I Am Honored

Beloved People of God,

I never tire of seeing God at work in our lives. Too often (like most), I only want to see the ends, but the means are where the details shine. Leah’s life is a testimony to this. She grew up in a dysfunctional family, the daughter of father who never saw her worth, treating her as a commodity for his financial future. She spent the early years of her marriage frustrated and alone, praying God would make her husband care and heal the wound of her loveless pain. Leah’s life shows us wounds are where the light shines through. As Leah lamented the injustice of her life, the radiance of God’s presence shone through her, revealing His loving character to her and a thousand generations (Deuteronomy 7.9). 

From the very beginning, God gave Leah a voice. We see this in the name of her children. It’s through this naming that we see the first ray of light shining through the darkness at Judah’s birth. Praising, Leah found her worth rooted in God’s love above and beyond all other relationships. What had been withheld in human deficiency was amply offered in the Lord (Issachar), and to whatever end, God honored her (Zebulun) where others failed.

It should come as no surprise that the God who uses the weak things of the world to shame the strong would choose Leah, the marginalized matriarch, to bring about His redemptive plan for all humanity (1 Corinthians 1.27)! Through her the Lord gave the Law (through Moses of Levi). Through her descendants Tola (of Issachar) and Elon (of Zebulun) His people lived at peace 33 years during the time of Judges. And through David (of Judah) God built an everlasting throne for His Messiah. And in the fullness of time, in the lands of Zebulun, Jesus would first proclaim the Good News—fulfilling the prophesy of Isaiah—and people who walked in darkness would see a great light! (Isaiah 9.1-2).

But back up for a second? That’s the ends. Leah never saw any of that. She never saw beyond her days. Her children, the great men and women who shook and shaped the world, came later. All she knew (all we know) was the love of God here and now. And that was enough.

For Christ the King, 

Brett