Bleeding Heart

"And God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb" Gen 30:22

God remembered Rachel. Did He forget her? Did He deliberately turn a deaf ear to her pleas for mercy? Or was He too busy to notice her? In case you are not familiar with the Bible story of Rachel, here is a quick review. Rachel was married to Jacob, who was also married to her sister Leah. It happened that after she got married, God closed her womb so she could not have any babies because Jacob loved her more than he loved Leah. Rachel prayed for years and it seemed the more she prayed, the more it happened for everyone else around her. It wasn’t until after her sister gave birth to her sixth son that Rachel conceived her first child. God remembered her after Leah’s sixth son!

Imagine how her heart must have bled for all those years as she watched her sister give birth to so many babies; the feeling of loss she must have felt every time she heard the babies cry; the despondency that must have consumed her as she watched the children play; the questions that burdened her fragile mind as she pondered her situation. Rachel had everything else going for her. She was beautiful and married to a blessed man who loved her. It would have been her dream life except for one thing: she had no children. Worst of all, it seemed God had chosen not to respond to her prayers.

Imagine how it feels to pray for hours, heart wrenching prayers. Your knees hurt from kneeling for too long; your eyes are bloodshot from crying; your throat dries up from talking for too long. Imagine how it feels to emerge from a heart-to-heart session with God only to realize you’ve been talking to yourself. At some point during your prayers, God seemed to have walked out of the room. The feeling of being left in the dark scattered the little thread of hope Rachel was holding onto. Then Rachel turned to Jacob and demanded a son. Now the only man she trusted was offended by her request.

“Am I God?” Jacob responded and walked out the room. She settled on the floor, defeated, all hope lost. What was she thinking by demanding a child from Jacob? Now he was upset with her. She could not longer pour her heart out to him. He would be too angry to hold her through the night when she cried. She lost her confidant and friend to a stupid demand. In the middle of all that, she saw Leah’s son returning home with some love apples. She was famished from all her crying and needed something to eat. Rachel asked for help and received a hot retort.

“You’ve stolen my husband; do you also want to steal my son?

She could hardly believe her ears. Her sister also despised her. Her own blood, her childhood friend had turned her back on her. Her heart sunk with the weight of her loss.

“For your son’s apples, I’d let you sleep with Jacob tonight,” she answered.

She couldn’t care less. Jacob was upset with her. He wouldn’t want to be with her either way, so Leah could have him. She would cry through the night in the quiet confines of her room. Her plan backfired, Leah got pregnant again! This was the last straw. Rachel had made this possible when she offered Jacob to Leah. Rachel could no longer sit in despair. She rose and went to God again. This time He remembered her and answered her prayers. He answered her and gave her a destiny-defining son, Joseph.

If God could remember Rachel, He can remember you. Not only will He answer your prayers, he will answer them in a unique manner. It wasn’t just any child that Rachel had; it was the boy who grew up to become the man of whom the Pharaoh said, “I will put you in charge of my country, and all my people will obey your orders. Your authority will be second only to mine.  I now appoint you governor over all Egypt." 

Have a little more faith in God. He will step in just in time with a distinguished package just for you.