Sometimes longing for things in our life can hinder us from reaching the fullness of what God has for us. We stray away from our path when we desire things and ache for things. We start to show up different. We might even lose patience. But God will never leave you longing. Watch this sermon and let God redirect your longing. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Watch the full sermon “Longing for More” on the Woman Evolve TV App. For audio-only, head over to Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Apple Podcasts. Stay plugged into the Woman Evolve community: www.womanevolve.com www.womanevolve.tv download the app from any mobile device’s app store, first 7 days are FREE! Want to support this ministry? Text WEGIVE to (833) 611-9066 FOLLOW US ON THE SOCIALS: Instagram: Woman Evolve and Sarah Jakes Roberts Twitter: Woman Evolve and SJakesRoberts Facebook: Woman Evolve and Sarah Jakes Roberts”””

God’s original demand how can I be

fruitful and multiply how can I fill the

Earth how can I subdue and have dominion

over everything connected to my name and

then God if it is within your will for

my life align me with someone who has

the same Mission as me

[Music]

verse 31 and it says

when the Lord saw that Leah was unloved

he opened her womb

but Rachel was barren

so Leah conceived and bore’s son and she

called his name Reuben for she said the

Lord has surely looked on my Affliction

now therefore my husband will love me

my text continues it says then she

conceived again and bore a son and said

because the Lord has heard that I am

unloved he has therefore given me this

son also and she called his name Simeon

she conceived again and bore a son and

said now this time my husband will

become attached to me because I have

borne him three sons therefore his name

was called Levi

and the last scripture says in verse 35

and she conceived again and bore son

and said now I will praise the Lord

therefore she called his name Judah then

she stopped bearing

God we recognize that when you begin to

set us up to produce

to walk in our purpose

to be affirmed in why you created us

that there will be obstacles

and God I pray that this time together

for the purpose her conference will be

an opportunity where those obstacles are

made clear

where it becomes increasingly evident

not just that something is standing in

our way but what it is how we can

overcome it and why we must overcome it

for the sake of what you want to do on

the earth God I thank you that you

continue to shake heaven and Earth on

our behalf let this message be further

evidence that you are with us that you

are for us and that we have work to do

in Jesus name I pray amen amen if you

are like me you’re a Church Girl and you

can’t just say Amen one time like you

got to say it twice or it doesn’t count

I was studying this text and once again

I have seen it over and over again and

it really just stood out to me I have to

tell you if anyone knows my story and if

you don’t

I don’t want to take up the whole time

telling you my story but I’ve gone

through all of these different Ebbs and

flows in my life and it wasn’t until I

really got filled with the Holy Spirit

and started living a spirit-led life

that I began to see incredible

transformation take place in my life

and as a result of that transformation

it really made everything that I faced

before then begin to make sense

when I was studying this message

I was reminded of a season of My Life

when I was facing something but I didn’t

realize I was facing it

let me maybe take you back in time

when I was in college I was waitressing

at a place that was where people went to

take their clothing off for money okay

bear with me stay with me stay connected

some people would call that place a

strip club and it’s not because they

sell New York strips stay focused stay

with me I’m still with you at the time I

just dropped out of college

and I was looking to make cash I needed

to make money fast I had a son I needed

resources I couldn’t wait the three

weeks you put your two weeks in and then

a week later you get your check I didn’t

have time to wait for that process I was

dropping out of school I had my son I

knew I couldn’t go home and live with my

parents after making some of the choices

that I made and so I was working really

hard waitressing

now I was waitressing at this place

because I wanted to make money quickly

but the truth is that if you looked

beyond the want what you would have

discovered was truly a longing

not just for financial stability

a longing for value for worth

for acceptance and purpose

you see

the difference between wanting and

longing

is that wanting is something that is

within your control

and yet longing is something that is

beyond you it feels like something that

is so out of your control that it

literally creates a Melancholy desire

that’s what that word longing means

I don’t just want to finally find peace

I’m

longing for it

I don’t just want my child to be

redeemed I’m longing for it I don’t just

want to be married I’m longing for it a

longing is an ache that is out of your

control and that is so undeniable that

it becomes a part of the undercurrent of

how you show up in your life are there

any women with us tonight who know what

it means too long

I mean

the kind of longing that you can’t even

put into words

longing for someone to understand

exactly what it’s like to be you longing

to feel someone appreciate you and

protect you and defend you a longing is

something that is created as a result of

our Brokenness or

how someone broke us

when we experience the Brokenness of

life it creates this longing on the

inside of us

and I always wondered when reading this

text and hearing about Leah I love to

hear about uh David’s God I love to hear

about Sarah’s God I love to hear about

Mary’s God I even love to hear about

Eve’s God come on somebody but what do

you do with

the God who causes or allows rather

someone like Leah

to go through a circumstance where she

was

unloved

these are the stories and narratives

that we skip over because we can’t quite

