December 29, 2022
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When I was a teenager, you could tell a girl was going steady by the fuzzy ring around her neck. And when our son started going with a girl, she just got his jacket; football jacket - the one he earned with blood, sweat, tears, and my money. But you could tell this girl was going with my son; the jacket had his name on it. I have to tell you though, it was slightly amusing. See, my son was a big lineman. She swam in that coat! And she wasn't the only one. We had a lot of girls in our school who were dating athletes, and they wore their jackets as a symbol, "Hey, I belong to him. He's mine." But it didn't look that great on most of them. No. You know, wearing what a man gives you for security may not be the best fit for you.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Love Lets You Down."
Our word for today from the Word of God. We're in Genesis 29. Let me give you some background. Jacob has worked seven years to earn Rachel's hand. He didn't realize until he lifted the veil on his wedding night he'd been deceived. He had married the sister, Leah, who was not Miss America or Miss Israel. So he had to work seven more years to get Rachel, the one he really wanted. Now he's got two wives. The Bible says, "Rachel he loved. Leah was unloved by him." But Leah, like every woman, had a very deep love hunger.
I read now from our word for today from the Word of God, Genesis 29:31. "When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, He opened her womb. But Rachel was barren. Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, 'It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.'" Interesting isn't it? She's looking to this man for the love and the identity she needs and she's coming up empty.
Well, then, she finally has another baby. And it says in verse 34, "Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, 'Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have born him three sons.' So he was named Levi. Again the man does not give her what she needs. Finally in verse 35, "She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, 'This time I will praise the Lord.'" See, Leah had hoped to find her identity in Jacob's love. She didn't get it. But finally, after three times of counting on a baby to secure her man's attention, she refocuses her love hunger from Jacob to Jehovah; from her husband to her Heavenly Father.
There's many a woman who has been disappointed by a man. There's frustration, there's bitterness. If you're a woman, maybe you've been hurt by a father whose love or approval you could never seem to win, or maybe a boyfriend or a husband has let you down like Jacob did with Leah. Or maybe you've been abused, betrayed, or abandoned. It could be you've had positive relationships with the men in your life but they still haven't been able to be all you need.
Leah, like so many women, was looking at the wrong place for identity. No woman was ever meant to derive her identity and worth from the approval of a man. She said, "I'm going to turn to the Lord." Maybe that's what He's asking of you. The jacket that reflected some of my son's identity didn't fit the woman in his life. She was never meant to find her identity in being his girl. Every woman is headed for disappointment and chronic insecurity if she's trying to define herself by some man in her world.
It's a liberating day when you discover that no man could do for your worth what the Lord can do. He loved Leah; her man didn't. He gave her His divine blessing when her man wouldn't give his. Learn from Leah. Don't waste time trying to find your identity in the fickle, fragile love or approval of people. Look beyond them to the Lord. Start drawing on Him for all you need. You're a unique masterpiece creation of a loving God. In fact, you were worth dying for. What you get from any man is just a bonus.
Maybe you've never experienced the love of Jesus for yourself. Tell Him today, "Jesus, I'm yours." Our website, I think, will help you get started with Him. It's ANewStory.com. Be sure that you bring your love hunger to the only One who will never disappoint you. He is your Savior. He is your Shepherd. He is Jesus Christ.