One of the earliest love triangles recorded is that of Leah, Rachel and Jacob. Having deceived his father and stealing his brother’s birth right with the help of his mother, Jacob had to run away from home. He went to his mother’s relatives to seek refuge; there he saw Rachel and fell madly in love with her. It was, therefore, no surprise when he made an arrangement with Rachel’s father, Laban to have her hand in marriage. Little did Jacob know, that he, the trickster was about to be tricked!
Jacob agreed to working for seven (7) years for Rachel, but after he completed his years of work and earned his bride, he was given Leah! Leah is Rachel’s older sister. Laban pulled a fast one on Jacob. See, Jacob wasn’t aware of the tradition, of the older sister being married first. And so, he had to work another seven (7) years for Rachel, which he did, happily… that’s some love!
There’s a detail I’ve had trouble appreciating on a more personal level. Jacob spent the night with Leah, and didn’t even realise it was Leah until the following morning. He had intimate relations with this woman thinking it was someone else all without realizing! And for that next seven years, Jacob continued with intimate relations with Leah all while working for Rachel. He was with her, but his eyes and heart were elsewhere.
Many times, we aspire to being a Rachel, the one Jacob desired so much, he worked fourteen (14) years for her. We long to be desired as Rachel was. The irony of it all is that thought Rachel was the one desired and loved, the one with Jacob’s eyes and heart, she envied Leah. While Leah’s greatest desire was to be seen by her husband, to be loved by him. Why would a woman who had it all envy a woman who just wants to be loved? The answer, Leah knew how to produce… something Rachel struggled to do.
Both sisters fought for their husband’s heart, so much so that Leah had to get Rachel’s permission to get Jacob even for a night. But once Leah got a hold of Jacob, she produced another child.
The necessity of producing fruit, even in challenging times stood out all through this story. We can never be sure of what we will have to deal with on a daily basis, after all the most constant thing in live is change. We could be having the time of our lives now and in an instant it changes. What do we do? How do we cope? How do we keep producing fruit?
These are critical questions we must all answer, for we are never guaranteed that things will stay the same. It is also important to note that we will have an issue or issues for that matter, it may not be the same as someone else, but it’s something. We won’t have it all. We should appreciate that which we have as Leah did and kept producing. She used that which had and worked it to her advantage.
Will we be brave enough, to walk difficult roads and keep producing along the way? I hope we will and with a good attitude! After all, it’s 2021… on purpose!
