A Tale of 2 Mothers - Happy Mother's Day

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Well, happy Mother's Day, real
life.

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Give a shout to all the moms who
are here today.

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It's such a special day.
Yes, to get to celebrate and

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sorry I'm a little bit I don't
always get to be down

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worshipping with everybody and I
love it so much and that song.

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It just gets me that last song.
It's like man, God put his

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breath in our.
Lungs and we get to give it back

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to him like what an awesome
picture of God.

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So I am so excited I am if I
haven't met you.

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My name is Diane I'm Shawn's
wife and so excited to share

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with you just something God has
put on my heart this Mother's

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Day.
So I think we can all agree on

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something today and it's that
moms are incredible right that

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kind of yes give them a hand
again.

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They don't get enough thanks for
all of the work they do.

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They are the reason that we're
all here.

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They are the reason that some of
us are here and dressed

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appropriately for the day,
right?

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They might be the reason some of
us remembered to come to church

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today.
OK, Like there, there might be

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some of that going on too.
So do a quick poll.

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How many do you would say that
Mom ever fixed something that

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you had messed up?
I forgot something.

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I failed at something.
I fell down.

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I hurt myself.
Yes, I think that's pretty

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consistent.
Moms have this superpower where

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the combination of like a
Band-Aid and a cold paper towel

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and a prayer can fix just about
anything.

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And we're not really sure which
one of those things it was that

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did it right.
All right, one more who has who

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has a mom who has a special dish
that nobody else on earth can

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make the same way.
Well, now Sean's looking at his

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mom because I don't think it's
because it's really good.

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I think it's actually gets
really bad.

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For some of us.
I love my mother-in-law.

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I really do.
She's great.

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She's so great.
But I know now I'm going to go

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buy her flowers.
It's going to be a great

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afternoon.
We're going to have so much fun.

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Yeah.
Hey, we got you some flowers.

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It's going to be great.
So that dish, right.

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Like you might have gotten even
gotten the recipe for mom and it

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doesn't matter.
You can't make it the same way

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that she made it.
And moms just really carry

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something that's irreplaceable.
It's often.

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Unseen and you can't.
Put your finger on it.

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But it's woven in the background
of all of the ordinary

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day-to-day things that we do.
It's so special.

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We can't explain it, but they
make such a huge difference.

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So we hope that you feel honored
today.

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We love the moms in the house.
We want to celebrate all of the

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ladies across this space for all
that they do.

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And so happy Mother's Day to all
the awesome moms out there.

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Yeah, one more hand.
Let's give them a hand.

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So today we are going to talk
about a story about two moms.

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But the story is really one for
every person in the room.

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Of course, moms, but maybe those
waiting to be moms, maybe those

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who have lost their mom, maybe
those who are in a complicated

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relationship with their mom or
whose mom never quite showed up.

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Or maybe just any one of us
today who needs a reminder that

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no matter what circumstances
we're in, that God is here and

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he wants to show up in those.
And so this story today is not

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really the Hallmark Channel
version of Mother's Day.

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It's real life.
And real life, as you all know,

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can be a little bit complicated.
So this story is almost kind of

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uncomfortably real.
I like to say it's in the book

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of Genesis.
Barry mentioned it.

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It's a story of two sisters
named Leah and Rachel.

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I've heard some people call her
Leah.

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I can't get that in my brain.
So today she's Leah and Rachel.

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So if I'm my Hebrew is not
right, that's OK, I'm sorry.

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But she's Leah and Rachel today.
And I'm calling it the tale of

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two mothers.
And Sean thought it'd be really

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funny if I said this story
really does have the best of

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sometimes and the worst of times
because it does.

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So I'm not as funny as Sean.
So you'll get some some Sean

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jokes on the backside.
Yes, I am.

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I know it's not my superpower.
It's OK.

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I have other superpowers.
But it made me think about this

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story, looking at this series
that we had been in called

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Theology for the Rest of Us.
And I think this story is one of

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those nods to the credibility of
God's word.

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Because if I was looking back at
the lineage of my family and

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trying to like line down all the
lives and what God had done

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through them to get me where I
am today, this is like a cringe

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worthy account that probably
wouldn't have made it in my list

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of like, let's honor Aunt Leah
and Rachel who had this just

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messy, yucky weirdness.
But what I love about it is God

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doesn't whitewash the lives of
the people in his story.

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His intention isn't to make
these perfect people that we

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never feel like we could attain
to.

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The people in this book are real
people just like us, and they

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screw up just like us.
And I really believe that God

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knew that we would need that
reminder to see that how He

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works through the lives of
people matters so little on our

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own ability and so much on our
ability to trust that He's in

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control and He can do it.
So we're going to dive in.

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Sorry if I talk fast.
I have lots of Bible verses

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today.
Logan gave me an award for maybe

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having almost the most Bible
verses that we put in a message.

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But I really want you to, I
don't know if that's a good

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award or a bad award.
There's lots of it, but I really

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want you to see this story.
So the setup is this Jacob, like

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Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.
Jacob has just gotten the

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blessing from his dad, Isaac.
He has promised to go find

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himself a wife who is still
connected to his family.

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So not a Canaanite woman,
somebody in their family he

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knows about.
His uncle lives in a far off

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town, so he goes off off on the
way for several chapters.

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He has this dream about the
stairway to heaven.

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He's promised all these
descendants, all these things.

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So we're going to pick him up
when he has made his way to town

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and he has run into some
shepherds at a well.

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So we are in Genesis 29.
We are going to start in verse

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9, and we are going to make our
way through most of this

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chapter.
So it says, while he was still

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talking with them, Rachel came
with her father's sheep, for she

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was a shepherd.
And when Jacob saw Rachel, the

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daughter of his uncle Laban and
Laban sheep, he went over and

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rolled the stone away from the
mouth of the well, and watered

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his uncle's sheep.
And then Jacob kissed Rachel,

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and he began to weep aloud,
because he had told Rachel that

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he was a relative of her father
and the son of Rebecca.

