Bibledoorajar Observes God's Next Move

The "score" according to the sisters is now Leah: 4, Rachel: 0. But according to the power of God it is not a score but a step in a process of grace and mercy that will ultimately form the foundation of the nation of Israel. God, having redeemed Leah, and made her to feel she is His, and that He is totally aware of her and her needs, will still move in His power. However, after four sons, He does close the womb of Leah but not before she realized that, though unworthy, she was truly blessed by God. It was God that set His love on her, not Jacob. God had something else to which He must give His attention. That something was Rachel and her attitude toward her sister and their husband.    

With a score of 0, Rachel was having a hard time coping. Jacob's great love for her may have been rewarding, but apparently it was not enough to quell the envy boiling up within. She took stock of the situation and found herself wanting. Her great envy became evident when she retaliated against her husband. As Yoda said in Star Wars, "envy leads to jealousy, jealousy leads to hate, hate leads to anger, anger leads to the dark side." Well, Jacob saw (and probably felt) Rachel's dark side. With great anger, Rachel demanded of him, "give me children, or I am going to die!" Jacob was flabbergasted. He told Rachel that she had confused him with God, that it was God that was denying her what she wanted. But here in the story, alas, we are told not that Rachel humbled herself and sought God. We are simply told of her second option if Jacob could not be God for her.

Envy led God's people to turn over Jesus to Pilate.  Matthew 27:18 reports that Pilate knew they had turned Jesus over to him because this "green-eyed monster" dwelt in their hearts. Their darkest side cried out to save the criminal, Bararbbus, not Jesus. The Bible lists envy as one of the deadly sins. In Proverbs 14: 30 we read:
         
 " A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones."

The goal is to approach life peacefully, content in whatever state we find ourselves. I once her a preacher tell a story about a Christian woman who lived next door to an atheist. Every day he heard her shout praise the Lord and it grated on his nerves. There came a time when the Christian experienced financial reversals, even to the point of having no food. One morning, as she arose and went to her porch, she found groceries. She, of course, praised the Lord! This infuriated the atheist and he said,
 "there is no God, I put the groceries there!" The Christian lady praised the Lord and said, "Lord, not only did you supply me with food, You made Satan pay for them!" The atheist could not disturb her peace. I pray all, including myself, will have just this attitude this week no matter what challenges are before us.