explain how we could be in a situation

that God would allow that God would

allow us to face that would leave us

feeling leave us longing

unloved

unseen under appreciated God

how could you leave me longing

I was studying this

text in mind because I recognize that so

many women feel like Leah

unseen

not valued

in an environment that is supposed to

accept them

it would be one thing if you go to the

grocery store and they don’t want you

there you get in your car you go home

because you have somewhere where you

feel loved and valued but what do you do

when the place that is supposed to

accept you is the place where you feel

the most rejected what do you do when

the church is supposed to be the place

where you feel the most safe and now you

feel more spiritually abused than you

ever have what do you do when the job

where they created the role where you

applied for the role and they said that

you were perfect for the role it’s a

place where you don’t know exactly where

you fit what do you do when you can tell

that your environment doesn’t want you

there and yet God has called you

somewhere positioned you somewhere

placed you and birthed you into an

environment

that doesn’t quite get you

and then we want to be in purpose but

the truth is that sometimes our purpose

demands that we see beyond the lack of

acceptance or comfort from those around

us and instead learn to trust God that

God if you put me in this position even

if no one else around me can affirm me

even if no one else can validate me

because you have placed me here I have

to be I have to be strong enough and

brave enough to ask God if you allowed

me to be in this space then what is it

exactly that this space is supposed to

produce in me or what am I supposed to

produce here

that’s one of the most challenging

things that any of us can ask because it

requires that we override our human

basic need to be understood seen valued

and loved and instead come to a place of

discipline and perspective that says God

I don’t necessarily need for everyone to

love me although God knows I wanted and

Leah cannot overcome this truth that

she’s stuck in a circumstance where she

doesn’t feel loved

unloved it says

and when our text begins

it says that the Lord saw

Leah was unloved if I could name this

message anything I would call it longing

no more

because as I was reading these

scriptures I realized that God was

trying to position Leah in such a way

that she would get that longing off of

her that he was trying to prove to her

that that longing that is down in your

spirit doesn’t have to stay there and I

want to dissect for the short time that

I have with you how God allows our

circumstance to become servants so that

that longing is no longer in control of

us you may not think that longing is in

control of you but if that longing is in

your heart that longing changes the way

you see everything that’s taken place in

your world that means that no matter how

blessed you are on one side because you

have that longing it’s still never

enough that longing creates an emptiness

down on the inside of you and you miss

where God is moving and you miss how God

is breathing on your life and you miss

how God is shaping and shifting things

so that you can still come out on the

other side because until that longing is

addressed then that longing tells you

you are inadequate that longing tells

you that you’re working from

disadvantage that word longing that

desire

is so powerful that in Genesis 3

it’s the very first time that we even

see that word that is translated desired

actually means longing it is the first

time that we see it and yet we see it

again Echo throughout scripture in

Genesis 3 and 16. it says that God told

the woman that I will greatly multiply

your sorrow and your conception in pain

you shall bring forth children your

desire that word desire means longing

your desire shall be for your husband

and he shall rule over you

this is so powerful to me because right

here we see in scripture why it is that

we have so many women so many incredible

successful beautiful single women who no

matter how much they accomplish or not

or how whole they become still have this

longing it was part of the curse where

now they feel like I need the man to be

a part of completing me when before this

curse even occurred the woman wasn’t

longing for her husband all she knew was

that she was blessed by herself God

blessed them and he told them to be

fruitful and to multiply she wasn’t in a

position where she felt less than where

she felt inadequate God’s original

intention for women was not for women to

feel like the only way that I can be a

full woman is if someone comes into my

life and completes me no God said you

were complete before that you were whole

before that because sin has entered the

world now this woman has a longing that

she was never meant to have but I want

you to know sister if you’re watching

this that your identity is greater than

who you are or are not married to that

your identity began in heaven where

there are no relationships where there

are no marriages your identity started

in a realm that is above you and our

goal on Earth is not to just figure out

who will marry us and complete us knows

this our goal on Earth is to get back to

God’s original demand how can I be

fruitful and multiply how can I fill the

Earth how can I subdue and have dominion

over everything connected to my name and

then God if it is within your will for

my life align me with someone who has

the same Mission as me because at the

end of the day if I align with someone

who has the same Mission as me then we

can take even more territory but God

empowered you before then but the

longing the longing it blurs your eyes

that’s exactly where we find Leah in her

in this text

Leah

is living God another woman’s curse

Eve’s curse is on her shoulders

and what she wants more than anything is

for that longing to be met

that longing to be satisfied

and that’s my text says it says when the

Lord

saw her

someone being unloved is not something

that you just see

you could be dressed up walking down the

