Genesis 29

When God’s promise feels out of reach

So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days. ~ Genesis 29:20

 Life often has a way of testing my patience. I know what it feels like to wait on something I have waited for a long time, only to find myself in situations that seemed unfair or even discouraging. I have even questioned God’s timing and wondered if what I was believing for would ever happen on some of those occasions. Yet when I look back, I see how God used those waiting moments to grow my patience, deepen my trust, and reveal His faithfulness. Much like Jacob, in today’s reading, I discovered that love and purpose carry me through even the hardest and longest periods of waiting.

In Genesis 29, Jacob found himself working seven long years for the woman he loved, and even then, he was deceived and had to work another seven years. Yet in the middle of his waiting, his love for Rachel gave him strength to continue. What could have felt like an unbearable burden instead became a testimony of endurance and hope.

This passage speaks to me today because as I mentioned last week, I have been in a waiting season for what feels like a really long time.  But whatever I go through, whether it is a relationship, healing, financial stability, or a new opportunity. Sometimes it feels like the wait will never end, or that life has handed me something I did not ask for. But just like Jacob, I know I am not forgotten. God sees the love in my heart and the effort I give. He is working in the unseen to bring to my circumstances what He has promised.

Here is how you can get started today if you are in the waiting:

• Choose patience today by trusting that God’s timing is perfect, even when it feels delayed.
• Remind yourself of past breakthroughs where God has come through for you and let that strengthen your faith in this season.
• Focus on love in your daily actions. Just as Jacob’s love for Rachel gave him endurance, allow your love for God and others to fuel your perseverance.
• Resist bitterness when life feels unfair, instead pray for God to give you the strength to continue with joy.
• Stay faithful in the responsibilities you have now, knowing they are preparing you for the greater things ahead.

Today I want to encourage you that God is not blind to your waiting or your weariness. Just as Jacob’s years of labor were not wasted, neither are yours. What you sow in faith and obedience will reap a harvest in its season. Keep your love for God at the center and let it carry you forward. Even when it feels like what you long for is far away, trust that the Lord is weaving a story together for a good greater than you can see right now.

Today’s scripture reading: Genesis 29

1Then Jacob hurried on, finally arriving in the land of the east. 

2He saw a well in the distance. Three flocks of sheep and goats lay in an open field beside it, waiting to be watered. But a heavy stone covered the mouth of the well.

3It was the custom there to wait for all the flocks to arrive before removing the stone and watering the animals. Afterward the stone would be placed back over the mouth of the well. 

4Jacob went over to the shepherds and asked, “Where are you from, my friends?”

“We are from Haran,” they answered.

5“Do you know a man there named Laban, the grandson of Nahor?” he asked.

“Yes, we do,” they replied.

6“Is he doing well?” Jacob asked.

“Yes, he’s well,” they answered. “Look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the flock now.”

7Jacob said, “Look, it’s still broad daylight—too early to round up the animals. Why don’t you water the sheep and goats so they can get back out to pasture?”

8“We can’t water the animals until all the flocks have arrived,” they replied. “Then the shepherds move the stone from the mouth of the well, and we water all the sheep and goats.”

9Jacob was still talking with them when Rachel arrived with her father’s flock, for she was a shepherd. 

10And because Rachel was his cousin—the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother—and because the sheep and goats belonged to his uncle Laban, Jacob went over to the well and moved the stone from its mouth and watered his uncle’s flock. 

11Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and he wept aloud. 

12He explained to Rachel that he was her cousin on her father’s side—the son of her aunt Rebekah. So Rachel quickly ran and told her father, Laban.

13As soon as Laban heard that his nephew Jacob had arrived, he ran out to meet him. He embraced and kissed him and brought him home. When Jacob had told him his story, 

14Laban exclaimed, “You really are my own flesh and blood!” After Jacob had stayed with Laban for about a month, 

15Laban said to him, “You shouldn’t work for me without pay just because we are relatives. Tell me how much your wages should be.”

16Now Laban had two daughters. The older daughter was named Leah, and the younger one was Rachel. 

17There was no sparkle in Leah’s eyes, but Rachel had a beautiful figure and a lovely face. 

18Since Jacob was in love with Rachel, he told her father, “I’ll work for you for seven years if you’ll give me Rachel, your younger daughter, as my wife.”

19“Agreed!” Laban replied. “I’d rather give her to you than to anyone else. Stay and work with me.” 

20So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days.

21Finally, the time came for him to marry her. “I have fulfilled my agreement,” Jacob said to Laban. “Now give me my wife so I can sleep with her.”

22So Laban invited everyone in the neighborhood and prepared a wedding feast. 

23But that night, when it was dark, Laban took Leah to Jacob, and he slept with her. 

24(Laban had given Leah a servant, Zilpah, to be her maid.)

25But when Jacob woke up in the morning—it was Leah! “What have you done to me?” Jacob raged at Laban. “I worked seven years for Rachel! Why have you tricked me?”

26“It’s not our custom here to marry off a younger daughter ahead of the firstborn,” Laban replied. 

27“But wait until the bridal week is over; then we’ll give you Rachel, too—provided you promise to work another seven years for me.”

28So Jacob agreed to work seven more years. A week after Jacob had married Leah, Laban gave him Rachel, too. 

29(Laban gave Rachel a servant, Bilhah, to be her maid.) 

30So Jacob slept with Rachel, too, and he loved her much more than Leah. He then stayed and worked for Laban the additional seven years.

31When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he enabled her to have children, but Rachel could not conceive. 

32So Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, “The Lord has noticed my misery, and now my husband will love me.”

33She soon became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She named him Simeon, for she said, “The Lord heard that I was unloved and has given me another son.”

34Then she became pregnant a third time and gave birth to another son. He was named Levi, for she said, “Surely this time my husband will feel affection for me, since I have given him three sons!”

35Once again Leah became pregnant and gave birth to another son. She named him Judah, for she said, “Now I will praise the Lord!” And then she stopped having children.

Journal:

• What area of my life feels like a long wait right now?
• How can I show love and faithfulness while I trust God’s timing?