Have you ever been searching for something only to find something else that you didn’t even realize you were missing? This happened to me a couple days ago.
I was meditating on the stories of infertility in the Bible. The 7 women involved in these stories were Sarah, Rachel, Rebekah, Hannah, Manoah’s wife (mother of Sampson), The Shunamite woman, and Elisabeth. We don’t know the cause of their infertility, nor does it matter because God can overcome it no matter the cause and He did. As I was pondering their stories I remembered Leah. Leah is often not included in the stories of infertility, but God spoke to my heart through one of my devotionals the other day in showing me that Leah did actually deal with secondary infertility. The story of Leah and Rachel is one so many women (and people) deal with today. It’s the ultimate story of comparison and jealousy and how people will go to great lengths to one up the other. (Guilty myself more often than I care to admit)
Leah and Rachel’s father deceived Jacob who was to be married to Rachel after 7 years of hard labor, but at their wedding the girls’ father Laban deceived Jacob and had Leah stand in Rachel’s place so that Jacob married her instead. She was the older of the two and it was customary to marry off the older daughter first. If you read this whole story it bring up a lot of questions as to how Jacob had no idea he was marrying the wrong sister. It was also customary in that day to hide the woman’s face with thick heavy veils so that no one could see her, so that part makes sense, but on the honeymoon night you gotta question…… I’ll just leave it there but that’s how it ended up and that’s what we know. To Jacob’s surprise the next morning he realized he had married Leah instead and was not happy about it. He agreed to work another 7 years to again marry Rachel. Leah was described as weak eyed. We often attribute this to mean she was not as attractive as her younger sister. We can also assume she may have had poor vision, or more often than not, the names of people describe their character. So Leah was a soft and quiet person by nature, one easily looked over. Leah was the least loved by Jacob, but God did not look her over and allowed her to bare children before Rachel. She had six children with Jacob before Rachel ever conceived. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah were the first four children of Leah. In genesis 35 it is revealed that Leah becomes unable to have any more children. It says, ‘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.” ‘ This may just seem like she was done having children, but I’ll get to the point. At this place in the story Rachel has still been unable to conceive and becomes angry and gives Jacob her maidservant Billah who produces a son named Dan. Billah then had another son with Jacob and he was named Naphtali. Rachel still has no children at this time and in Genesis 30:9 we see that Leah realizes she is no longer having children (where I discovered her secondary infertility) so she gives Jacob her maidservant Zilpah who gives birth to a son, Gad, and then another son, Asher. Then comes an interesting story involving Leah giving to Rachel her son’s harvest of mandrakes (a popular plant for improving fertility) but the mandrakes do not work for Rachel. Leah bargained a trade of the mandrakes for “special time” with Jacob. She then conceived again, and had another son and he was names Issachar. Then she conceived again and named another son Zebulon, and again conceived, and lastly had a daughter and her name was Dinah. God remembered Rachel and she was eventually able to conceive, first Joseph, and then lastly Benjamin, where unfortunately she passes away during child birth. You can see this story looked like a modern day soap opera. Between these four women, and this story of jealousy, God still worked out one of the greatest things ever by allowing these 12 sons to become the 12 tribes of Israel. What’s even more amazing is that Leah, the less loved sister, was blessed by God to have Judah, who Jesus was in the direct lineage of. As I was reading this story I kept looking for myself in the story. After all I had just discovered that there actually was a case of secondary infertility mentioned in the Bible. I kept looking for significance in the names of her children after she overcame secondary infertility but that’s when God led me in a different direction. Her last two sons were Issachar and Zebulon. Issachar means wages, and Zebulon means “to dwell”. These names didn’t mean anything to me, nor could I find anything really significant about them by themselves. I decided to read the story again as a whole and then look at all the children’s names. The order of their birth is a significant detail because the names placed together in order tell the story of our great Redeemer!
Below is a copy and paste and I’ll give you the link to the whole page. (https://bcooper.wordpress.com/2017/05/18/the-significance-of-the-names-of-the-sons-of-israel/)
The name Reuben, “Behold, A Son,” gives to us the first Christian message, “Behold, the Lamb of God (or Son of GOD) which taketh away the sin of the world.” This was GOD’s first word to His people, Israel, and to you and to me, as we seek salvation.
Next comes Simeon which means “HEAR.” “Behold, the Lamb of God!” On the Mount of Transfiguration, from Heaven, GOD spoke, “HEAR YE HIM!” First, the Word, then the hearing of the Word. “This is my beloved Son.”
