Changed in His Presence - Sam Hinn

Praise From the Heart
As the King James version puts it: "Behold, it
was Leah."
What a sight! It was she, the one with the
tender eye. In anger he confronted Laban. "What
is this you have done to me? Was it not for
Rachel that I served you? Why then have you
deceived me?" Laban made excuses but the
bottom line was this: If Jacob wanted Rachel, he
had to serve another seven years.
Jacob served seven more years to get Rachel,
and all during that time he was married to Leah.
But he really didn't care for Leah. She was like
never waking up from a bad dream.
Jacob finally fulfilled his obligation to Laban,
and Rachel became his wife.
Let's stop for a moment and look at all this
from Leah's perspective. Can you imagine what
Leah must have felt like? She knew Jacob didn't
want her. It wasn't her decision to marry him in
place of her sister. Rachel probably hated her,
too. I cannot imagine the pain she must have
suffered during those years. But though all those
around her rejected her, the Lord did not.
And when the Lord saw that Leah was
hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was
barren (Gen. 29:31, KJV).
God gave Leah four children, but He
originally gave Rachel none. During Bible times,
children were a great honor for a woman. The
Lord honored Leah.
With every birth, Leah cried out to God. The
first boy was named Reuben, and she said "The
Lord has surely looked on my affliction. Now my
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