The Desperate Search for Significance
Posted on November 11, 2007
Genesis 29:1-35
ONE GREAT TRUTH: We attempt to fill the voids in our lives in all kinds of ways, but only a relationship with Jesus brings the significance for which we hunger most.
THREE LEVELS OF LIVING:
1. Survival – We just get by.
2. Success – We’re doing alright on our own.
3. Significance – We connect with the God of eternity.
LOOKING FOR SIGNIFICANCE IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES…
1. JACOB: Falling in Love.
Jacob searched for significance in a romantic relationship. The good side of the story is his devotion to Rachel. He was passionate about her and his love is very commendable. He served 14 years as part of the agreement, and they seemed but a few days. The problem is he was looking for significance in his relationship with Rachel, and was neglecting his relationship with God.
2. LABAN: Abusing People.
This one seems like a no-brainer. We’ll never find true significance abusing people, but we try it all the time. This is when we come to every relationship in life with the question of what we can get out of it. Laban tricked his adopted son (Jacob), threw his daughter Leah into a bad marriage, and used Rachel like bait to get free labor. Interestingly, Jacob was kind of seeing how he had treated his own family back home. He was learning the lesson that you never find significance at the expense of others.
3. LEAH: Earning Affection.
Leah was unloved. Jacob essentially tolerated her presence for the sake of being married to Rachel. Polygamy is always bad news, but that’s obvious. Her thought is continuously, “If I have sons, he’ll love me…”
4. RACHEL: KEEPING UP.
It wasn’t enough to have Jacob’s affection, Rachel had to keep up with Leah. This was not about pain over not bearing children necessarily, but pain that someone else will steal away those closest to us. In her envy, she tried to keep up with Leah, and it led to a chase for significance that could never satisfy.
THE ONLY PLACE TO GO…
We’ll see how Jacob’s life eventually comes to be fulfilled by a right relationship with God, but right now, we learn about finding significance from his two wives…
1. LEAH: Praising God (29:35)
She has Judah (Praise) and praises God as a result. There is a lot of significance in the simplicity. First, she was trying to please her husband and earn his affection, now she simply is satisfied to praise God. Of course, from Judah would come Christ, and that’s an awesome picture of how Christ alone truly satisfies.
2. RACHEL: Trusting God (30:22-24)
Rachel learns to believe in the God who remembers her. If Leah learned that the end of her search for significance was in Christ, Rachel learns about a satisfying journey in a daily relationship with God, for she began to walk in faith and hope.
“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” –John Piper
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