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So she ran and told her father,
and as soon as Laban heard the

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news about Jacob, his sister
son, he hurried to meet him.

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He embraced him, kissed him, and
brought him to his home.

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And there Jacob told him all
these things.

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Then Laban said to him, You are
my own flesh and blood.

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After Jacob had stayed with him
for a whole month, Laban said to

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him, Just because you're a
relative of mine, should you

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work for me for nothing?
Tell me what your wages should

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be.
Now here's where we meet our

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sisters.
So in verse 16, Laban had two

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daughters.
The name of the older was Leah

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and the name of the younger was
Rachel.

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It says Leah had weak eyes,
which I will tell you does not

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mean she didn't see well.
It's actually a Hebrew idiom to

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mean she wasn't much to look at.
But it says Rachel had a lovely

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figure and was beautiful.
I know, right?

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I want that to be MyHeritage
like Diane.

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Not much to look at like in
Scripture for all of his.

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No, just hypothetically
speaking.

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So Rachel had a lovely figure
and was beautiful.

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So you can imagine these two
sisters already had some sources

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of contention living this life.
So Jacob was in love with

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Rachel.
We're one month in, he loves her

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and he says I will work for you
for seven years in return for

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your younger daughter Rachel.
Now, men, I want you to let that

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sink in for a little bit.
Like most of you are like, let

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me save up two months wages for
an engagement ring, or how about

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7 years worth of your salary
just to pay the bride price,

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right?
Like that's pretty sorry.

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That's pretty significant, love,
you would say.

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Actually, in this time frame,
the wage of a shepherd would

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have to work about three years
for the average bride price.

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So Jacob's got it bad.
He's like, no, I will work for

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seven years.
I'll do whatever it takes.

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I love this lady.
But so 19, Laban said.

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It's better that I give her to
you than to some other man.

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Classic father-in-law line,
right?

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Like I guess you'll do better
than someone else.

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Stay here with me.
So Jacob served for seven years

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to get Rachel, but they seemed
like only a few days to him

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because of his love for her.
Yes, we can all say so.

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Jacob arrives, meet Rachel.
He's got it bad.

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A month in, he agrees to work
seven years to marry her.

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And this is where the Hallmark
Channel version.

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Oh, thanks.
Sean will say it's not going to

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let me drink this, but it's
vodka.

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Watch out.
And that's what Sean just told

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me.
It's OK.

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For those in the back who
couldn't hear, kind of like

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people are like, are you nervous
about speaking all these people?

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Like, no, I'm nervous because
Sean's right here and I can hear

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what he's saying.
So it's like.

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Oh man, marriage is a blessing
so.

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This, and maybe this is where
the Hallmark Channel version of

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this story wraps up.
He loves her, she loves him.

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He worked seven years, but it
was only just a few days because

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he was so in love, right?
It's almost been 19 years, but

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just felt like a few days.
That's right.

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So chapter 21.
We're going to keep going.

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Then Jacob said to Laden.
Give me my wife.

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My time is completed and I want
to Make Love to her classic

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son-in-law line.
So Laban brought together all of

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the people and gave a huge feast
to celebrate this wedding.

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But when evening came, he Laban
took his daughter Leah and

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brought her to Jacob.
And Jacob made love to her, Yes.

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And when the morning came, it
says there was Leah, much to

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Jacob's surprise.
So Jacob is mad, rightly so.

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Jacob said to Laban.
What have you done to me?

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I have served you for Rachel,
didn't I?

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Why have you deceived me?
Now this is really interesting

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because Jacob's name actually
means deceiver.

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And not too far before this, he
had deceived his own dad and his

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own brother to weasel them out
of his birthright.

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So the deceivers getting
deceived, it's very ironic.

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And Laban's like, oh, it's not
our custom here to give the

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younger daughter in marriage
before the older one.

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Probably like really helpful
information from 7 years ago,

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right?
So why don't you finish this

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daughter's bridal week and then
we will give you the younger one

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also in return for another seven
years of work.

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And so Jacob did it.
Man, he loved Rachel.

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He finished his week with Leah
and then Laban gave him his

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daughter Rachel also to be his
wife.

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Laban gave his servant Bill Hot
to his daughter Rachel as her

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attendant and Jacob made love to
Rachel also and his love for

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Rachel was greater than his love
for Leah.

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And he worked for Laban another
seven years.

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Like this story is crazy.
And Jacob does end up getting

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Rachel for his wife, but not
without some serious collateral

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damage to the lives of both of
these women.

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But.
My favorite, but there's several

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but gods in here.
But God doesn't wait for their

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circumstances to get better or
change to show up and to let

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these two women know that He's
their God and He is with them.

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In verse 31 it says this.
When the Lord saw that Leah was

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not loved, he enabled her to
conceive, but Rachel remained

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childless.
God saw Leah, He saw that she

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had been rejected, He saw that
she was in the middle of a

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situation she never asked for.
He saw her and he moved.

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And I think so much of the
pieces of this story of God

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walking alongside people in
their suffering and in their

225
00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:23,760
circumstances is so we can also
know and have that reassurance

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00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:26,800
that whatever you're walking
through right now, God sees you

227
00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:29,480
too.
Wherever you are, whatever

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00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:32,280
season, as you're waiting for
things that don't seem to be

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00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:35,840
coming together, he's here.
And it doesn't matter if your

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00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:38,600
pain came from your own choices
or choices that those that

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00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:43,160
people had done for to you, God
sees it and I believe he wants

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to create something beautiful
from your pain.

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00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:50,600
So we're here, two sisters, same
house, same husband, both living

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00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:53,120
with circumstances.
They didn't choose what could go

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00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:55,720
wrong.
So this is where our story goes

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00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:58,920
from bad to worse.
Because instead of them focusing

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00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:01,920
in and saying OK I have this
that God has given me, they

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00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:04,160
immediately start looking at
each other.

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00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:07,400
So let's look at verse 32.
It says that Leah became

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pregnant and gave birth to a son
she named him Reuben for she

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00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:14,680
said it is because the Lord has
seen my misery.

