Genesis 30:22-26: a reflection

22God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb. 23She conceived, bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” 24She named him Joseph, saying, “May the LORD add another son to me.” 25When Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place, and to my country. 26Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service with which I have served you.”

After long years of barrenness and grief, the moment comes for Rachel: God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb. She bears a son, Joseph, and says, God has taken away my reproach. The long waiting, the sorrow, the reproach she had carried, all are answered at last, not by chance, but by God, who remembered her and heard her prayer. What she had longed for through years of grief, God gave in his time.

Notice the words the text uses: God remembered Rachel, and listened to her. It does not mean God had forgotten her, as if she had slipped his mind; it means the time came when he acted on her behalf, answering the longing she had carried so long. The waiting had been real, and painful; but God had not overlooked her, and in his time he remembered her, heard her, and took away the reproach she had borne.

That is a comfort for those in the midst of long waiting and unanswered longing. When we have longed for something through years of grief, and it has not come, we can feel forgotten by God, overlooked. But Rachel's story reminds us that God does not forget his own; the waiting is real, but he has not overlooked us, and in his time he remembers and acts. If you are in a long season of waiting and unanswered longing, do not conclude that God has forgotten you. He remembered Rachel in his time; he has not forgotten you. Keep bringing your longing to him, and trust that the God who remembered Rachel remembers you, and will act in his time, which is the right time, even when the waiting has been long and full of grief.

Lord, after long years of barrenness and grief, the moment came for Rachel: you remembered her, listened to her, and opened her womb, and she said, God has taken away my reproach. Comfort me with that in the midst of long waiting and unanswered longing. When I have longed for something through years of grief, and it has not come, I can feel forgotten by you, overlooked. But Rachel's story reminds me that you do not forget your own; the waiting is real, but you have not overlooked me, and in your time you remember and act. Remembering Rachel did not mean you had forgotten her; it meant the time came when you acted on her behalf. If I am in a long season of waiting and unanswered longing, keep me from concluding that you have forgotten me. You remembered Rachel in your time; you have not forgotten me. Help me keep bringing my longing to you, and trust that you, who remembered Rachel, remember me, and will act in your time, which is the right time, even when the waiting has been long and full of grief. Remember me, Lord, and take away my reproach in your time.