Then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east. (29:1)
As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things, and Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month. Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be? … Jacob loved Rachel. And he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” (29:13–15, 18)
Everything was going according to plan. Jacob was welcomed by his relatives. He is working with/for them, and his uncle asked him what he would like his wages to be. He offers to work for his uncle for seven years, in exchange for marrying his uncle’s younger daughter, Rachel. His uncle agrees. Jacob works for seven years (and here comes the most romantic verse in the Bible) “and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her” (Genesis 29:20). Awww!
But then his uncle tricks him and gives him Leah, the older daughter. How did Jacob not know this until the morning after? She was brought to him in the evening, when it was presumably dark – they didn’t have electric lights – maybe Jacob’s senses were somewhat dulled with wine from the celebration?
Imagine Jacob’s outrage at having worked for seven years for one wife and finding that he’s been given another. When he confronts his uncle, the latter’s response is that it is not customary in their country to marry off the younger daughter before the older one. But after he “completes the week” for Leah, he is given Rachel and then must work another seven years for her.
I’m sure we’ve all experienced times where bad outcomes are the results of our bad decisions, but sometimes we are thrown into bad circumstances through no fault of our own. In Jacob’s case, he was promised Rachel for seven years of labour, he did his part, but was given her sister. He did nothing wrong. This happened to him and was someone else’s doing.
Sadly, in this broken world, bad things sometimes happen to us. People have failed us, not shown up, mistreated us, not come through with a promise. How are we going to handle the negative impact of someone else’s wrong? There is only one healthy way that I know of: bring it to God. Tell Him our pain, ask Him for guidance. He gives it. And He is always with us.
The time I felt His Presence the most in my life, was in a moment when someone caused me extreme emotional pain. Late at night, when everyone else in our home was asleep, I went to the quiet, dark living room and lay prostrate, face down on the floor, praying this prayer: “Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!” And I felt the Lord’s presence, along with the words, “I know.” And since He has suffered unbelievably, I knew that He did know. And it was extremely comforting.
Prayer: Lord, help me to keep keeping on through the hard things that come my way through no fault of my own. May I continue to walk with You and trust You to bring good out of all things, as You promise.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
