LIFE SCRIPTS

31 When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless. 32 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.” 33 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Because the Lord heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. 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 borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi. 35 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.
Genesis 29:31‭-‬35 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/gen.29.31-35.NIV.

The Lord sees and hears. It’s so practically depicted in this scripture. He saw that Leah was not loved. So he enabled her to conceive. However, Rachel remained childless. Why did God do so? He knew that in real sense, Jacob loved Rachel. He knew that he had been tricked to marry Leah instead of Rachel. Wasn’t He seeing that Jacob was wronged? Didn’t He see Jacob’s misery too? Well God’s thoughts are higher than ours. Inasmuch as Jacob was tricked into marrying Leah, he was married to her anyway. Probably the tension between them was so palpable that it could have split them. So God chose to give children to Leah instead of Rachel. This is a passage which directly speaks of God deliberately opening up the womb of one woman to give birth. Though the love wasn’t there, it would grow in the midst of raising a family. It seemed as if Leah was so thankful to God even as she delivered her son’s. Their names had significance and meaning. Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah. Their names were pronouncements about the Lord’s doing in her life. Infact it was through Judah that the bloodline of Christ would descend from. Commitment to marriage and family is not a function of feelings but of true love and responsibility. Perhaps it could have been easier to paint a rosier picture of a family if Rachel was the one having kids. However God’s ways are much higher than ours. Family is commitment to one another even when the spark seems absent. Love is not a feeling but a doing word. For those of us who are married, love towards our spouses is not always defined by feeling good about them but by doing good to them in spite of how we feel about them. Once married, know that it is a commitment to love for good. What about those of us who err and sire kids out of wedlock (before being married)? Well, I believe that it will please God if we try our level best to show love to the mother of the child. If there’s agreement, the two could formalize their union in order to raise a godly offspring. God will grow their love for each other as they choose to commit. However if it’s not practically possible then it’s good to release each other in peace but remain committed to responsibility over the child in accordance to the law of the land. God’s desire is for marriage to work. Probably arranged marriages like the one between Jacob and Leah might not work in some setups today but the seriousness of the marriage commitment still stands before God.