Perhaps youâve seen the video of the little boy who learns heâs getting another sister. In the middle of his meltdown he laments, âItâs always girls, girls, girls, girls!â
The story gives an amusing glimpse into human expectations, but thereâs nothing funny about disappointment. It saturates our world. One story from the Bible seems especially steeped in disappointment. Jacob agreed to work 7 years for the right to marry his bossâs daughter Rachel. But after fulfilling his contract, Jacob got a wedding night surprise. In the morning he discovered not Rachel but her sister Leah.
We focus on Jacobâs disappointment, but imagine how Leah must have felt! What hopes and dreams of hers began to die that day as she was forced to marry a man who did not love or want her?
Psalm 37:4 tells us, âTake delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.â Are we to believe that God-fearing people are never disappointed? No, the psalm clearly shows that the writer sees injustice all around him. But he takes the long view: âBe still before the Lord and wait patiently for himâ (v. 7). His conclusion: âThe meek will inherit the landâ (v. 11).
In the end, it was Leah whom Jacob honored and buried in the family grave plot with Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah (Gen. 49:31). And it was through the lineage of Leahâwho in life thought she was unlovedâthat God blessed the world with our Savior. Jesus brings justice, restores hope, and gives us an inheritance beyond our wildest dreams.