Genesis 29 + 30
Genesis 29 and 30 both shed light on how God is in control.
"Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, 'Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?'" Genesis 30:2
God is the one who is in control. He is the one who is especially in control over His command to be fruitful and multiply. We must trust in Him for direction and must pray to Him for blessings.
In Genesis 29, we see how each of Leah's children have specific names that all point to trusting in God. The first is Reuben, meaning "my misery is seen." Leah feels that her misery is seen by God through the birth of her first child. The second is Simeon, meaning "heard." Leah recognized that God listens through her second child. The third is Levi, meaning "joined to." Leah hopes that she and her husband will become attached through her third child. The fourth is Judah, meaning "praise." Leah praises the Lord through the name of her fourth child.
We see through Leah conceiving and having children that her relationship with God changes and grows with each one. She feels seen and heard, then she seeks God for strength in marriage, and finally, she praises Him. Her relationship with God is reflected in the way she named each of her children. There is a stark difference between Leah's fruitfulness and Rachel's barrenness. Leah praises God while Rachel blames Jacob for not giving her children. Rachel should seek and choose to trust God. Leah is hated by people and loved by God. Rachel is loved by people, which distracts her from seeing God's love. God's love is not scarce; our willingness to accept His love is. The people who are praised on Earth are often distracted from seeing a loving God. Those who do not feel seen or heard here on Earth can have an easier time experiencing the love of God because they crave it. The love of people is present and can be in our face, while the love of God must be sought out gently and quietly.
Rachel ends up having children in Genesis 30. God is not retaliating against her but using the two different kinds of people to tell a story. God places His trust in us. The more that we put our trust in Him, the more our faith grows, and so it's really something that begins to compound exponentially.
Also thinking about Jesus's death and His resurrection with Good Friday tomorrow and Easter this Sunday, I read:
"For behold, the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!'" Luke 23:29
The end times will come, and all the destruction, sadness, regret, and emotion right along with it. Of course no one wishes to share these feelings with other people! Jesus went to the cross and He died for us so we don't have to share these feelings with others. We can pray for people to be saved so the end times mean eternity with Him. This is a call to prepare the people that surround us for what is to come. And as we know, Jesus rose, and He will rise again, and we must rejoice in the fact that He is who He says He is. He is faithful, and we must be faithful as well.
