When Love Feels Out of Reach: A Letter to the Leahs

When I wrote about Leah in The Flip Side, I wasn’t just writing about a woman in the Bible—I was writing about women I’ve seen, known, and even been at times. Women who love deeply, give fully, and still feel overlooked.

Leah’s story has always pierced my heart.

She was married to a man who didn’t love her. She gave him sons, hoping each one would finally make him look at her with affection. And with every child, she whispered the same hope: “Now he will love me.” But Jacob’s heart remained with Rachel.

Sis, have you ever felt like Leah?

Like you were always almost enough… but not quite?

Maybe you’ve been in a relationship where you gave your all, only to be treated like an obligation instead of a treasure. Maybe you’ve worked hard, served faithfully, loved sacrificially—but still felt invisible.

If that’s you, I want to remind you of something God showed me while writing Leah’s chapter: God saw her even when Jacob didn’t, even when her father used her. Even when her sister outshined her in everyone else’s eyes. God saw her tears. He heard her prayers. He counted every moment she felt second-best.

Genesis 29 says, “When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, He opened her womb.”

Did you catch that?

God responded to her pain—not by changing Jacob’s heart, but by birthing something in her.

She went from naming her children in desperation for Jacob’s love to finally saying, “This time, I will praise the Lord.” (Genesis 29:35) That was her shift. That was her healing moment. She stopped chasing the love of a man and turned her heart toward the love of her God.

And you know what’s even more powerful?

It’s Leah’s bloodline—not Rachel’s—that led to Jesus.

Let that sink in.

The woman who felt unwanted, unloved, and unseen—God chose her to carry the lineage of the Messiah.

So, to every woman reading this who feels like she’s living in someone else’s shadow… I want to say this with my whole heart:

You are not invisible. You are not forgotten. You are not second-best.

God sees you.

He hears the cry behind your smile. He knows how hard you try to hold it all together. And He wants you to know—His love doesn’t have conditions. You don’t have to earn it, chase it, or perform for it.

You just have to rest in it.

Leah didn’t need Jacob’s love to be chosen—she was already chosen by God.

And so are you.

With love,

Lisa