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Surely my husband will love me
now who was like what should we

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00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:21,600
name the baby?
How about my misery?

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00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,920
Like you know suffering is a
really great name to name your

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00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:29,000
first born child.
You can see the pain that is in

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00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:31,920
the situation because every
child is named after what's

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00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:35,520
going on in verse 33 it says she
conceived again when she gave

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00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:38,440
birth to a son.
She said because the Lord heard

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00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:41,120
that I'm not loved, he gave me
this one too.

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00:12:41,680 --> 00:12:45,360
So she named him Simeon.
In 34 again she conceived, and

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00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:49,200
when she gave birth to a son,
she said, now at last my husband

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00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:52,760
will become attached to me
because I have borne him three

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00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:55,520
sons.
So he was named Levi.

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00:12:56,280 --> 00:13:00,040
And her pain is palpable here.
Like she like, nobody wants to

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00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:02,440
name their child my suffering,
you know, like, isn't that the

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00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:05,920
name of Hitler's manifesto, you
know, like Mein Kampf, Like this

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00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:08,720
is literally these children,
each one coming out.

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00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:11,520
And they don't just come out,
you know, back-to-back to back.

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00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:16,040
This is a period of years that
you can see that Leah is feeling

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00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:19,600
so unloved and so unworthy.
But.

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00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:24,440
She's not the only one in pain.
Let's look at Rachel in Genesis

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00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:28,240
30 verse one, it says when
Rachel saw that she was not

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00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:32,080
bearing Jacob any children, she
became jealous of her sister.

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00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:36,000
So she said to Jacob, give me
children or I'll die, which

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00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:39,960
might be a little bit dramatic,
but it also shows just how

266
00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:44,000
painful that daily reminder was
of her struggle.

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00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:46,240
And Jacob actually becomes angry
with her.

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00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:49,080
Am I in the place of God who has
kept you from having children?

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00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:52,120
Like, hey, I'm sorry you're
going through this, but I don't

270
00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:54,920
have any control over the
situation and you're mad about.

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00:13:55,800 --> 00:14:00,240
So not only has it been bad,
it's worse because nobody has

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00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:02,720
the life they wanted.
They're joined together and they

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00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:06,000
have a permanent daily reminder
of the pain and struggle they

274
00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:09,640
have been through.
Leah has married, but unloved

275
00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:11,880
because Jacob loved Rachel more,
it said.

276
00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:15,960
And Rachel is loved but barren,
which would be devastating in a

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00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:19,800
culture where the main place of
honor for a woman is to be able

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00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:23,240
to provide heirs for a family.
I mean, Jacob just got a word

279
00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:25,440
from God that they're trying to
build a nation, right?

280
00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:27,920
She's like, I am totally failing
at this.

281
00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:30,840
And so can I be real for a
second this morning?

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00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:33,720
I think that in a room.
This size, there's got to be

283
00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:37,320
some of us that are living in a
life that we didn't choose.

284
00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:42,440
Maybe your marriage is going
harder than you expected that it

285
00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:46,000
would, or maybe motherhood
didn't bring you this peace and

286
00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:48,480
joy that you thought this
fulfillment was going to have

287
00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:50,880
for you.
You might be in a season of

288
00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:53,760
waiting that just feels like it
has gone on and on and on.

289
00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:57,360
Or maybe you're carrying this
quiet grief that nobody sees

290
00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:00,880
because Leah had sons, real
sons, who loved her, but she

291
00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:03,440
couldn't stop looking at what
she didn't have.

292
00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:06,760
And Rachel had love and devotion
and a husband who just

293
00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:10,280
sacrificed so much for her, but
she couldn't stop looking at

294
00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:13,360
what she didn't have.
Both of them were looking

295
00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:16,120
sideways, and it was making them
miserable.

296
00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:20,520
And today, comparison doesn't
just happen among siblings or

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00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:23,040
friends or people that we know
in our workplace.

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00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:25,360
Comparison happens every time we
open our phone.

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00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:28,600
You open a feed and see somebody
who seems to have their life all

300
00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:31,720
together went on another family
vacation or upgraded their house

301
00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:34,560
or their car or they meet you
another milestone or an

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00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:38,480
achievement or any other life.
And it's perfectly filtered,

303
00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:41,960
framed, beautiful way just looks
better than your life.

304
00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:45,200
And suddenly then what you have,
what God's given you, doesn't

305
00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:48,160
feel like enough.
What I'm building isn't enough.

306
00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:52,280
And that turns into then who I
am will never be enough.

307
00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:57,280
And I truly believe that it's
that comparison of my life to

308
00:15:57,280 --> 00:16:00,920
someone else's life to something
else I see that will make me

309
00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:04,760
blind to the prayers that God
has already answered in my own

310
00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:07,240
life.
Each of us has received so many

311
00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:10,960
blessings from God, but
comparison won't let us see it

312
00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:14,560
that way.
So I really wish that in this

313
00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:18,040
story that they made it to
happily ever after, but it

314
00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:22,280
doesn't neatly resolve that way.
The story is so raw and so real,

315
00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:24,880
and I think that there's a real
beauty in that.

316
00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:28,600
But there's an undercurrent
happening here about how God

317
00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:31,360
continues to be present in the
lives of these people through

318
00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:33,160
their struggles and their
circumstances.

319
00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:36,120
Because for both of these women,
in different ways in different

320
00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:40,800
times, God continues to show up.
So like I alluded to, in the

321
00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:43,800
ancient world, names carried A
tremendous meaning.

322
00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:46,440
Every child Leah named was a
window to her heart.

323
00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:49,720
We talked about that in Genesis
2932.

324
00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:52,920
She was pregnant, gave birth to
a son, named him Reuben.

325
00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:56,080
And she said it's because the
Lord has seen my misery.

326
00:16:56,440 --> 00:17:01,480
Her first son's name shows that
she is reaching and she is

327
00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:03,880
hoping, and she's still waiting
to be chosen.

328
00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:06,800
If only I can do these things,
then I'll be loved.

