I'm going running in 10 minutes, so let's see if I can say this concisely:
The moral of Jacob, Rachel, and Leah's story in Genesis 29-33 is not, as I've always believed, "You'll be loved if you're beautiful, and it sucks not to be beautiful because you won't be liked." It was pretty much my favorite story from my children's Bible, and I think it's because I read it to be about a great guy who adores a really pretty girl (named Rachel--haha).
But the more I read the Bible, and after re-reading those chapters yesterday, it is so clear that the Bible is not a book of stories about beautiful, idyllic people. Jacob's life was a wreck! Full of drama that that he caused. But God chose to bless him AND bring Christ into the world through his lineage. And for whatever reason, he did not choose Jacob's older brother who forgave Jacob after Jacob cheated him out of his inheritance. Also, Rachel is not the one God chose to bless. God used one of Leah's sons to bring Christ into the world, and he gave her tons of children (definitely more kids than I hope He gives me!). It dawned on me yesterday that the moral of the story in Genesis 29-33 is that God delights to bless unloved and unwanted people! The Bible is very clearly a story of God's making a ruined world beautiful!
My prayer is that God will embed those truths in my heart. My life would look very different if I truly believed that. I would find delight in the Lord in a way that I don't now because I am too busy trying to be lovely and desirable, when he says that it's okay that I'm not. WHILE I WAS STILL A SINNER, Christ died for me (Romans 5:8). And because of Christ, I am loved and forgiven. That's good news!