Next comes Levi, which means “to be joined.” Joined to the Lamb of GOD. Joined to the company of the redeemed. A union accomplished and sealed by the HOLY SPIRIT. This is a blessed experience to everyone who believes.
How significant that Judah comes next. His name means “Praise.” How often have we seen the new-born child of GOD, joined to the Lord and to His saints, break out into PRAISE of His holy name. Luke 15:10 also comes to mind.
Following Judah, comes Dan. His name means “Judgment“; judgment by which we believers, in the light of GOD’s mercy and grace, are no longer under. Romans 8:1
Next in order comes Naphtali, which means “to wrestle.” This speaks of temptations and trials, and earnest prayers and intercessions, both for ourselves and for others. Ephesians 6:12
Then came Gad, which means “A troop cometh.” This speaks of our call to go into the world and preach the Gospel to all nations. Matthew 28:19
After this what could we expect the next name to mean? It is Asher, and Asher means “HAPPY.” Oh what joy and happiness, when souls come flocking into the Kingdom of GOD! Joy in hearts and homes, and in the Church, and before the throne of GOD in the courts of Heaven. There is nothing else on earth that can compare with it; when a troop, a great company turns home to GOD.
Certainly, Issachar comes next. Issachar means “hire.” It is in such in-gatherings of precious souls, that the laborers in CHRIST’s harvest-fields receive their hire. These are not the rewards of earthly service, which are soon gone. The wages of such service are as treasures laid up in Heaven. How sweet and precious are CHRIST’s eternal rewards to His servants and harvesters, who are diligent and faithful.
Zebulon means “dwelling.” Dwelling in Beulah land, in sweet and happy fellowship with CHRIST and the Heavenly Father. (John 14.23).
Then comes Joseph, which means “adding.” Read Acts 2:42-47 for an account of the first great revival following the outpouring of the HOLY SPIRIT on the Day of Pentecost. “And the Lord ADDED to the Church daily such as should be saved.” That is CHRIST’s purpose and desire for His Church everywhere, and all the time.
Last of all comes Benjamin, “The Son Of My Right Hand.” How wonderful! For here is the destiny of the Redeemer and of the redeemed, who have known all these other experiences. They go to be with the Son at GOD’s right hand. And here we hear again the wonderful promise of our Lord to those who love and serve Him.
My mind was blown seeing all these names in their context. I was reminded that like Leah, my eyes are weak. I was so busy trying to find “my story” in this tale that I wasn’t looking at what God was really accomplishing. I thank Him for his grace and mercy that He revealed this beautiful weaving of names to me. If I hadn’t stopped looking for me and begun looking for Him I may have completely missed it.
Jeremiah 29:13 says “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Not when I seek myself, but when I seek Him!!!! I can not miss this. In my season of waiting I have to seek Him and He will use this season to bring me closer to him.
I want my eyes not to be weak and focusing only on my story. I want to have my eyes open to what God is doing and where He is leading. Over the last few years I have had several opportunities come up to go to Poland on mission but I have not been readily available for travel. I do believe this is finally the year I will make it, pregnant or not. There is a ministry called Wheels For The World and they are involved with bringing the gift of mobility through wheelchairs to disabled people around the world. This ministry likes to have people involved that have experience in physical therapy, so I meet that bill. It’s still early on in the planning involved for this trip but I plan to include more of this in my future blogs. Trips like this can carry a financial aspect that can be difficult to achieve alone, so I may be starting a crowdfunding website to ask for donations if anyone feels led. I would love for your prayers over this potential endeavor.
Next week we go for round 2. Our first IUI did not work which we expected, but God is still good. We saw the urologist Monday and he agreed with some of my opinions about the clomid but also assured us at such a low dose it would be safe, and he wants to monitor testosterone levels. He also agreed with some of my concerns about questions our Dallas Dr. had brushed off and thinks he could be pushing IVF a little too soon. He is forwarding his notes to the Shreveport Dr. and will let him know we have an ongoing establishment of care already. I’m praying that Dr. V (Shreveport) will agree to do an IUI this week so that we can forgo going to Dallas all together. I began my femara today so I’m praying for it to continue working as well as it has been. The stress of having to do this around Christmas seems overwhelming but if this IUI does succeed it will be an especially memorable Christmas. As always, thank you sooooooo much for the blessings of your prayers and words of encouragement!
Making a Myers 