329
00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:10,880
Verse 33 same thing she
conceived again her second son

330
00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:13,880
named because the Lord heard I'm
not loved.

331
00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:17,599
Simeon means God heard that I'm
not loved.

332
00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:21,680
She's naming her pain out loud
before God sharing her struggle

333
00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:26,160
and her third son Levi.
Now at last my husband will

334
00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:29,800
become attached to me.
Levi actually means attached and

335
00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:32,720
she's still hoping and praying
and waiting for this

336
00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:39,360
circumstance to change.
But it's between this point,

337
00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:42,160
verse 34 and then 35, that
something shifts.

338
00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:45,080
And there's something really
incredible in this passage

339
00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:48,040
that's easy to miss if you kind
of fly through it and gloss over

340
00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:50,760
it.
And I've missed it before, But

341
00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:55,200
in verse 35, I don't want you to
miss this, it says that she

342
00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:59,160
conceived again, which is now
her fourth child with Jacob.

343
00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:05,240
And when she gave birth to a
son, she said, this time I will

344
00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:09,800
praise the Lord.
So she named him Judah, Leah's

345
00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:12,040
fourth son.
Judah.

346
00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:16,760
His name means this time I will
praise the Lord.

347
00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:20,640
We don't have any reason to
think that between verse 34 and

348
00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:22,920
35 that anything changed in
Leah's life.

349
00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:25,920
Jacob still loved.
Rachel Moore Leah was still the

350
00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:28,840
one who was never chosen.
But somewhere between Levi and

351
00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:31,640
Judah, something changed inside
of Leah.

352
00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:35,160
She stopped naming her children
after her longing, and she

353
00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:38,160
started naming them after her
God.

354
00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:43,200
She stopped waiting for her life
to change and she's chose to

355
00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:47,960
worship God inside the life that
she had been given.

356
00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:51,600
And I think for so many of us,
like if that thing could be

357
00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:56,080
tattooed on my arm to remember,
to say I need to name my

358
00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:59,880
struggle after my God instead of
letting my struggle identify my

359
00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:02,040
life.
Leah stopped waiting.

360
00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:04,160
She stopped longing and
striving.

361
00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:06,520
This life and these
circumstances might not ever

362
00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:10,840
change, but I am going to make a
decision to choose praise.

363
00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:14,280
I'm going to choose God inside
of this life I have.

364
00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:16,760
And I don't think that that's
pretending that she wasn't in

365
00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:18,920
pain.
She'd already named her pain.

366
00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:21,520
I think she just made a
different choice.

367
00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:25,120
No matter her circumstances, no
matter her pain, no matter the

368
00:19:25,120 --> 00:19:27,960
poor choices of her dad or
anything else that led her to

369
00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:31,680
this point, Leah decided to
praise God.

370
00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:35,440
And I think that's such a
powerful example for us as we

371
00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:38,880
look into what is God asking us
to do today.

372
00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:42,440
And her faith is so inspiring.
But what about our other mom?

373
00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:45,960
What's going on with Rachel
because we're Leah chose to

374
00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:48,760
praise Rachel's story is a
little bit different path.

375
00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:53,320
So in Genesis 30 verse one, we
already saw these first 2 verses

376
00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:55,000
1.
So Rachel saw she wasn't bearing

377
00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:56,920
children.
She said, give me children or

378
00:19:56,920 --> 00:19:59,240
I'll die.
Jacob became angry with her and

379
00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:01,520
said, am I in the place of God
who's kept you from having

380
00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:03,520
children?
And then she said, here is

381
00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:06,560
Bilhah my servant, sleep with
her so that she can bear

382
00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:08,920
children for me and I too can
build a family.

383
00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:12,680
Through her now to our world
context.

384
00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:15,520
This feels really strange.
This was actually a common way

385
00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:18,040
of building a family and
building family wealth in these

386
00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:20,280
days.
Good, bad or ugly, this would

387
00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:23,720
have been a common practice.
So it's not so out there crazy,

388
00:20:24,120 --> 00:20:27,080
but it says that she gave him
her servant Bill Ha as a wife

389
00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:30,120
and Jacob slept with her and
then she became pregnant and

390
00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:32,240
bore him a son.
So Rachel is now getting to

391
00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:36,000
build her nation with Jacob in
her own line.

392
00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:39,240
And Rachel said God has
vindicated me.

393
00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:42,000
He's listened to my plea and
given me a son.

394
00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:44,560
Because of this she named him
Dan.

395
00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:48,600
Verse 7 Rachel's servant Bill Ha
conceived again and bore Jacob a

396
00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:51,600
second son.
And Rachel said, I have had a

397
00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:56,320
great struggle with my sister
and I have one.

398
00:20:56,840 --> 00:21:01,680
So she named him NAFTA Lee.
See, Rachel had already started

399
00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:03,880
with so much.
She was beautiful, she was

400
00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:08,600
desired, she was the one Jacob
chose, and yet she spent even

401
00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:11,480
this part of her life receiving
the blessing from God,

402
00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:15,000
Miserable.
Because she couldn't stop naming

403
00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:17,200
her pain.
She couldn't stop looking at

404
00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:19,640
what Leah had literally named
her child.

405
00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:21,280
Like ha ha, now I'm going to
win.

406
00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:23,120
I'm doing it better than my
sister did.

407
00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:27,920
Like she couldn't be happy.
She ended up manipulating,

408
00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:29,960
bargaining.
She used her servants as

409
00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,040
surrogates just to keep up,
traded her husband's company for

410
00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:36,120
mandrakes, which were like
ancient fertility herbs, because

411
00:21:36,120 --> 00:21:38,560
she was so desperate to have
what Leah had.

412
00:21:39,120 --> 00:21:41,160
And I think you really see as
you walk through this story

413
00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:44,400
throughout Rachel's life that
she was so consumed by what she

414
00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:47,320
lacked and didn't have that she
couldn't receive what she

415
00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:50,680
already had.
But this is my next.

