Wednesday, May 18, 2016

All About Timing

One day when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau arrived home from the wilderness exhausted and hungry. Esau said to Jacob, “I’m starved! Give me some of that red stew!” (This is how Esau got his other name, Edom, which means “red.”)

“All right,” Jacob replied, “but trade me your rights as the firstborn son.”

“Look, I’m dying of starvation!” said Esau. “What good is my birthright to me now?”

But Jacob said, “First you must swear that your birthright is mine.” So Esau swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to his brother, Jacob.

Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew. Esau ate the meal, then got up and left. He showed contempt for his rights as the firstborn.  Genesis 25:29-34

There are so many things that we will have the urge to want the moment we see it.  This weekend, I found myself looking at the newest iPad where my immediate impulse was to buy it even though I had another one at home.  “It’s the newest version,” I told myself.  Having realized that it is not within my budget to do so, I resisted, and turned away.  That being said, I looked back to find the genesis of my anxiety; Facebook.  One of my favorite past times found a way to identify my purchasing habits, and through it, inundated me with advertisements and suggestions that often times seem subtle and other times more direct.  Either way, it builds a desire that without its prompting may not have even existed.  Working for a technology company, you realize the benefits of technology.  For a day this past weekend, I also have found that it is not always a good thing.  Much like money is written about in 1 Timothy 6:10 (For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows), use of technology can either be good or bad.

We must be vigilant seeking God’s counsel in all things so that we properly guided spiritually.  Last week’s verses talked about the life of Jacob.  We go a little further back in his life not speaking of him but instead his brother Esau.  Esau’s birthright as the firstborn was to inherit his father’s responsibilities and authority.  However as we see in today’s verses, Esau was consumed with hunger and it is safe to say impatient.  As such, he sells his rights to his younger brother.  We often find ourselves doing similar things trading in future blessings for what we want now.  Speaking from experience, it is not easy to get out from under that habit, but if we learn to seek God’s counsel not only with obvious things like finances but with relationships with family members and friends and situations at work and home, we gain wisdom from the experience.  Furthermore, we keep ourselves available for much greater blessings from God down the road!


God’s time is very different from ours.  We often will want things our way right now.  While sometimes we are given such provisions, we must always ask ourselves if it is truly God’s provision or are we putting our timing ahead of His.  The answer lies in the relationship between God and you, but if we do not pray and seek His counsel, we risk like Esau the possibility of missing something far greater in the future.  What decision is God asking you to exercise more patience?  Do you seek God’s counsel on important decisions?  My prayer is that we exercise wisdom to understand that sometimes God’s blessings are all about timing.  Amen. 

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