Nov 27

It would not be right to leave the true story of Leah bearing children in order to find praise from her husband without noting one other amazing fact. In the record of Scripture of these events, it says that after Leah finally began to see the wider scope of God's plan for herself, and quit seeking praise from men and started praising God -- she stopped having children (Gen. 29:35).

What! This poor woman who cried in sorrow because she had borne her husband no children, and who went through much heartbreak even after she did have children because her husband apparently paid no attention to this fact, and who then came to her senses and began praising God for all she had gone through -- this is how God rewards her, by stopping her from being able have any more children? Incredible? What kind of God is this?

He is exactly the same kind of God he has always been, a God of great love and mercy. If Leah truly now loved the Lord more than herself and her desire for children; if she loved the Lord more than her husband and desired to please God more than she desired to please her husband -- then, though it might cause her sadness not to have any more children, she would still rejoice that she had found something greater than any of these other desires of her heart: Her great desire for the Lord more than made up for any loss incurred along the way to coming to the great realization that she was made for Him.

Jesus said that our heart's desires for family associations must become secondary in order to know the tremendous love that he offers to us. God's family must come even before our own family. He is worthy of such devotion and love, and the love he offers us and which we find in him more than compensates for whatever temporary pleasure we find in human beings.

Scripture for today: Genesis 29:31-35; Luke 14:25-27
Thought for today: God has prepared a family for us that far surpasses any earthly family we may desire.
Prayer for today: I thank you, Lord, for putting me into your family and satisfying my deep need for love and family.

NOV 27