~When Morning Comes~

Imagine the sinking feeling you might feel when a beautiful, intelligent, accomplished woman arrives on the scene. She may be the new hire who took a promotion you've worked years to attain. She may be the charming wife of a friend. She may be the mother whose children have impeccable manners and dress. Whoever she is, she shakes your confidence, and ugly feelings of envy and self-loathing rear their heads, if only for a moment. 

Leah came to her wedding night cloaked under layers of bridal veils. But her cover didn't last long: Morning came and her true identity came to light. Jacob was shocked to find that he had been deceived into marrying his beloved Rachel's sister. 

The Bible places the blame squarely on Laban's shoulder's: "He took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob." But did Leah play any part in the deceit? Was she simply obeying a conniving father, was she making the last-ditch effort to win a lover,or- on some hidden level- was she seeking to spite a sister more beautiful than herself? We will never know what kept Leah quiet as she went to marry Jacob, disguised beneath veils and robes, bangles and jewels. But we do know that in the clear light of morning, the game was up for the whole family. 

If Leah hid beneath her veil, Laban hid behind the statues quo. He failed to take responsibility for the pain Jacob, Leah and Rachel were to endure for years. He shifted the blame to his country's customs. And he shamelessly drove a hard bargain to keep Jacob in bondage. Laban's greed overcame common decency. He inflicted permanent and painful scars on his family. 

Do you feel you have to hide your true self to gain a relationship? Perhaps you are elaborately and even beautifully veiling yourself with another person's interests, hobbies, or pursuits to win their affections. Does the equivalent of a beautiful sister and deceitful father make you feel pushed to the sidelines, forced to veil yourself because you are afraid you won't be accepted as you are? 

It could be that, like Leah, you fear that you are unlovely compared to others. But God created you- you are both lovely and lovable just as you are. Today, ask god for the courage to remove the veils covering your heart and recognize the beauty of his image in you. 

-Women's Devotional Bible 

If there are some things you don't like about yourself, it is your choice to let God change it. -Joy

{Genesis 29:23,25}
23 But that night, when it was dark, Laban took Leah to Jacob, and he slept with her. 
25 But 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?”

{Psalm 139:23-24}

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 Point out anything in me that offends you,

and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

{1 John 1:5-7}

5 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.  

6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.  

7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.