The story of Leah,
Jacob’s first wife, was a thought-provoking subject in order to uncover the
best approach to deal and overcome hurts and pains brought about by personal
and external factors (Genesis 29:16-30). Here are three things that I found
interesting and helpful on how people typically deal with hurts and
discouragements in their lives:
a)
They deny to the bones – “That
didn’t hurt me. I’m not mad.”
b)
They will delay until the right
moment of retaliation – “I’ll deal with that later. I don’t get mad I get
even.”
c)
They will try to minimize the
emotions and restrained their emotions to the maximum possibility in keeping it
– “It’s no big deal. It didn’t hurt so bad.”
William Ward wrote
in Today in the Word (April, 1989, p. 18) about discouragement and defined it
this way: Discouragement is dissatisfaction with the past, distaste for the
present, and distrust of the future. It is ingratitude for the blessings of
yesterday, indifference to the opportunities of today, and insecurity regarding
strength for tomorrow. It is unawareness of the presence of beauty, unconcern
for the needs of our fellowman, and unbelief in the promises of old. It is
impatience with time, immaturity of thought, and impoliteness to God.
How about you
folks? What’s your typical style of dealing with hurts and discouragements that
come in your life? In looking at Leah’s story, we can glean pivotal life
lessons from how she handled every hurt and discouragement in her life. To
begin with, Leah wasn’t much to look at and by observing closely the biblical
account of her life; she looked differently from her beautiful sister Rachel
and was fully aware of it. Next, she was always in second place, inferior and
not shown much affection, even though she was first born. And to make matters
worse, she got married through deceit and not loved by Jacob at all, having
been forced to become her husband due to family customs. However, Leah rose above
this personal dilemma, maybe through self-talk or by just knowing she was loved
by her God. In addition, the most important event that happened to Leah that no
one can ever be taken away from her is the fact that from her offspring—Judah
(Genesis 49:10), came the Ancient of Days – Jesus Christ. Wow! Imagine that out
of the unloved, the second rate and the ugly came the Savior of the world!
So what can we
learn from Leah’s experiences in today’s world? Here are some tips: (a) genuine
encouragement must be obtained from God because when you learn from your hurts,
others will be encouraged; (b) rising up to the next level of perspective must
occur because when you learn from your hurts, you will go to another level; (c)
faith level will increase when God is involved because when you learn from your
hurts, your faith will increase; (d) others will be influenced by your
testimony because when you learn from your hurts, your testimony will become
alive. G.K. Chesterton provided clarity in this matter: “Hope means hoping when things are hopeless,
or it is no virtue at all. As long as matters are really hopeful, hope is mere
flattery or platitude; it is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins
to be a strength.”
What's the bottom
line here? There is absolutely no way to avoid getting hurt or discouraged.
They will come, but the issue is to respond appropriately. In this matter, we
can choose to internalize the hurts and become resentful or we can choose to
strike back and worsen the situation. But the best resolution is always to forgive! Ultimately, the choice is ours to make. Let’s imitate Leah when she
yielded everything to God and in doing so, she was never the same again. And in
all of the things that she went through, they were exactly what made Leah to be
an excellent example to be emulated by God’s people today. Most importantly,
God’s hand and favor believed upon her and that’s all that I mattered to her at
the time when she confirmed it many times.
After everything
is said and done, it is noteworthy to consider that God responded to people in
need and He will always provide the timely help and strength to endure all
challenges at hand. And here’s something to think about as we tread along our
journey in life: When you have nothing left but God, then you become aware that
God is enough. ~Maude Royden.
Let's talk again
soon!
