6 Rachel – Surrendering the Struggle
Scripture Focus: Genesis 29–30; Genesis 35:16–20
Rachel’s story begins with beauty, love, and favour. Jacob adored her from the moment he saw her. She was the woman he willingly worked fourteen years to marry—years that felt to him “but a few days” because of his great love for her. From the outside, Rachel had everything. But internally, she carried a silent battle—one that could not be seen, only felt.
Rachel longed for children, but her womb remained closed. What she desired most was the very thing she could not control. She watched Leah, the sister she was compared to all her life, give Jacob child after child. And in that place of jealousy, grief, and disappointment, Rachel cried out: “Give me children, or I shall die!” (Genesis 30:1) Her desperation was real. Her pain was deep. Her longing consumed her.
Rachel teaches us that even the most blessed people can carry hidden burdens. Envy took root. Comparison became poison. What Rachel could not have, became bigger in her eyes than what she already did have.
How often do we do the same? We focus on what is missing. We fixate on what others have. We compare our waiting to someone else’s harvest. We measure God’s goodness by our circumstances instead of His character. Yet in time, God remembered Rachel. He opened her womb and gave her Joseph—whose life would one day save nations. Later, she bore Benjamin, but the birth took her life. Rachel’s journey was marked by both joy and sorrow, blessing and loss.
Her story teaches us that even fulfilled prayers may come with unexpected pain—yet God is present in both the giving and the grieving. And still, through all her struggle, God wove great purpose through Rachel’s story. The sons she bore became part of the tribes of Israel. Her tears became part of the history of redemption.
Rachel’s life invites us to consider what we do with the places we cannot control: Do we grasp harder? Do we compare more? Or do we surrender what we cannot change into the hands of God?
Rachel eventually learned what surrender looked like—not because her story was easy, but because God was faithful through all of it. Her life reminds us why surrender is essential:
- We cannot force God’s timing.
- We cannot control God’s methods.
- We cannot manufacture blessings.
But we can trust that God remembers us. We can trust that God hears our cries. We can trust that God gives according to His perfect plan. Surrender is not defeat—it is freedom. It is the moment we stop fighting to control outcomes and start trusting the One who holds them.
Reflection Questions
- What am I struggling to control in this season?
- Where have I allowed comparison to steal my peace?
- What would surrender look like practically in my life today.
Prayer
Lord, help me release what I cannot control. Heal the places comparison has wounded my heart. Teach me to trust Your timing, Your ways, and Your goodness. I surrender my desires, my fears, and my future into Your hands today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
