“Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood”- Isaiah 54:4

Rachel is one person who lived with disgrace. After being second - placed in marriage to Jacob, by her father Laban ( Gen 29:26); she bore the pain of not bearing a child as her rival Leah had a run. First, Leah gave birth to a son she named Reuben, then Simeon, next Levi and then Judah   ( vv 31- 35).

A desperate Rachel on seeing she wasnt having any child of hers “became jelous of her sister. She pleaded with Jabob, “Give me children or I’ll die”     (Gen 30: 1). Only to be mocked, “Am I God?” he asked. “He is the one who has kept you from having children ( vv 2).

And, so, like Sarah before Abraham, she came up with a solution. “..Take my maid, Bilhah, and sleep with her. She will bear children for me..” (vv 3). But not be outdone Leah offered Jacob her maid too, Zilpah, who in quick succession gave birth two sons. More later, she went on to have still children with Jacob. Rachel looking on! That must have hurt!

But finally, “God remembered Rachel’s plight and answered her prayers by enabling her to have children. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. God has removed my disgrace,” she said ( vv 22-23).

Like Rachel, you too could be nursing a prayer that has long taken to being answered. You feel a burden, perhaps a disgrace. But wait now. As a one Rachel came to know of deliverance, in good time, so will be your day!

Prayer today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, I wait on you to wipe away my digrace, as you bring deliverance and victory, this I pray in Jesus’ name