Scripture
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. Genesis 29:35

Observation
It’s not clear what was wrong with Leah’s eyes. Most translations describe them as “weak”. I’ve read the opinions of many experts, both rabbis and pastors. The jury is out whether she was cross-eyed, near-sighted or just a cry baby. The original word for “weak” implies tenderness and softness. Perhaps Rachel had fiery, sexy eyes that got Jacob’s hormones flowing. Maybe Leah was too much the sentimental, sniffling chick-flick watcher to turn him on. Whatever it was about Leah, she knew that she did not measure up to Jacob’s expectations. She just wasn’t good enough to be loved.

For a season, long enough to have three children, Leah tried to win her husband’s approval by doing the one thing she could do well: make babies. She pumped out Reuben, Simeon and Levi, but nothing changed in her marriage. Jacob was still frosty towards her and hot toward Rachel.

It is not easy to live with the dislike of others, especially someone as close as a husband or a wife. We want to be loved. We want to be wanted. We want the perfect life. We are in love with ideals. We’ll do anything to receive the love of another. “How do you want me to behave?” we ask. Then we contour our life to please others. Leah went to ridiculous lengths to give birth to a football team full of boys just to make her husband love her and still came up as just a background person to Jacob.

There are some people who are afraid to be alone. Some men have to have a woman. Some women have to have a man. I heard Dr. Laura confront a woman who went from abusive relationship to abusive relationship. “Just leave him!” she shrieked over the radio. A frightened voice came over the airwaves, “But what would I do then? I would be alone!”

With her fourth baby, Leah shows us a better way than addiction to the approval of others. She accepted that nothing would change about Jacob, but everything could change about her. Her husband might never love her, but in God’s eyes she was highly esteemed. She called her son Praise (Judah), and filled her emptiness for a man’s love with the praise for the God who loved her.

Application
Sometimes when our desperate prayers are not answered we need to ask God to change us rather than to change our situation. Leah would never have the affection of Jacob, but she could have an intimate relationship with the God of Jacob. So what if I have weak eyes! The approval of others may never come, I may not live up to expectations, but I can rest in the unconditional acceptance of the Lord.

Prayer
Father, I lose myself in praise for you. Worship is the invitation to be joyful without earthly reason and to be enveloped with the cloud of delight that surrounds you. In praising you I join the festivities that are already happening for you in heaven. You are the most self-assured, joyful being in the universe. I take delight in you and with you. Today Father, I ask you to be my praise. Amen.

Press the arrow to listen to Hillsong sing “All I Need is You” while you read today’s devotion on partiality.

Scripture
But from those who were of high reputation (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)–well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me. Galatians 2:6

Observation
It is easy to see the ugliness of partiality when those lower on the totem pole are treated with distain. But more subtle is another ugly side of partiality when we show too much attention to those on the topside of life.

Why are people of high reputation so attractive to us that we’re willing to forget what we value and to bow and scrape for them? It comes back to the simple fact that we aren’t secure in what God has said about us. We think there is something missing in the bag of goodies he has given to us to make our life succeed. So we start begging from people of reputation.

I wonder how the Lord feels, after having invested so much into each human being, to see us chasing the scraps that supposedly important people throw our way?

Application
All I want is in him. My life must become as simple as that.

Prayer
Father, today, help me to live my life out of the abundance you have given to me. Amen.

Amaze yourself with these Nathan Sawaya’s Lego sculptures on CNN and his blog.

Scripture

For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says,

‘The stone that you builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.’ Acts 4:11

Observation

Back in April of ’79 I was a senior in high school saving for college. My summer job was working construction. The boss had just finished laying rows of cinder blocks 27 feet tall. My job was to pull down the scaffolding. I ate my McDonalds lunch from that sky perch and did two historic things. First I made a time capsule of junk food as I put the McDonalds packaging into the holes in the wall. And then I did what no one can resist: I wrote my name and the date in the wet concrete in the top course of blocks.

No one can resist making their mark in stone. There is graffiti etched in sandstone along the Oregon Trail from the 1850′s. There are tags in Roman catacombs and even the Egyptian tombs. I once asked a graffiti artist what it was that drove him to spray paint his tag on blank walls around town. He said, “It’s the desire to be noticed.”

Every human longs for significance and wants to make their mark. Deep down, somehow, in some way, for some moment of time no matter how brief we want to be important. Otherwise Gold Class, First Class, Platinum would not exist. We want to end up on top of the heap of humanity and be treated special.

We are each special to God, but he has designed it such that none of us can claim to be superior. That’s why this little phrase is repeated over and over in the Bible:

The stone that you builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.

The “cornerstone” is not a shinny granite block at the bottom of the wall, it is a huge monolith at the top of all the courses of stone. The cornerstone in the temple was the largest building stone on earth. It was a rectangular block of rock nearly the size of a house. The walls of the Temple were built with man-sized blocks of granite. The rows and rows of huge stones were held in place by the top capstone. It was pure genius as it withstood earthquakes for centuries.

Application

Here’s the point for us: we are definitely not the capstone, that’s Jesus. Nor are we dirt because the stones were built without mortar. Instead each of us is a living stone with a part to play in the wall, high or low, visible or invisible wherever the Stone Mason wants it to rest. Once each of us is in position, Jesus takes his place on the highest level and holds us in place.

It is a secure feeling being locked into Christ submission. Like a row of Lego blocks, he puts me where I belong and holds me secure. And submitting to his Lordship is a joy because he did not take this exalted position for himself. The stone was rejected and God the Father himself hoisted him into the highest place. Jesus’ authority over me is submission and that is a joy.

All comes together when Jesus is in the right place over our lives. Jesus will only be in the right place when I confess that Jesus is the cornerstone, I am not.

Prayer

Father today I want to stumble on Jesus so I find just the place I am to be. Amen.

Here’s our family just a year ago, the last time we were all together.

But the Babylonian army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They captured him and took him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him.  There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and also killed all the nobles of Judah.  Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon. Jeremiah 39:5-7

The king was a great politician.Â

On one hand he was a puppet installed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.  So he had to kowtow to the Chaldeans on the right of the map.Â

On the other hand he was ruler of the Jews who were itching to throw the Babylonians off. So he had to curtsey to the locals on the left side of the map.Â

As the story unfolds King Zedekiah always knew what was the right political answer, but he never looked ahead at ultimate outcomes. He only looked to the left or right, he never looked ahead.

If kings struggle with people pleasing then we must as well. There are many voices trying to guide us home, and sometimes all of them sound right. We can live to please them and in the end lose everything precious to us. Or if we can bear to live for a little while with rejection we can inherit more than we have imagined possible.

A leader who is worthy of the title of leader must learn to be comfortable with disapproval. He must be a person who can close his eyes and play forward the impact of the decisions that he makes. He must also be a man of God who can get a bird’s eye view of life from his knees. If Zedekiah had only done those two things the lives of thousands would have been spared. That is why leaders must learn to be comfortable with discomfort. The lives of many depend upon it.

Father, help me not to get too comfortable along the way. Keep me steady when others don’t see what you do. Help me to see life more and more from your point of view. Amen.