For Day 4 of our 2019 Wrapped plan, we asked our Social Media Manager to uncover the community’s most shared reading of 2019. This reading comes from our summer study, Women and Men in the Word: Old Testament and tells the story of Rachel, Jacob’s wife, and her struggle to bear children for him.
Women and Men in the Word: Old Testament Day 12 | Rachel
Laban really gave his daughters a raw deal. He tricked Jacob into marrying Leah, sentencing both of his girls to one truly heartbreaking marriage. Instead of enjoying sweet accord between husband and wife, both women got crowded into a bitter, vengeful squeeze of marital misery. One wife is just the right number of wives, but one man, two sisters, and their maidservants to boot is a cramped relationship for sure. Indeed, the normal strains of marriage are quite enough without having to engage in a fertility contest with your own sister—a fertility contest that Rachel was losing. The stats were 10 to 0 against Rachel before Joseph was finally born.
Once a month, my husband goes out for an evening with his friends to discuss literature. But by the time he gets home at 10pm, I’ve had quite enough of sharing him with others. Marriage is a tight circle of two. Rachel and Leah were both denied the sweet intimacy that can only exist when two people are alone in a marriage. They likely both felt forgotten by their husband and by God. And forgotten is a feeling that we can all identify with. People will absolutely forget us. Terrible marriages, absent parents, distracted friends, and even children can pass over us as they forge ahead in life.
But there is One who does not forget. God remembers His people. God remembered Rachel (Genesis 20:22). And in Scripture, when it says that God “remembers” someone, it means that He is going to intervene and help. When God remembers, He takes action (Genesis 9:15; 19:29; 30:22; Exodus 2:24, 32:13; Psalms 25:6–7; 74:2). Even though Rachel seems to only be asking Jacob for help, it is God who remembers Rachel. He remembers, He listens, and He opens her womb (Genesis 30:1,22).
In the weirdest and most uncomfortable situations—in the deepest, saddest days—God remembers and listens. It goes without saying that His action may not be what we are asking for or what we think the situation requires, but in His sovereignty, He listens and remembers His people.
Rachel died in childbirth when Benjamin was born. She fought with Leah for her entire married life. She didn’t get to grow old with the man she loved. It was Leah’s son, Judah, whose descendants formed the line of Christ. Rachel’s life probably did not turn out at all like she had hoped. But she was remembered by God.
Life isn’t about us and what we are doing. It is easy to forget that just because things have not gone as we hoped, that does not mean that we are forgotten or abandoned. Indeed, God builds His kingdom even amidst our dashed expectations.
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56 thoughts on "The Community’s Most Shared Reading"
Churchmouse,
Your thoughts and words could have come from my own heart. But “God has prepared me for a time such as this.” And He is faithful to lead me thru each season with its challenges and struggles. Thank you for your heart rendering words used by God to touch my soul.
May He continue to hold us fast in 2020.
Thank you Tina!
Agreed! Thank you, Tina ❤️
There are times when I have felt invisible. You know those days, those seasons- the ones where you are so busy care-giving others that you suddenly realize no one is much caring for you. Caring in the seasons of my life – those young children years of utter dependence that become the preteen and teenage years of angst and then the young adult years of finding their way and moving on and out. Yes I was needed and the days were full of guiding and correcting and teaching and in the midst of putting out the wild fires and kindling new ones at the hearth, I felt under-appreciated. You too? We mother our children and we love it but it’s exhausting and then we have parents and friends who need a sort of mothering as well. And in the midst of the self pity party it’s easy to feel invisible and as if all the effort is of minimal consequence and so let’s all run away.
Whew. Glad I got that off my chest. Sometimes a girl’s just gotta vent.
Now, back to reality. Because while my reality certainly involved all of the above that wasn’t all it was or is.
There have been such holy tender moments in the midst of all the mothering and caring where I felt overwhelmed by a love I didn’t deserve. This love stopped me in my tracks and blew me away. My efforts weren’t unappreciated really and my life wasn’t falling apart – it was falling into place. My perception changed when I started to see the seasons of my life as not just an inevitable chain of events but as a high and holy calling from God. That brought purpose in the midst of the mundane. I wasn’t overlooked at all – God was constantly looking over me, caring for me, guiding me, correcting me, teaching me- just as I was doing for my people. I talked to Him and read His Word and we had such conversations (you can imagine!) and there was some shaking of my head and of my fists but He held me and I held on to Him. He was and is front and center because all was given to me by Him for His good reason. He has me here for such a time as this. I have a rich life of great depth because He has called me deeper. My life is not without difficulty and not without complaining but it is good. Because He is good. All the time. He sees me. All the time. I am never invisible. And I truly never have been. I don’t want to run away. I run to Him. He calls me His beloved. And only Someone who fully sees and knows me can call me that.
Thank you for this, Churchmouse. Our pity parties (or stinkin thinkin) tend to make things worse-certainly our behavior. The answer is found in Philipians 4:8&9
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”
Philippians 4:8-9 NLT
And only keeping our focus on the Lord brings us peace. May we all have 2020 spiritual vision!! Happy New Year to all!
Tina – so glad to see you back! ❤️ I’ve missed your commentary. You are treasured loved and precious indeed!
