we learn that through all of life there runs a ground note of cosmic disappointment. you are never going to lead a wise life until you understand that. jacob said, "if i can just get rachel, everything will be ok." and he goes to bed with the one who he thinks is rachel, and literally, the hebrew says, "in the morning, behold, it was leah." one commentator noted about this verse, "this is a miniature of our disillusionment, experienced from eden onwards." what does this mean? with all due respect to this woman (from whom we have much to learn), it means that no matter what we put our hopes in, in the morning, it is always leah, never rachel.

...when the lord saw that leah was not loved, he loved her. god was saying, "i am the real bridegroom. i am the husband for the husbandless. i am the father of the fatherless." this is the god who saves by grace...he loves the unwanted, the weak and unloved. he is not just a king and we are the subjects; he is not just a shepherd and we are the sheep. he is a husband and we are his spouse. he is ravished with us--even those of us whom no one else notices.

...who can i turn to who is so beautiful that he will enable me to escape all counterfeit gods? there is only one answer to this question. as the poet george herbert wrote, looking at jesus on the cross: "thou art my loveliness, my life, my light, beauty alone to me."

-counterfeit gods