416
00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:54,360
But God, God is so good in this
story because he saw her pain

417
00:21:54,360 --> 00:21:55,840
too.
And he remembered her.

418
00:21:56,080 --> 00:22:00,080
In Genesis 30, verse 22, it says
then God remembered Rachel.

419
00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:03,360
He listened to her and enabled
her to conceive and she became

420
00:22:03,360 --> 00:22:05,080
pregnant and gave birth to a
son.

421
00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:08,360
And she said, God has taken away
my disgrace.

422
00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:12,640
And she named him Joseph and
said, may the Lord add to me

423
00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:15,760
another son like she's in like
this is it.

424
00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:18,400
This is her beautiful moment
where the prayer of so many

425
00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:22,360
years, probably he had gone by
God answers these prayers gives

426
00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:25,440
her the deepest desire of her
heart to carry her own child

427
00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:28,880
with Jacob.
Yet her name for him wasn't

428
00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:31,520
praise.
Her name for him was like, man,

429
00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:34,520
I need God to add me another one
because I'm still trying to

430
00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:37,600
catch up with what God is doing
in Leah.

431
00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:40,360
She's still striving.
She is still in continued

432
00:22:40,360 --> 00:22:44,280
competition with her sister.
And then Rachel's last moment is

433
00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:47,400
really heartbreaking because
some years later Rachel gets

434
00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:49,920
pregnant again.
This is probably the course of

435
00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:51,800
the story takes place over
decades.

436
00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:54,600
You know, we're reading it a few
verses over, but she finally

437
00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:58,000
gets pregnant again.
God added her other son even

438
00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:01,360
gave her granted her the wish of
Joseph's name.

439
00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:06,240
She gets her miracle.
And so in Genesis 3517 and 18,

440
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:09,640
you can slip over there.
It says Enda, she was having

441
00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:14,360
great difficulty in childbirth.
The midwife said to her, don't

442
00:23:14,360 --> 00:23:17,440
despair, for you have another
son.

443
00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:21,720
And as she breathed her last,
for she was dying, she named her

444
00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:25,400
son Ben Oni, but his father
named him Benjamin.

445
00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:29,400
Rachel was giving birth to her
second son and she was dying.

446
00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:30,880
She ended up dying in
childbirth.

447
00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:34,440
But in her final breath, she
whispers out the boy's name is

448
00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:37,320
Ben Oni.
And what's so heartbreaking

449
00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:40,600
about this story is that in
Hebrew, been Oni almost

450
00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:44,240
certainly means the son of my
suffering or the son of my

451
00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:48,160
sorrow.
And so Rachel never got to her

452
00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:51,040
Judah moment.
She never made that turn from

453
00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:53,400
longing to praise.
And maybe her heart was broken

454
00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:55,640
and suffering because she knew
she was dying and she wasn't

455
00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:58,880
going to get to live with this
miracle that got it done.

456
00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:02,000
But even at the very end of her
life, in the middle of this

457
00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:06,320
miracle that she is a huge part
of creating this nation for God,

458
00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:09,800
she was naming her suffering
instead of naming her praise.

459
00:24:10,360 --> 00:24:14,080
In a culture where names were
someone's destiny, she used her

460
00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:18,920
dying breath to curse her son's
name because of her pain and to

461
00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:21,200
push that pain on to the next
generation.

462
00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:24,080
She truly did get what she
prayed for.

463
00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:27,680
Two sons to carry their family's
legacy, to build a nation, to

464
00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:29,840
carry on the line of her husband
Jacob.

465
00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:32,840
But it wasn't enough.
So the contrast is impossible to

466
00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:36,520
miss.
Unloved, overlooked, but chose

467
00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:40,640
to praise.
Loved, beautiful, chosen, but

468
00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:44,960
suffering and completely unable
to receive the life she had.

469
00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:50,120
And I really believe this.
A life that is spent grasping

470
00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:54,480
for what we don't have.
We'll always miss the blessing

471
00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:57,920
of what we do.
When my eyes are always up

472
00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:01,400
looking out on what could be and
what is not and what could have

473
00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:05,200
been and what I don't have, it's
impossible for me to look and

474
00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:08,520
see with gratitude what I have
been given.

475
00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,160
These two women have the same
family, same husband, same

476
00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:15,000
house, same God, but they chose
to do something different with

477
00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:17,560
it.
And there was a season in my

478
00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:19,960
life, too, where I needed a
miracle.

479
00:25:20,360 --> 00:25:23,640
And like Rachel, I was begging
God to take away pain.

480
00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:29,480
So Sean and I had two teenage
foster kids right out of, well,

481
00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:30,880
really right out of getting
married.

482
00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:34,520
And after they had graduated
from high school, we decided it

483
00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:37,360
was time to start our family, to
have our own kids.

484
00:25:37,360 --> 00:25:40,920
And for about four years, we
struggled through a season of

485
00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:43,960
infertility.
And if you've ever been in that

486
00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:46,480
struggle, you know it's not just
a physical struggle.

487
00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:50,400
It's emotional, it's spiritual,
and it touches every part of

488
00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:52,720
your life.
You have months and months of

489
00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:56,880
trying and waiting and praying
and then carrying that

490
00:25:56,880 --> 00:25:59,680
disappointment to know that
you're completely helpless to do

491
00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:03,760
anything but pray and just say,
God, why is this happening?

492
00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:07,040
We want so badly for you to give
us a child.

493
00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:11,080
And I honestly wondered for a
lot of years, like, is this even

494
00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:13,960
going to happen?
I question God, you know, I work

495
00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:17,280
in healthcare, in Pediatrics,
and you see all of these

496
00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:20,640
children who are barely wanted
by their families to go, why

497
00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:22,880
God?
Like we want a child so badly

498
00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:24,800
and we would love a child so
well.

499
00:26:25,120 --> 00:26:28,920
Why is this happening?
And it really, it feels like

500
00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:32,800
like everything and everyone
around you is moving forward,

501
00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:35,960
but you're just standing still
waiting.

502
00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:38,200
Like I can't move to the next
thing.