street and it’s not like there’s a big

label over someone’s head that says she

feels unloved

unloved is

a desire that is buried deep in the soul

that longing

is deep in the soul which means that

when my text says that when the Lord saw

that she was unloved

what my text is saying is that God

looked at her soul

aren’t you so glad that we serve a god

you want to talk about God moving Heaven

and Earth just for you you serve a God

who looks at your soul

that even though you can still show up

for everyone else and you can still put

on the clothes and you can still fry the

bacon and you can still take care of the

children and you can still lead the

worship team and you can still go out

for group Ministry and go out with your

girls that God is still looking at your

soul God doesn’t care how you show up

for other people God cares about how

you’re showing up in your own soul and

because God cares about how you’re

showing up in your soul he will not

allow something in your soul to go

unchecked I feel that for somebody

sometimes we’re frustrated because God

won’t allow something in our soul to go

unchecked but God says what kind of God

would I be if I walked around knowing

that you were bleeding in this area and

didn’t try to fix it so God wouldn’t let

Leah Escape what was in her soul and

God’s not going to let you escape what’s

in your soul that means he’s going to

keep throwing therapy in your face he’s

going to keep throwing message after

message in your face he’s going to keep

having someone bring a tough

conversation to you because God God will

not allow you to go ignoring what is in

your soul he sees what’s in your soul he

sees what you don’t have the courage to

cry God understands how you got there

most importantly because when God looks

at our soul I feel this so strongly for

myself because there were so many

moments that I was afraid to open up my

soul because I was afraid that someone

would make a judgment about how I was

feeling in my soul but when God looks at

your soul he doesn’t look at it with a

judgment God looks at your soul with

compassion God says I understand how

that issue has been affecting you for

Generations God understands how you not

having that sense of acceptance and that

sense of identity has caused you to give

yourself away to anyone who would just

blink at you when God looks at your soul

he sees it with compassion he sees why

you do the thing that you do

not just what you do

God’s looking at your soul

and what we see in this text is that God

doesn’t just look at Leah’s soul

but he tries to give her soul a remedy

and in the process of trying to give her

soul a remedy he allows her to produce

children oh my gosh

I just got a download he he allows her

to produce children because in that

culture though when you are able to Bear

children it makes you a more valuable

woman and because Leah was looking to

find her value God gave her something

that would make her valuable but the

reality is that it wasn’t so that she

could be valuable in the culture it’s

that he was answering what her soul

needed I wish I could break this

download down to you the way that I just

received it but what happened was that

God was saying because she is unloved

I’m going to allow her to produce

children which will feel that need to be

loved but because Leah could only see

things through the eyes of her longing

she took what God gave her and tried to

use it to satisfy that longing and

instead of using it to satisfy that

longing she recognized that she was just

going to have to keep producing over and

over and over again because she was

trying to build a life that would cure

the longing instead of seeing that God

would Overlook what man could not you

see leave felt unloved but God said she

was lovable Leah felt that she wasn’t

worthy but God felt that she was worthy

but because she wasn’t getting what she

wanted from the source that she wanted

it from she missed all of the ways that

God had been affirming her and I want

you to know purpose her that when we

talk about God moving Heaven and Earth

just for you that heaven and earth could

be moving but you could miss it because

you’re waiting for heaven and earth to

move in one particular area but you

serve a God that says if it never moves

right there can you see how I moved it

around you if it never becomes what you

hoped it would be can you see how I

still allowed it to be built up around

you and God says I’m going to get love

to her by any means necessary but it is

going to be on her to come to a place

where she recognizes I see you God

I see you God answering my longing I see

you God seeing where I am and where my

Brokenness is God I see you trying to

heal my soul I see you trying to affirm

me I see you trying to prove to me that

I am smart I see you trying to show me

that I do have strength I see you trying

to help me get it daily bread God you

keep giving me so that I can show up in

this life and show up in this situation

and so God my question for you

is is it possible

that I’ve been so busy focusing on what

I didn’t have

that I didn’t see how you were building

me up all along the way

my prayer for you

is that you would come to a place

where you were no longer blinded by your

longing

that longing changes the way you speak

it changes the way you pray

you begin shrinking your prayers because

your longing has to be met

so instead of asking God can you do

exceedingly and abundantly you only ask

God to do just enough God I just want

that marriage God I just want that job

God I just want that car and God is

saying but do you understand that I

could give you the Nations do you

understand that I could break a

generational curse after you do you

understand that you may be praying

prayers that are based on your longing

instead of your faith and God wants to

move you from a space of desolate he

wants to move you from a space of

feeling Barren and empty and into a

space where producing is all that you do

and I know this because as I was reading

this text I saw that Leah every time she

got something she then turned around and

