1st Lady’s Blog: Leah: The Unloved

Women In The Bible Series: Leah: The Unloved

Lesson One: Leah: The Unloved

Hello ladies, and welcome to my blog! This year I am going to write a series called Women of the Bible, where I will explore the lives of some of the Bible’s most notable female characters. I believe every woman’s story can be found in God’s Word – and those stories can bring hope and encouragement. I will touch on some serious topics such as rape, suicide and jealousy, along with some lighter ones such as love, righteousness and more. Together, we can discover what the Lord is speaking to His beautiful bride.

Before we begin, I also want to thank you for joining me throughout last year’s series on Church Decorum. If you like what you read, send me comments and let me know – it encourages me to keep writing!

Taking this journey together,

First Lady Vivian Pruitte

***

Genesis 29

Sitting at her dressing table, she primps her hair just right. She carefully rubs the fragrant oil on her skin. She sprays on his favorite perfume; a least, once it used to be. Looking around the room through the light of flickering scented candles, she looks at the rose petals sprinkled on the bed. She walks carefully over to the dresser, as not to stumble due to the flickering lights. She opens the drawer and pulls out the gown she wore on her wedding night. She slips it on over her head and it gradually drapes her body. “Still fits!” she smiles pleasingly at herself.   She makes her way over to the nightstand and presses the ON button. Soft music floods the room. “I cooked his favorite dinner,” she says to herself. “He will not be able to resist me tonight.” He promised to come home early. But then she remembers.

He has not been home the last two nights.

***

How terrible it is to find yourself in a marriage where your spouse is not in love with you. There is no potion you can buy, or improvement you can make on yourself that will make him love you again. This is the predicament Leah found herself in. She was the unloved wife. She knew that her husband did not really want to marry her and that he did not love her – but that didn’t stop her from trying all she could to make him love her.

Leah made the same mistakes that some of us do when we feel we are losing the affections of our husband. She believed that having children would make her husband love her. She bore Rueben (whose name means “see a son”) and presented him to Jacob. Surely when he saw his firstborn son he would also love his son’s mother. Sadly, this did not make her husband love her.

Leah then had Simeon (God hears), “because the LORD hath heard I was hated,” (v. 33). It still did not make her husband love her. She had another son, Levi (companion), and Leah thought to herself, “Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons,” (v. 34). But sadly, hat was not the case.

Finally, Leah conceived Judah (praise) and she said, “Now will I praise the Lord,” (v. 35). Leah came to a realization. She shifted her focus from her relationship with her husband to her relationship with the Lord. She understood that she couldn’t make Jacob love her. Leah stopped worrying about Jacob and decided to focus on her relationship with God. Haven’t we all fallen into this trap at some point? We get bogged down trying to please people, or make them like us, when our focus should be on God.

More importantly than being loved by her husband, Leah came to peace with how she felt about herself – something only she could do through her relationship with God. By and by, Jacob must have taken notice of Leah and began to develop feelings for her. I say this because, when he was close to death, Jacob asked his family to bury him next to Leah as opposed to Rachel.

After getting over feeling sorry for herself, and after trying to buy her husband’s love, Leah was able to use her precarious situation to strengthen her relationship with the Lord. If you find yourself in a situation where you feel unloved, remember that the Lord loves you more than you can ever imagine. Focus on your walk with Him, and He will work on your relationships with others.