Beautifully written, Tina! When you talked about the abundance of water, I thought that He is Living Water. I had my idea of what I thought that meant. I’m thinking we need water to survive physically, but without Living Water we are spiritually dead. I guess physically too. He is the Giver of life, In Him, we live, and move, and have our being. Well, I decided to look up some information about Living Water, and here is what I found. https://ourrabbijesus.com/articles/living-water/
Lots of things I didn’t know! Hope this blesses anyone that reads this with a deeper love and awe of Him.
This was a beautiful thought, Tina, thanks for sharing!
Yesterday as I drove to pick my grandson up from a friends, I was talking to God about 2020 and what it holds..
“So is this the year Mr Right comes along” I asked.. “I feel like I am here, but have no one to share with, no one to hold and comfort me, or just plain old hold my hand.. it’s a lonely life i have..”
Straight back came the response..”But you are not alone”
I have long since stopped measuring my life, based on what i have or dont have, to be honest, I am not prone to be envious of others, what they have, titles, positions etc. That stuff has never interested me, I am me and this is my life!
I think secretly though, though it’s not secret (lol)i long for another to walk alongside me, to support me, to encourage me, to love and only have eyes for me..
I often feel worthless… unlovable, forgotten, and as the years move on, as the new decades roll in and the wrinkles on my face appear, I have a fear that this is my lot, this is me..
But God..
See how quick he responded. You are not alone!
Amen and Thank you God.
Churchmouses’ verse from Isaiah (43:19)yesterday has been one that I hold close..
Watch for the new thing I am going to do. It is happening already — you can see it now! I will make a road through the wilderness and give you streams of water there.
Funny it was the verse of the day on you version, I highlighted it again and even added a picture from a holiday in the summer.. a very apt picture,looking through some woods, but beautifully, in the distance beyond some wild flowers was an abundance of water.. one of my favourite pictures from that holiday!
I am not forgotten. Never have been. Never will be. I am not alone. And though the world has a picture perhaps of love, that I hanker for, I already have the real deal.. the original.. the best.. a love on which my hope is built, a love that never let’s go, even when I might.. in truth, the forever, unconditional Love of God..
I have just realized, Thank you Lord God, that I am pretty much unforgettable to God.. and not because of anything I’ve done.. A double Hallelujah to that!
Poor Rachel, her life was marred by her fsthers deceit.. and when what she had fought most of her life for arrived, she died in childbirth.. did she ever have or know joy.. did she for a moment know peace..
I do hope so!
Thankful that I am not in a place of fighting the enemy for my dream or hope..Thankful for a God who is bigger than my worries, and as I write, is beginning a new thing, whatever that looks like..
Looking forward..
Thank you Lord God. Thank you..❤
Dear hearts, He sees you! You are not alone.
Happy Thursday with love..❤
Tina, thank you for your inspiring message! Happy New Year
This is so encouraging. Thank you for putting heart to paper for us. Praying that this year brings a nearness to the Lord unlike anything you’ve ever experienced.
Thank you Tina! You have said it so perfectly ❤️
Thank you Tina for sharing! I needed to hear that today!
Tina- Same here! Last week, I was reading Isaiah and I had a different sense about what it means to be chosen by God as “His”. Probably because my son recently married and wedding stuff is still all around the house, but suddenly the idea of God choosing me looked more like Him selecting me as His above all others…. not just one of many, but He selected me specifically to love and cherish, just a my son selected his bride.
Thank you for your honesty and vulnerability, Tina. Over the last year or so, I have fought to believe that God hasn’t forgotten me. He truly does have a plan and I have not been overlooked. It’s been a hard-fought battle, and I’m probably still fighting for the truth at times. I just turned 40 a month ago and I have always desired to be a wife and mom. God hasn’t answered that prayer yet. I don’t know why. It’s really hard not to feel forgotten by God, especially when everyone around me has seen Him answer prayers in very specific ways. But He is good and He does love His children, which includes me as well. He does have a plan, I just wish I knew what that plan was. So I continue to fight for truth and hope. I continue to make every effort to center myself on who God is according to scripture. He is good and He remembers.
I have also been in the same boat, Tina, and then when I started not caring as much about making the right one appear, he did. And, if he hadn’t come along, I would be OK with that, too, and find out the blessing in that. Either way, life has a beautiful plan for you. God bless you.
Wow! Did I need to hear this!! You spoke so much of the same feelings and thoughts that I have been thinking!! I too am alone and want a partner to share life with… I pray some of the same prayers as you have Tina! But just the other day I thought, but now I realize it was God speaking back to me. I am right where God wants me to be! A place where I can learn to lean on Him! A place where He can and wants to carry my worries and burdens if only I will give them to Him! He’s teaching me so much …. in what some have called this time of life as Sunset years. Whatever it’s called is fine, I’m just glad to have the time with Him! Thank you Lord for not forgetting me!
Thank you Tina for this wonderful eye & heart opening!! ❤️
Tina,
You are right, because God has not forgotten you. He is worth following regardless of the waiting and the lack of what you desire. I know God is blessed as you are fighting to keep your faith in the right place. I want to share with you that I was waiting for a husband for a very long time I was in my 40s my parents had died and I was pretty sad. Three weeks after my father died is when I met the man that I married. It was crazy that it happened then. I’m not giving you a formula but what I am saying is that we just never know what is around the corner. God is faithful keep pressing into him and you will never regret it. And he loves you whole bunches.
Tina ❤️ Thank You
Thank you so much for your wise words and sharing them with us!
❤️