Everybody, what is going on? You know what time it is. You're listening to join the Journey podcast with your host, Emma, daughter.

Thanks for joining. We're back with hopefully our last recorded from home snow day episode. And today we're talking about Genesis 30.

What does it look like to trust in the Lord when we know the thing we want the most may never come?

As a single person, when I read Genesis 30, the story, it can be hard for me to relate.

I don't know what it's like to struggle with infertility.

But I do know what it's like to really want something that may or may not ever show up.

And I'd go out on a limb and guess all of us, regardless of what life stage we're in,

know what it's like to wait in the face of uncertainty.

Maybe you've waited on a family member with cancer to recover, wondering if they ever will.

Or maybe you're single and you've wondered if you'll ever get

married. It's not promised. All of us have experienced seasons where we have to wait on the Lord

in the face of an uncertain outcome. And if you haven't yet, I bet one day you will. So the question is,

when it's easy to let anxiety or the disappointment of mixed expectations

take over the driver's seat of our lives, how can we instead remain grounded, tethered to

the truth that God is good and his ways are best?

In Genesis 30, we see Rachel pleading with God amidst the disappointment and uncertainty surrounding her seemingly

inability to conceive a child. In the midst of waiting, she turns to other means to try to

manipulate her desires into existence, but in doing so, she operates outside of God's design for family.

One commentator sets up the story like this. Rachel's reaction to her

barrenness in Jacob's response contrast with how Rebecca and Isaac and Sarah and Abraham behaved

in similar circumstances. Sarah resorted to a custom acceptable in her culture, though contrary to

God's will, to secure an heir for Abraham.

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