said now my husband will love me but

something powerful happened in verse 35

when she conceived in verse 35 she went

from trying to produce so that her

husband could love her to saying

something so powerful she says now

now I will praise the Lord

all of a sudden

she went from producing so that someone

else could applaud producing so that

someone else could find Value in who she

was and instead said I’m going to turn

my face towards the Lord because if I

turn my face towards the Lord maybe this

longing won’t hurt anymore if I turn my

face to what God is doing maybe this

longing won’t hurt anymore and then my

scripture tells me that she stopped a

bearing after that why did Leah stop

bearing it was almost as if God said

that’s it right there I want to hold you

in that spirit I want to hold you in

that mindset and there is somebody who

think they registered for a conference

but I’m telling you that God has

registered you to come to a place where

you would stop bearing for other people

and instead turn your bearing into focus

on God that you would turn your life in

such a way that you would begin to say

you know what God my circumstance hasn’t

changed but I have changed in the middle

of my circumstance I see that heaven and

Earth has been shaken on my behalf and I

missed it all along the way somebody

needs to get into shaking what we see

happening right here is that Lee has

stopped bearing but her spirit started

shaking and that longing started

breaking off of her and all of a sudden

it didn’t matter what was happening and

I feel like God wants to do the very

same thing in your life that he wants

you to stop producing for just a moment

and turn your focus to what God has been

doing so that you can feel the ground

when it shakes I live in Los Angeles

California and there are some moments

where it feels like the ground is

shaking but in order to see if the

ground is shaking you gotta be still you

got to stop producing because you can’t

tell if it’s a trimmer or if you’re just

tripping and I hear God saying that

what’s your sensing right now is the

beginning of a Tremor what Leah was

sensing when she stopped bearing was the

beginning of a trimmer because we know

that Judah would go on to produce David

and David would be a part of the line of

the Messiah she produced something that

had Divinity connected to it and nobody

changed the way they felt about her but

she started focusing on how God saw her

and when she focused on how God saw her

it became increasingly evident that God

doesn’t care who didn’t do it it won’t

keep him from showing up God doesn’t

care who didn’t show up it won’t keep

him from still stepping into the room

and creating an earthquake in your life

sister I want you to know that the

ground is shaking sister I want you to

know that heaven and earth is moving on

your behalf and it is not just moving to

break everything up it is moving so that

everything can be in position and I feel

like now more than ever that in 2021

that we have a mandate from Heaven to

get serious we have a mandate from

Heaven to recognize what it is we are

producing and to stop abusing the grace

that God has given us for someone else’s

gain I’m going to say that again for the

people in the back there comes a point

in our life where we have to decide I’m

not going to abuse the grace that God

has given me for someone else’s gain yes

I’m here yes I’m supportive yes I’m a

prayer Warrior but at the end of the day

I am also aligned with what God is doing

in the Earth

and because I am aligned with what God

is doing in the Earth

I can’t allow this grace to be abused

by my own longing

because people don’t abuse us

unless their abuse satisfies a longing

our own insecurities create longings

that sign the permission slip that

allows someone else to abuse us

if we don’t come to a place where we

long no more

than everything we produce will be

tainted

by what we wanted someone else to do in

our life

when I was reading this scripture

and I was studying about

what it is that God gave Leah

I saw that in order for God

to satisfy that longing in her

that what he does more than anything is

that he gives Leah something to nurture

yes he allows her to Bear children

but everyone knows that bearing children

is quite literally the easiest part of

the whole thing

it is the nurturing

that small thing

that turns into a medium thing that

turns into a great big thing

that requires all of you

this isn’t just about nurturing children

right now what God has given you

to satisfy the longing on the inside of

you

it has to be nurtured

what God gives you doesn’t come in the

shape or the size of the hole that the

longing created

but if nurtured properly it will take up

the space where there was longing

so Leah’s got a nurture

what God gave her

and that’s what you’ve got to do too

that’s what I’ve got to do too

whenever I’m not nurturing what God gave

me I have a lot of time to think about

what God didn’t do but when I nurture

what God gave me I live with such

worship and so gratitude that what he

didn’t do all makes sense in context to

what he has done and some of us don’t

experience the goodness of God or the

glory of God because we don’t nurture

the goodness that is already in our life

which is why gratitude is so important

and taking time to worship and have

prayer is so important because it

nurtures what God gave us it nurtures

what God is doing in our life and

sometimes the only way we can nurture is

in prayer because my hands are tied and

I don’t know what to do but I know that

if I keep praying over this business if

I keep praying over this ministry if I

keep praying over this book that my

righteous prayers are going to Avail

much I’m nurturing something I’m sorry I

gotta get up earlier than I usually get

up because I’m trying to nurture

something I’m trying to nurture this

into what God has called it to be I’m

trying to nurture it into multiplication

I’m trying to nurture it into something

that looks like Jesus

what Leah nurtures

becomes something that she nurtures that

just looks more and more like Jesus