Welcome to Women Of The Bible speak. Im Shannon Bream. Loyalty to god does not ensure a life of happiness. In fact, loyalty can often lead to bigger challenges. Television icon Kathie Lee Gifford exemplifies the hardships and blessings that come from a life of steadfast faith, loyalty to god means putting him first. Every morning i wake up before i have any other thought. I pray. Thank you, lord, for your faithfulness to watch over me during the night, and i thank him for a new day. If i have a pulse, i have a purpose to be loyal to him. The book of first samuel begins with a narrative that will weave throughout the Old Testament. The story of david. But in order to have david, we have to have samuel, the prophet who anointed david to his great calling. And to have samuel, we have to have hannah. So hannah stands right at the center of this unfolding story. Scripture doesnt give us that much information about hannah. Interestingly enough, we dont know much of her background. She is an
welcome to women of the bible speak. i m shannon bream. loyalty to god does not ensure a life of happiness. in fact, loyalty can often lead to bigger challenges. television icon kathie lee gifford exemplifies the hardships and blessings that come from a life of steadfast faith, loyalty to god means putting him first. every morning i wake up before i have any other thought. i pray. thank you, lord, for your faithfulness to watch over me during the night, and i thank him for a new day. if i have a pulse, i have a purpose to be loyal to him. the book of first samuel begins with a narrative that will weave throughout the old testament. the story of david. but in order to have david, we have to have samuel, the prophet who anointed david to his great calling. and to have samuel, we have to have hannah. so hannah stands right at the center of this unfolding story. scripture doesn t give us that much information about hannah. interestingly enough, we don t know much of her backgroun
as the lord and creator, as he instilled it in each and every one of us. i think in my life i ve related to these women. i ve felt inadequate. i ve felt like i wasn t good enough the more i grew in my faith. i realized, yes, i am good enough. in the book of genesis, a man named jacob fled his home after a quarrel with his brother over their inheritance. he ran to his uncle laban, a few towns away, where he met lavin s two daughters, rachel and leah. the bible talks about how leah, the older sister, had weak eyes. rachel is described as having a beautiful figure and form. she s the younger sister, and yet she seems to be the one that was favored, at least from outward appearances. he is completely smitten and it appears to be a match made in heaven. jacob quickly fell in love with rachel
and asked his uncle for her hand in marriage. jacob said, i ll work for you for seven years jacob served seven years to get rachel, and i love this next line, but they seem like only a few days to him because of his love for her. after the seven years of labor were completed, jacob became impatient. he says, give me my wife, my time is completed and i want to lie with her. laban complied, and the wedding celebrations began. unfortunately for rachel and jacob, it was not going to be the fairytale ending they hoped for. laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. but when evening came, he took his daughter lia, and gave her to jacob. jacob, of course, very excited to marry the love of his life, rachel. and there is this dramatic reveal that, in fact, he has married leah.
rachel has to feel devastated that her older sister is now married to this man. leah, you have to wonder how she felt knowing that she was being snuck in. she wasn t his chosen love, and yet she was sent in to him and he feels very deceived. so he goes in anger of the girl s father and says, what have you done? laban, unapologetic, proposed a new deal to jacob. the deal is now you can marry rachel, but you can have to work another seven years for her. jacob accepted these terms in order to marry the real rachel. i think at that point, everybody s in a really bad place because. leah. no, she s not the first choice. rachel knows that she s going to be added on as a secondary wife at this point, and jacob feels like he s been double crossed by his father in law after deception and heartache. rachel and jacob finally tied the knots, but that did not solve everything. once jacob and leah began having children, rachel s relationship with jacob became more strained than ever