Insecure

Shana Wise
Mar 31
5 min read

By Pastor Shana Wise

Genesis 29: 31-35 NIV

When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless. 32 Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, “It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.”33 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Because the Lord heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. 34 Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi. 35 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.

It’s time for us to get to our Judah!

· Jacob’s name means to follow behind, heal catcher, and may God protect. Before birth, in the womb, he and his brother would wrestle. When they were born, Jacob was grabbing his brother Esau’s heel. Jacob grew up in a home where his father, Issac, favored his brother Esau, and his mother, Rebecca, favored him (he was a mama’s boy). Jacob’s character as a young man (sometimes old) included being a deceiver, liar, and manipulator (Read Genesis chapters 25-29). He ended up at his Uncle Laban’s home because he was on “the run” from his brother (birthright). Jacob came from a dysfunctional home; he had issues within himself since birth. Upon his arrival at his uncle’s, Jacob didn’t know who he was. All he knew was that his grandfather was Abraham, and his father was Issac, and they patterned how to worship The True and Living God. Yet Jacob, through his journey of dysfunction and insecurities, had to find God for himself.

· Jacob, the deceiver, was deceived by his uncle Laban when it came time to marry his daughter Rachel; he gave (tricked) him Leah instead. Jacob loved Rachel, not Leah. Leah was not as attractive physically by the world’s standards because her eyes were “dull”. By the world’s standards, Rachel was the beautiful one.

· Leah and Rachel were both married to Jacob. Jacob’s actions showed Leah that he did not love her. Leah was good enough to have sex with, but not good enough to love, because all of Jacob’s affection went to Rachel. This made Leah feel insecure and unloved. We know this through the naming of her children. The first three children were named based on her feelings about herself and her loveless relationship with her husband. It took her having her fourth child, Judah, to shift her attention from her misery of being unloved to focusing on the one who truly loves her- God.

· God wants all of us to get to the “Judah” place when it comes to how we view ourselves, our relationship with others, and our relationship with Him. God wants us to see beyond our feelings, flesh, and circumstances. He wants us to praise Him because he knows that once He has our attention, everything and everyone (including ourselves) must take second place in His presence. We cannot fix ourselves. We cannot stop being insecure without the One who created us. God does not make or create mistakes. When He looks at us, He only sees what He created.

· Genesis 1:26-28 NIV Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

· Even though Leah had her breakthrough moment with God, it did not change her situation in her marriage. Rachel (the loved one) was jealous of Leah’s (the unloved one) ability to become pregnant (4 times). Leah wanted children of her own with Jacob. In Genesis chapter 30, we find Leah and Rachel involving their servants to sleep with Jacob to bear their children. We see the competition between sisters, fueled out of insecurity, on full display. Eventually, Rachel was able to bear two biological children with Jacob, but she died in childbirth with her last son.

· Leah, Rachel, and Jacob were insecure, and they had a lot of dysfunctions happening in their home. Yet, their dysfunction did not stop the plan of God. They did not know that God was forming a nation (Israel) through them.

· Genesis 32:28 NIV Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

· After we “get to Judah” and continue to walk and talk with God, we will experience an exchange from being insecure to secure in Christ. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel.

Jacob didn’t have to identify with his past nature; he moved forward with his new name. This name represented his future. This name was bigger than his current situation and circumstance. This name wasn’t about him, it was about his legacy.

· Let us all strive to become more secure in Christ’s love. Let us discover who we “really” are and not who we “think” we are.

About the Author

Dr. Shana Wise is an ordained Pastor who founded and oversees Wise Choice Ministries with her husband, Pastor Ron Wise. She is also the CEO and founder of The Well Christian Women’s Network. Dr. Wise is the author of Women’s Devotionals Acts of Intercession and Chief Women Arise, The Impact of Your Election, and the Basic Ministry Training Manual (all available on Amazon). She received a Doctor of Divinity degree in 2019 from St. Thomas Christian University. Her passion is to teach and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, equip others to apply the Word to their lives, and demonstrate it through the power of the Holy Spirit. She is a televangelist who appears on social media outlets. Shana is married and has four children.

For speaking engagements, email: wisechoiceministries512@gmail.com.

Books available on Amazon:

Acts of Intercession

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1721143629/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_BuKbFb8FMZHEB

The Impact of Your Election

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1792003307/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_vvKbFbA33J669

Basic Ministry Training Manual

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08ZBRS8XP?pf_rd_r=RNTWKYAH1KWS6353VH5D&pf_rd_p=5ae2c7f8-e0c6-4f35-9071-dc3240e894a8&pd_rd_r=372a05c9-a618-4cba-bc09-a70cad4bfa18&pd_rd_w=ZEyWA&pd_rd_wg=PKaT4&ref_=pd_gw_unk

Chief Women Arise

https://www.amazon.com/Chief-Women-Arise-Womens-Devotional-ebook/dp/B09C29DJLM/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=chief+women+arise+shana+wise&qid=1628548608&sr=8-1

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