GOD GIVES CHILDREN - THE DAILY FOUNTAIN DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE OF THE CHURCH OF NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION)

THE DAILY FOUNTAIN DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE OF THE CHURCH OF NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION)

DATE: TUESDAY, 8TH FEBRUARY, 2022 

TOPIC: GOD GIVES CHILDREN

TEXT: GENESIS 29:31-30:24

31.  When the LORD saw that Leah [was] unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel [was] barren.

32.  So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, "The LORD has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me."

33.  Then she conceived again and bore a son, and said, "Because the LORD has heard that I [am] unloved, He has therefore given me this [son] also." And she called his name Simeon.

34.  She conceived again and bore a son, and said, "Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons." Therefore his name was called Levi.

35.  And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, "Now I will praise the LORD." Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she stopped bearing.

30:1. Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I die!"

2. And Jacob's anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, "[Am] I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"

3. So she said, "Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, and she will bear [a child] on my knees, that I also may have children by her."

4. Then she gave him Bilhah her maid as wife, and Jacob went in to her.

5.  And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.

6.  Then Rachel said, "God has judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son." Therefore she called his name Dan.

7.  And Rachel's maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.

8.  Then Rachel said, "With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, [and] indeed I have prevailed." So she called his name Naphtali.

9.  When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as wife.

10.  And Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son.

11.  Then Leah said, "A troop comes!" So she called his name Gad.

12.  And Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.

13.  Then Leah said, "I am happy, for the daughters will call me blessed." So she called his name Asher.

14.  Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me [some] of your son's mandrakes."

15.  But she said to her, "[Is it] a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also?" And Rachel said, "Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes."

16.  When Jacob came out of the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, "You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son's mandrakes." And he lay with her that night.

17.  And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.

18.  Leah said, "God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband." So she called his name Issachar.

19.  Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son.

20.  And Leah said, "God has endowed me [with] a good endowment; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons." So she called his name Zebulun.

21.  Afterward she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.

22.  Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.

23.  And she conceived and bore a son, and said, "God has taken away my reproach."

24.  So she called his name Joseph, and said, "The LORD shall add to me another son."

MESSAGE:

This passage shows how the Patriarchs were born into the family of Jacob and later became the twelve tribes of Israel. We also see a lot of family politics in a polygamous home. God saw the unfortunate position of Leah as Jacob hated her for the trick her father played on him. Left to Jacob, he would have wished that only his beloved Rachel should bear him children.

Our great God overruled and opened the womb of Leah and closed that of Rachel. Rachel tried visiting her frustration on her husband by telling him, Give me children, or else I die!" but Jacob made her to understand that it is God who gives children (Gen. 30:1-2).

The issue of children or sometimes, male children, has torn many families apart. Some families have blamed it on the woman and sometimes persuaded the man to marry another wife. Some men have yielded to this pressure even after wedding. Some women have gone to some unholy places and taken some unholy actions to solve this problem. Some who were patient and waited upon God have given genuine testimonies of God's interventions in their cases. Are you in this situation, still patiently look unto God! At the right time, He will intervene and give you children that will be a blessing to your family (Psalm 127:3-5).

PRAYER: 

Dear Father, You intervened in the situation of Sarah and Abraham, may You do so for families waiting on You for children in Jesus" name. Amen.