” Once again Leah became pregnant and gave birth to another son. She named him Judah, for she said, “Now I will praise the Lord!” And then she stopped having children. Genesis 29:16-17, 31-35 (New Living Translation, NLT)

Jacob was tricked by Laban into marrying his older daughter, Leah, although he was in love with the younger one, Rachel. Leah was placed in a no-win situation. The Bible tells mentions Leah’s eyes. Some versions say they were weak; others say dull; and yet others say soft or lovely. The meaning of the Hebrew word is unclear and we do not for sure how they looked. But, we do know that Rachel was a knockout. Even if Leah had lovely eyes, it is evident that her looks paled in comparison with Rachel’s. In other words, she was viewed as less desirable than her sister. She was “less-than.”

We may all feel less-than at times. The devil enjoys putting us down and making us feel inferior to others. He uses comparisons to make us dislike the very attributes and characteristics God gave to us. It is one of his strategies to steal our identity and our confidence. When we lack confidence, we are less likely to resist him and he can have free reign.

However, one thing we see from Genesis 29, is that God saw Leah and He loved Her. He valued Her for Who she was, not how she measured up to her little sister. And He made up to her for the lack of love she received from her husband. In those times and in that culture, the real measure of a woman was her ability to produce children. So, God enabled Leah to give Jacob children. This allowed Leah to not only bear and enjoy children, but it added something to her relationship with Jacob that Rachel did not have. Leah and Jacob had the joy of parenting children together.

Eventually God had mercy on Rachel and allowed her to have children as well, but in giving Leah that advantage for a while, we see God’s heart towards all of us. God desires that we all receive love and that we all see our own value. In Leah’s case, she was given another blessing that Rachel did not receive- she was included in the lineage of Jesus. Her fourth son, Judah, was the tribe out of which the Messiah came. From the passage above, we see that the names of each of Leah’s sons reflected her mindset at the time of their birth. When Leah moved her viewpoint away from her relationship with Jacob and focused on her relationship with God, she was blessed with an eternal honor. Consider that; she went from less-than to having one of the greatest honors a woman in Old Testament times could receive. In addition, her second son, Levi, was the Father of the Levites, the priesthood.

God always makes up for what the world does not give us. People may or may not recognize the value that is in us, but God always does. We must choose to see ourselves through the Father’s eyes: as His beautiful, intelligent, courageous, blessed children. We are never less-than when we focus on who we are in Him.