We’ve all heard of brides or grooms being jilted at the altar because their spouse-to-be really wanted to be with someone else. But what about marrying one person and waking up to that person’s sibling the next day?

Once again, when it comes to family drama, the Bible does not disappoint! Jacob, the trickster who (at his mother’s urging) tricked his father, Isaac, out of his older brother Esau’s blessing, is tricked by his father-in-law into an unwanted marriage to an unwanted woman: Leah, the older sister of Rachel–the woman Jacob thought he married.

Twisted? Yes. Can we learn from it? You bet!

Jacob did eventually marry Rachel, but Leah lived her entire married life never knowing the kind of affection from her husband that her younger sister received. She thought God’s gift of many sons would win her Jacob’s affection, but it never did.

One of Satan’s most sordid tactics is causing God’s people to see God’s gifts as nothing more than heavenly means to earthly ends. But God doesn’t give us things so that we can use them to get things (namely affection) from other people. To think so is self-centered, not God-centered. He blesses us so that we in-turn will bless and worship Him; He blesses us to be a blessing to others! Click the image above to hear about what Christians can learn from Leah’s sad story.