When All Else Fails

August 28, 2011

Genesis 29: 30-35  Jacob lay with Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years. when the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, "It is because the lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now." She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son, she said, "Because the Lord heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too." So she named him Simeon. Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son, she said, "Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons." So he was named Levi. She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son, she said, "This time I will praise the Lord." So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.

Matthew 1: 1-3 A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, Judah the father of Perez and Zerah...

Genesis 49: 29, 31 Then [Jacob] gave them these instructions: "I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite... There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah."

When all else fails, praise God. He will raise up the least. Leah couldn't make Jacob love her, so she finally decided to praise God. He raised her up. She--not Rachel--was buried in the family plot next to Jacob [Gen 49: 29, 31]. Leah--not Rachel--is Jesus' great great... great Grandmother.  [Matt 1: 1-3] Just praise God!

This sermon was delivered at the Pioneer Day service in the Perry Park. At the time, I noted, "One of the most powerful sermons I've ever heard." Pastor evoked so clearly those feelings of desperation we feel when we want to be loved and just aren't. When we want to be the center of someone's life and just aren't. How many of us have thought, "If I just... , s/he'll care or love or appreciate me?" And sometimes, it just doesn't happen. 

But, when you turn your face from self-pity and give thanks and praise for what you DO have, life straightens out. You hold the keys. No one else does. JUST PRAISE GOD.