Dear Diary...

A few weeks ago, I was preparing for a sermon and was having a difficult time really getting into the world of the Scripture. I wrote these diary entries from the perspective of a maidservant to get started. See how quickly you can figure out which biblical characters are represented in this story!

Image source: michaelfairchild.com

Dear diary,

We left home so quickly! My mistress didn’t waste any time getting away from her greedy, conniving brother (not that I blame her!) As her servant, I traveled with her to meet her new husband. When we saw him walking in the field, she knew right away that he was the one. He walked with a great heaviness, as though his heart was already broken. Yet, as I have gotten to know him, I’ve discovered that his eyes betray a laugh that hovers around the edges. It’s as though he sees the world as a strangely ironic place—full of both harsh realities and unexpected joys. And any given situation, no matter how predictable, can always surprise you. I have never seen my mistress so happy! These are good days…of love and laughter and hope for the future. I can’t wait to see the children that will come from this marriage!

Dear diary,

It’s been ten years now. The future once looked so bright, but now no children have come. She is barren, the worst of all curses that can befall a woman. This strange family doesn’t have any gods, either. We should have taken some of the idols when we left. How is a woman supposed to conceive without praying to the idols?! Sure, their god may make the rains come and the crops grow, but everyone knows that one god can’t do everything! I fear for my mistress and for our future. Surely she will send me to her husband’s bed soon. Otherwise, all of our lives will surely end in poverty and misfortune with no children to carry us into the future.

Dear diary,

Twenty years! Twenty years these foolish people have been praying to an invisible god who never answers. All of us servants know they’re crazy. When the gods don’t respond, sometimes you have to help them out a bit! I guess we’ll all die in this barren land together.

Dear diary,

I cannot believe my ears! My mistress is pregnant. So many seasons have come and gone, plantings and harvests, generation after generation of new herds—all with no change. And now—I don’t know how—she’s pregnant! Their god has answered their prayers after all these years. I may still prefer the quick response of the idols, but they have never been known to open a barren womb after twenty years!

Dear diary,

Oh, the cruelty of the god these people serve! My mistress is in so much pain. We fear she may lose the baby after all. Every day, she lays in the tent on her mat, her quiet moans interspersed with pain-filled screams. There is nothing we can do to relieve either her pain or her fear. Oh, if only we had the idols now!

Dear diary,

I accompanied my mistress on a strange journey today. It was dangerous at this late stage in her pregnancy, but in the end, it proved to be worth the risk. She went into a tent I had never seen before, and when she came out, her whole countenance had changed. The lines of pain and worry that had become etched in her face these last few months were gone. I don’t know what happened in there, but she seems peaceful now. We can all still see her occasionally stand still and gasp in pain, but her fear is gone.

Dear diary,

Twins! She delivered twins! No wonder she has had so much pain! Even as they were born, they were struggling—fighting over which would come out first. Oh, the gods be praised! Now this family will grow in strength and prosperity and our future is secure!

Dear diary,

I fear, yet again, for the future of our new family. Red, the older boy, who will lead us, sickens me. He comes in from the hunt, covered in blood, and rips the raw meat off the bones of his prey with his teeth right in front of us. His father eats it up. He loves seeing that disgusting display of raw strength. He thinks Red is just the man to father a whole horde of children. Heel, the younger boy, is so quiet. I can’t imagine him leading us either. My mistress adores him, but it really doesn’t matter what she thinks. Red is our future. Oh, how I dread that day, when he will take charge!

Dear diary,

I hear rumors that Red has given up his birthright! Praise be to the gods, but how can this be? Heel is so weak. He could not possibly have threatened Red or beat him in a contest of strength. I don’t know, but the invisible god of these people seems to be mysteriously at work in this family. The future always belongs to the oldest and the strongest, though. Even with the birthright, it will be a day I will never forget if Heel yet becomes the head of this family.

Read Genesis 25 to see this story told in its original  context and then the rest of Genesis to see how it all turns out!