503
00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:41,960
I can't go to the next season.
I'm waiting for this to start.

504
00:26:42,360 --> 00:26:45,360
And you know, we we're still
serving God and trusting his

505
00:26:45,360 --> 00:26:47,960
plans for us and really
ultimately just trying to find

506
00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:50,360
gratitude for every person
around us who is expecting

507
00:26:50,360 --> 00:26:52,960
children and love on those who
got it, called us to love and

508
00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:55,200
care for.
And I think we finally came to

509
00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:58,040
this place of what I call this
like open handed surrender.

510
00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:01,320
Like God, maybe you were calling
us to a life where we don't have

511
00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:04,120
any more children because you
have something bigger for us.

512
00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:07,720
Like you have something that we
need to carry for your ministry

513
00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:11,720
or for your word to go out.
That wouldn't work if we had

514
00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:13,240
kids.
And so we started praying

515
00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:16,640
through this season of what I
now call the fiery furnace

516
00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:18,880
prayer.
And that comes from Daniel

517
00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:20,920
chapter 3.
I'll read it.

518
00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:24,040
But this is when Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego were

519
00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:26,920
getting ready to be thrown into
the fiery furnace because they

520
00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:30,520
refused to bow down to idols.
They only would worship their

521
00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:32,480
God.
And so it says Shadrach, Meshach

522
00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:36,200
and Abednego replied to him.
King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not

523
00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:39,480
need to defend ourselves before
you in this matter.

524
00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:42,760
That they were unwilling to bow
and worship the king.

525
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:48,120
But if we are thrown into the
blazing furnace, the God we

526
00:27:48,120 --> 00:27:54,000
serve is what?
Yeah, he's able.

527
00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:58,920
He is able to deliver us from
it, and He will deliver us from

528
00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:03,280
Your Majesty's hand.
But even if he does not, we want

529
00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:06,800
you to know, your Majesty, that
we will not serve your gods or

530
00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:09,400
worship the image of gold that
you've set up.

531
00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:13,760
Like that prayer in that season
was key for me because it's God.

532
00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:16,560
You know the desire of my heart.
You know that I want to have a

533
00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:18,480
child.
You know I want to carry a child

534
00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:24,720
in my own womb with my husband.
But even if you choose not to

535
00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:26,800
answer that prayer, you're still
good.

536
00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:30,240
And you had to come to that
place to say, even if he doesn't

537
00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:33,000
is the prayer that it was.
Even if he doesn't allow me to

538
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:36,920
have kids, even if he doesn't
provide healing in this season,

539
00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:40,920
even if my spouse never accepts
Christ, even if my circumstances

540
00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:44,120
never change, he is still good
and I'm going to give him

541
00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:46,600
praise.
And in that season, we prayed

542
00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:48,000
that.
And we meant that.

543
00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:51,800
There's actually a song from
that season of life called by

544
00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:55,520
Hillsong United called Desert
Song, and the lyrics of it were

545
00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:57,880
really a praise declaration for
us.

546
00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:03,120
It says all of my life, in every
season, you are still God and I

547
00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:06,720
have a reason to praise.
I have a reason to worship.

548
00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:10,840
So I will bring praise.
And really it's Leah's prayer,

549
00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:12,520
right?
I will bring praise and there's

550
00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:15,680
no weapon formed against me that
shall remain.

551
00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:19,680
I will rejoice and I will
declare that God is my victory

552
00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:25,840
and He is here and now only by
His grace, His miraculous hand.

553
00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:30,200
I do have three awesome little
kids and they are loud and they

554
00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:32,920
are full of life and they are
absolutely amazing kids.

555
00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:37,640
And if I'm honest now, almost 10
years removed from that time

556
00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:40,720
frame, there are moments in the
middle of the chaos of that

557
00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:43,440
where it's easy to forget that
this noise and the mess and the

558
00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:47,960
exhaustion is the thing that I
spent years begging God to give

559
00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:50,080
me.
And I catch myself in that

560
00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:52,640
moment, frustrated about the
dishes and the laundry and the

561
00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:56,040
never ending sibling argument
that happens.

562
00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:59,680
I have to stop and remind
myself, this is the life you

563
00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:02,920
prayed for.
Like see it, be in it.

564
00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:05,680
Be in this real life that you
have.

565
00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:09,320
Take your Judah moment and give
praises to God.

566
00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:14,280
But I also know in a room like
this that not every prayer gets

567
00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:16,880
answered that way.
And there have been plenty for

568
00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:20,360
us that we've cried out to ask
God and he didn't answer in that

569
00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:22,920
same way.
That means in a room like this,

570
00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:25,240
there's joy, but there's also
grief, and there's answered

571
00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:29,360
prayers and there's waiting
prayers, but God is present in

572
00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:31,840
all of it.
He was present with Leah in her

573
00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:34,520
long, and he's present with
Rachel in her grief, and he's

574
00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:36,640
present with you right where you
are today.

575
00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:39,600
And so I want to end Leah's
story with something that I

576
00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:42,680
think will really stay with you.
That's incredible to kind of sit

577
00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:45,160
down and think about because
Leah did probably feel

578
00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:47,760
overlooked her entire life.
She lived to be an old age.

579
00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:50,080
She was buried with a family,
She was unloved.

580
00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:53,000
She was unchosen.
She was always somehow 2nd.

581
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:55,440
And she never got the love story
she wanted.

582
00:30:55,440 --> 00:31:00,440
But her fourth son was Judah.
And I want you to look at the

583
00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:05,040
blessing that Judah's father,
Jacob, then Israel, bestowed

584
00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:06,600
upon him as he was nearing his
death.

585
00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:09,760
So this is in Genesis 49, verse
8.

