Scripture Reading: Genesis 29:35

“And she (Leah) conceived again, and bore a son; and she said: ‘This time will I praise the Lord.’ Therefore she called his name Judah; and she left off bearing.” (Genesis 29:35)

Leah reached the pinnacle of faith in God when she named her fourth son, Judah, which means “to praise the Lord.” The word “Judah” comes from the root word “hodah.” In Hebrew Judah is “yehudah.”

For Leah, the trial of her faith broke through into praise, even as Peter says in 1 Peter 1:6-7, “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:”

God gave her hope. The struggling ceased, and she entered into rest as she waited for God to work it all out.

Sometimes we have prayed through, and the answer is on the way, but because we do not see it, we become impatient, and doubts and fears enter our hearts, robbing us of peace. Hebrews 10:36 states, “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.”

Many times we become impatient when the answer to our prayers is delayed, and as a result we get into the flesh, and ruin God’s perfect plan for our lives. This will cause us great suffering.

Yet great men have failed in patience also:

Abraham failed when he took Hagar as his second wife.

Jacob failed when he deceived his father to obtain the blessing.

Moses failed when he killed the taskmaster who had been cruel to his people.

Nevertheless, God in His great mercy, forgave and still used these men. But the price they and their people paid was great.

If we do not see the answer to our prayers, let us, with patience wait for it, as we daily praise the Lord, because we know that He has promised to hear our prayers, and to do for us all that which is His will for our lives.

And what is not God’s will for our lives, we do not want!

In the Beginning by Gwen Shaw
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