from unknown to my homegirl.

on the eleventh day of the she reads truth: women of the bible (part one) plan, the devotion is centered in on leah. in all honesty, i didn't know much about her beforehand. i've read the bible from cover to cover, but she never stuck out to me like rahab or esther or mary. after reading though the appropriately-titled devotion, from unloved to beloved, leah went from unknown to my homegirl. out of all the women in the bible, i can relate with leah the most, especially in this season of my life. God opened my eyes, in a way only He can do, and showed me that His Word is alive and relevant, even in the midst of a society that tries to belittle, mock, and re-word scripture to justify their sin.

why i can relate to leah. (genesis 29:14 - 30:21)

she was overshadowed by rachel's beauty.  leah's sister was beautiful and caught the attention of jacob. in present day times, she'd probably be voted homecoming queen & best looking, and every guy would want to date her. and then there's leah. i've had many leah moments. like when a guy asked me to winter formal in high school, but decided to take someone else two days later... a prettier someone else. my fragile teenage heart was broken. we've all had moments when we felt like leah. we are women, after all. we have the uncanny ability to compare from the top of our head to the tips of our toes and everywhere in between to anyone with two x chromosomes.

she was unloved by her husband. i haven't been married, but i have loved someone who didn't love me back. that sting of rejection left a scar on my heart, but God's provision actually saved me further heartache from a guy who was all kinds of wrong.

her 'happily ever after' was shattered. leah's father tricked jacob into marrying her. then her husband rejects her because he's in love with her sister. despite the pain of rejection, she saw past the hurt and failed expectations and chose to praise the Lord. she turned her attention from an unloving husband to the loving Almighty. this is how i relate to leah the most. for years, i pictured the fairytale story for my life: graduate from college, get married, have kids, live a happy life. but here's the thing about those plans -- they weren't God's plans. looking back, i see how God used the good and the bad of situations and circumstances to shape and mold the woman i am today. could He have done that if i had a husband? probably. but He didn't. this is the path i am on. and just like leah, now i praise the Lord. sure, rachel had beauty and admiration from a man, but leah sought the Lord. i know from experience that one of those roads leads to heartache; the other to a Love so big that it consumes you and gives you life. leah, as well as myself, didn't get the storybook ending she'd hoped for, but she still praised the Lord. i, too, will praise His great name because He is so, so good. He is worthy to be praised.