586
00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:14,560
It says Judah, your brothers
will praise you, your hand will

587
00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:18,600
be on the neck of your enemies,
your father's sons will bow down

588
00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:21,760
to you.
The scepter will not depart from

589
00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:25,560
Judah, nor the ruler staff from
between his feet, until he to

590
00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:30,000
whom it belongs shall come, and
the obedience of the nation

591
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:35,160
shall be his.
You see, Judah, Leah's fourth

592
00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:39,280
son was to become the ruler over
all of Jacob's sons and

593
00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:42,640
ultimately over all of the
tribes of Israel that would come

594
00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:44,400
from their family and the
descendants.

595
00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:47,520
It wasn't Jacob's first born
Reuben, who you would have

596
00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:51,000
thought, and it wasn't Jacob's
most beloved son Joseph.

597
00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:53,680
It wasn't even Benjamin, the son
of his right hand.

598
00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:59,360
No, Jacob chose Judah.
He chose Leah's praise and look

599
00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:01,920
at what he chose him for.
Go back to verse 10.

600
00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:04,880
The scepter won't depart from
Judah, nor the ruler staff from

601
00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:10,760
between his feet until who,
until he to whom it belongs

602
00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:14,200
shall come, and the obedience of
nations shall be his.

603
00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:18,760
The he in that verse is for the
future to come, because from

604
00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:20,920
Judah's lion came the tribe of
Judah.

605
00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:24,640
From that tribe came King David,
and from David's lion came the

606
00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:30,600
lion of Judah.
Jesus Christ perfectly come from

607
00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:35,880
Leah's praise from the woman who
felt unseen, unloved, unwanted.

608
00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:41,280
Her life, her story, and her
faith in God became a part of

609
00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:46,280
the greatest story ever told.
God used her pain to bring forth

610
00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:50,480
healing and salvation for all of
humanity and brought forth a

611
00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:55,120
Messiah to save the world.
And so there's a really good

612
00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:58,320
chance that you may not get to
see or understand what God is

613
00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:02,000
doing through your pain, what
he's building, what He's growing

614
00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:03,880
for another generation, for
people on and on.

615
00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:06,880
And maybe you'll never know why
your circumstances are writing a

616
00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:10,400
bigger story.
But in God's story, your pain is

617
00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:13,240
not ever wasted.
He is doing more through the

618
00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:17,040
day-to-day of your ordinary life
than you could ever think or

619
00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:19,200
imagine.
And the prayers you whisper when

620
00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:21,520
nobody's watching, the patience
you're holding when you're

621
00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:24,400
running on empty.
And the way you keep showing up

622
00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:28,360
even when you feel unseen.
God sees you and he loves you

623
00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:31,360
and his love for you is so
great.

624
00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:34,880
And your faithfulness to say yes
to Him, and your faithfulness to

625
00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:37,360
give him the praise.
Like we sing about, it's your

626
00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:40,400
breath and our lungs.
So we pour out our praise.

627
00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:44,120
God's weaving that into
something so much bigger than

628
00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:46,960
you can imagine.
So how do we choose praise

629
00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:49,360
before we feel it?
There's going to be days when

630
00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:51,480
you don't feel like praising.
I'm sure Leah had them.

631
00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:56,280
So we look to her.
We praise God before the feeling

632
00:33:56,280 --> 00:33:59,040
comes.
We give gratitude to God for all

633
00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:01,160
He has done.
Because joy isn't found in

634
00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:04,240
perfect circumstances.
It's found in staying connected

635
00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:06,400
to the One who can meet our
every need.

636
00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:10,040
It's not an easy recipe, but
it's a simple one.

637
00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:14,320
In First Thessalonians 516
through 18, it says this.

638
00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:20,040
Rejoice always, pray
continually, give thanks in all

639
00:34:20,040 --> 00:34:25,080
circumstances, for this is God's
will for you in Christ Jesus.

640
00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:28,159
Joy always turns our pain into
praise.

641
00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:33,639
Leah took her pain, her
overlook, her not loved with an

642
00:34:33,639 --> 00:34:36,480
open hand.
She brought it to God, She named

643
00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:40,360
it Judah.
She used her quiet, faithful

644
00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:43,639
pain form life to bring the
Messiah into the world.

645
00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:46,960
And God's not wasting a single
thing that you're walking

646
00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:50,760
through in this season either.
Not one tear, not one night, not

647
00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:56,000
one moment of it is wasted.
So whatever you're running or

648
00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:58,400
whatever you're carrying from
today, my encouragement for you

649
00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:01,320
is not to run from it.
Don't numb it.

650
00:35:01,960 --> 00:35:05,800
Don't let it turn you into
Rachel grasping and striving and

651
00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:08,720
naming your suffering out onto
all the people around you.

652
00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:14,080
Bring it to God because he wants
to take your been only the son

653
00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:17,080
of my suffering and he wants to
turn it into now I'll praise the

654
00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:21,160
Lord into Judah.
God can transform pain into

655
00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:25,640
purpose, suffering into praise
and he wants to use your story

656
00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:28,400
for something far bigger than
you can ever imagine.

657
00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:32,560
And I believe today he wants
every single one of us to choose

658
00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:35,920
to praise walking through your
pain.

659
00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:40,120
Don't miss this.
Walking through pain doesn't

660
00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:43,360
just form you.
Of course you're going to learn

661
00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:44,680
from it.
You're going to grow from it.

662
00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:47,560
It's going to impact your life.
But when you walk through a

663
00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:51,320
painful season, that becomes the
very thing God is going to use

664
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:53,880
for you to bring healing to
someone else.

665
00:35:55,240 --> 00:35:59,600
Your pain surrendered to God
becomes your ministry, your

666
00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:02,440
hardest season walked in.
Faith becomes the language you

667
00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:05,200
can use to speak to somebody
else who is right where you used

668
00:36:05,200 --> 00:36:07,480
to be.
And I know this because I lived

669
00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:09,640
it.
Those years of infertility, of

670
00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:12,640
waiting, of crying out to God.
They gave me the ability to sit

671
00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:17,200
with someone in their grief and
say I see your pain and God sees

672
00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:21,040
it too and he's still good.
God actually gave me the ability

673
00:36:21,040 --> 00:36:25,400
to name my turn my pain into
praise and we named it in our

674
00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:28,400
children that way.
I have Jack Shepherd, his middle

675
00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:31,360
name is because we believe that
God's going to use him and his

676
00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:34,760
generation to shepherd people to
draw them closer to himself.

