When Praise Becomes Your Breakthrough
- caroline borishade
- May 26, 2025
- 2 min read
In a world where so many of us strive to be seen, accepted, and loved, Leah's story is painfully relatable. She was the older sister, married by deception, overlooked by her husband, and trapped in a cycle of emotional rejection. But Leah’s journey wasn’t just about pain; it became a story of perspective, praise, and breakthrough.
The Search for Validation
Leah’s marriage to Jacob was not rooted in love. Jacob loved Rachel, not her. So Leah turned to the one thing she thought could earn his affection: children.
With each child, she gave her son a name that told the story of her heartbreak:
• Reuben – “Surely my husband will love me now.”
• Simeon – “The Lord heard that I am not loved.”
• Levi – “Now my husband will become attached to me.”
Each name was a desperate hope that her efforts would be enough. She was doing everything “right”, bearing children, building a home, yet nothing changed.
The Turning Point: Praise
Then Leah gave birth to her fourth son.
“This time I will praise the Lord.” Genesis 29:35
She named him Judah, which means “praise.” And something powerful happened.
This wasn’t just a change of name. It was a change of heart. Leah stopped performing for human approval and turned her attention to God.
At that moment, her spiritual posture shifted. She realised that the love she was longing for couldn’t be earned; it had to be received from the only One who gives it unconditionally.
When You Stop Striving
Leah didn’t stop being a wife or mother. But after Judah, the striving stopped. The Bible says, “Then she stopped having children.”
Not because she was done biologically, but because she was done emotionally. She was no longer living for Jacob’s love. She had discovered something deeper: God’s sufficiency in the face of man’s rejection.
Praise doesn’t always change your circumstances, but it changes how you stand in them.
The Arms of Flesh Will Fail
We often lean on people for support that only God is strong enough to provide. We place our worth in human hands, expecting love, validation, or healing from those just as broken as we are.
But as Leah learned, the arms of flesh will fail.
Only God can truly hold, sustain, and satisfy your soul.
Legacy Through Praise
Here’s the stunning truth: from Judah, the son, Leah praised God for came King David, and eventually, Jesus Christ.
The son born in praise, not in pain, became the seed of redemption.
Leah’s legacy wasn’t built in the moments she tried to earn love. It was born when she learned to praise God anyway.
Your Turn
Are you tired of striving? Trying to be enough? Waiting to be seen?
Maybe it’s time to say what Leah said:
“This time, I will praise the Lord.”
Not because everything has changed, but because He never changes.
Not because they love you, but because He sees you.
Not to get something from God, but to give Him the glory He already deserves.
Praise is your shift.
Praise is your surrender.
Praise is your legacy.
Written by: Caroline
Founder, Rise & Reclaim,
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