You are not invisible...

          Interestingly, while looking through my Bible to get the settings for this week’s post, my eyes fell on a verse that caught my attention and prompted me to change what I was planning to write about this week. 
         I was looking at the family history of Jacob. Jacob, one of Isaac’s twin sons, had managed to secure the blessing of the firstborn son through deception. Being the younger of the twins, his brother, Esau, was supposed to receive that blessing. However, with their mother’s help, he was blessed instead and Esau vowed to kill him. Jacob escaped to his mother’s family and there met the woman of his dreams, Rachel. After working for his uncle for seven years to receive Rachel as his wife, he was tricked into marrying the eldest daughter, Leah instead. When he complained, he was also given Rachel only after agreeing to work for seven more years.
         Here’s the interesting thing. It was not their fault things happened the way they did. They could not change it but had to learn to live with it as best they could. I imagine Leah felt uncomfortable to be thrown into this situation. It was clear to everyone who Jacob really loved and she must have felt alone many times, isolated and rejected. He probably would have done his duty to her as her husband, but she knew how he really felt. 
         At times, we too find ourselves in situations where we know we are not preferred, we know we are not the chosen one, we know that we are just there taking up space. We would all like to feel and be appreciated, accepted, loved, even preferred but some situations in our life do not always work out like that. 
         But, this is the verse that caught my attention as I flipped through the pages of my Bible trying to get my story together: “When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved...” (Genesis 29:31). When no one else saw or cared, God saw, God noticed, and He cared...
         Sometimes, it feels as if we are alone, as if we are invisible. We may go through life battling as best we can, striving as best we can, and yet ... smiling all the way. Leah must have gone through her daily routine as best she could all the while seeing and knowing that her husband preferred her sister over her. She knew she wasn’t good enough, special enough, pretty enough. But that was her opinion. God saw her and even though she was pushed into a marriage her husband did not want, God had a plan.
         That line, “When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved...” is a powerful one. It sets the stage telling us that something is about to happen. God saw and God was getting ready to make a move. Even when we think that no one else is seeing, God is seeing and getting ready to act on our behalf.
         God did not choose to make her husband love her, instead he chose to open her womb and bless her with children while her sister was barren. Now let’s get something clear, God did not hate Rachel, but He did have a plan for Leah. As Leah produced child after child she kept hoping her husband would love her but that did not happen. Finally, she shifted her eyes to the One who truly loved her, God Himself, and named her fourth son, Judah, which means “praise.” God, the lover of her soul, was able to do much more than her husband could do for her. He favored her by blessing her with children so that she did not face additional shame in the community because of barrenness. And that’s not all. He positioned her, the unloved wife, to be in Jesus’ bloodline because that same child, Judah, was the bloodline through which Jesus, the Messiah, was born.
         God always has a bigger plan for our pain, for our loneliness, for whatever challenge we may be facing. Even in our darkest places, even in our challenging times, God sees, and God is setting Himself up to act on our behalf. Our prayers may seem to be falling on deaf ears, our tears may seem invisible but that is just our perception. It may seem to be taking a long time for Him to respond but He will. Even our period of waiting is part of His plan because there are things He is working in us while we wait. 
         So, remember God sees and is concerned about EVERY detail of your life. Nothing with Him goes unnoticed and He even has a plan for those ugly areas in your life. Like I love to say, nothing with God is wasted. He will truly work all things together for our good.
         If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as Lord and Savior, please take the opportunity to do so now. Believe it or not, even those hidden, unpleasant things, God sees and He has a perfectly beautiful plan for them.

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