677
00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:38,640
We have Emery Renee, her middle
name literally means reborn

678
00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:42,120
because there is salvation that
this next generation needs to

679
00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:47,040
bring in our Levi, not attached,
but a Levite, the worshippers,

680
00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:49,080
right?
He can bring worship to his

681
00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:51,880
generation.
We named our children because we

682
00:36:51,880 --> 00:36:55,400
want to see God use their lives
and because he gave them to us

683
00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:58,600
and we get to offer them back to
him in a stewardship.

684
00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:02,560
So you can just sit with people
in that pain and say, I see you,

685
00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:04,800
God sees you.
And I don't know how many lives

686
00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:08,920
are touched by sharing my story,
but it's much less on a stage

687
00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:12,440
than it is in a hallway or on a
phone call or a text message or

688
00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:14,920
sitting by somebody just in a
cubicle at work.

689
00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:18,880
God uses your pain in your story
when you share it and when you

690
00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:22,320
let him in an open handed way,
say, God, all I have is yours.

691
00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:25,960
I'm opening it to you.
But I know you can use my pain

692
00:37:26,040 --> 00:37:30,960
to bring your good.
So in this season, my challenge

693
00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:34,240
for you is to give this season
of your life a new name.

694
00:37:34,760 --> 00:37:38,480
Maybe it is suffering, but maybe
God wants to turn that suffering

695
00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:41,520
into praise.
And I wonder, like Judah, what

696
00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:46,920
story is being released into
God's Kingdom by your choice to

697
00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:50,440
praise him today?
Because if you look at it, the

698
00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:55,120
story of God, the lineage of
Jesus Christ our Savior was born

699
00:37:55,520 --> 00:38:01,360
out of Leah's choice to praise.
Let's pray, God, we lift you up

700
00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:04,760
in this place and just grateful
for your word, God, for the

701
00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:09,560
lives of the people that you've
shown us to live by.

702
00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:13,360
God, I pray today that as we
lean in, that you would just

703
00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:19,000
give us words of praise for our
pain and that maybe there's a

704
00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:20,880
group of people in here today
who would say, you know what?

705
00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:22,880
I need to turn my pain into
praise.

706
00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:26,320
No matter my circumstances, I
need to make a decision to focus

707
00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:29,120
on what you've done and to give
this season a new name.

708
00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:32,080
And if that's you today, you
raise your hand, I'd love to

709
00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:35,400
pray for you to say, you know
what, God, no matter what I'm

710
00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:39,840
going through, no matter what is
going on in my day-to-day, God,

711
00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:42,160
I choose to praise you.
If you raise your hand, I'd love

712
00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:45,400
to pray for you.
I see your hands, God.

713
00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:47,920
I lift up these people.
I don't know what they're

714
00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:50,600
walking through, but you do.
God, you see them, you know

715
00:38:50,600 --> 00:38:53,960
them, You feel your pain, their
pain, God, because you have felt

716
00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:56,120
pain.
You know what it's like to feel

717
00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:59,560
betrayed, God, and for
circumstances to lead to a

718
00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:01,320
horrible death that you died for
us, God.

719
00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:04,680
And so I pray that you would
give us words for our pain so

720
00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:08,320
that we can offer it to praise
to you, God, help us to decide

721
00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:13,280
today that you are enough and
that we can praise you no matter

722
00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:16,400
what we're walking through.
And maybe there's one other

723
00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:18,000
group of people today who would
say, you know what?

724
00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:22,400
I've never been able to offer
praise because I've never really

725
00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:26,800
experienced the healing from my
pain that comes from Jesus, the

726
00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:30,320
lion of Judah.
But today I feel like he's

727
00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:33,840
drawing me to himself.
Today I feel this invitation is

728
00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:37,120
urging to say yes.
I want to surrender my pain.

729
00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:39,000
I want healing.
I want wholeness.

730
00:39:39,560 --> 00:39:41,160
That's you today.
And you'd say, you know, I've

731
00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:44,000
never accepted Christ as my
Savior.

732
00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:46,320
I've never made that decision to
trust him.

733
00:39:46,320 --> 00:39:48,960
I've never made that decision to
surrender my life and follow

734
00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:50,000
him.
That's you.

735
00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:52,520
And you raise your hand.
I'd also love to pray for you.

736
00:39:52,520 --> 00:39:56,120
I'm not going to call you out,
but if you say today, I've never

737
00:39:56,240 --> 00:40:00,440
accepted Christ, I've never
taken his sacrifice for my pain.

738
00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:02,680
And today I want that.
I want to make a decision to

739
00:40:02,680 --> 00:40:04,960
follow him.
If you raise your hand and pray

740
00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:08,200
for you as well, and not only
pray for you, but this is an

741
00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:09,560
opportunity to say, you know
what?

742
00:40:09,560 --> 00:40:14,520
You can also pray to God.
You can reach out your hand and

743
00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:17,880
say, Lord, I feel you drawing me
to yourself, God.

744
00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:19,920
And today I've been carrying a
heavyweight.

745
00:40:21,160 --> 00:40:23,600
But I want you to lift that
burden from me, God, I know you

746
00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:27,760
died on the cross for my sins.
You to take that burden of pain

747
00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:31,440
away from me.
God, through your sacrifice you

748
00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:34,400
can make me whole.
And today I want to do that,

749
00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:37,040
God.
Today I choose you, and I choose

750
00:40:37,040 --> 00:40:40,200
you to save me in Jesus name,
Amen.

751
00:40:40,920 --> 00:40:43,160
Well, hey, let's give it up to
those who made decisions today

752
00:40:43,160 --> 00:40:48,720
to follow Christ, for those who
are ready to open their hands to

753
00:40:48,720 --> 00:40:51,280
that burden of pain.
And thank you guys so much for

754
00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:52,160
letting me share with you.