If ever you are feeling bad about your own family dynamics, the story of Jacob, Rachel, Laban, and Leah should help you feel better. This one has it all: love, jealousy, manipulation, favoritism, infertility…In these verses, Jacob, who, in younger years, had tricked his brother, Esau, out of his inheritance, now gets a taste of his own medicine. Because of our 21st century western sensibilities, this whole situation seems wrong – Jacob falling in love and wanting to marry his cousin, men bartering for ownership of women without any input from the one affected most, polygamy, a woman’s value determined by her ability to produce offspring…
What lessons might there be for you in this passage? Today, offer a prayer of healing, forgiveness, and peace among families. May this prayer be for your own family and for all families.