NIV Once-A-Day Bible for WomenSample

Genesis 30:1–43

Jealousy between Leah and Rachel drove them to years of competitive childbearing. They even offered their maidservants to Jacob in order to deliver more heirs. This created some complex family dynamics, but it also produced the patriarchs of Israel’s twelve tribes. This combination of mixed motives and extreme dysfunction is common in the patriarchal stories of Genesis and somehow is woven into God’s purposes to accomplish his plan. Though Leah and Rachel’s rivalry never would have happened if their father hadn’t deceived Jacob, it became a vital ingredient in Israel’s history. We can be assured that the God who knows about all of our flaws and failures already has a plan that includes them in some way.