Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
Don’t use a permanent solution for a temporary problem. Esau was hungry and he felt like he was going to die… he wasn’t, but that’s how he felt. When he came out of the field from hunting, he smelled that good food Jacob was cooking up and he thought “I’ve gotta have some of that!” but he didn’t. As a result, he sold his birthright. We often get so caught-up with our problems of “today” we loose sight of the “big picture.” In most cases, just breathe, you’ll survive. “this too shall pass” (by the way, that phrase isn’t in the Bible, but it’s true, none-the-less). It may take a few decades, years, months, weeks, days, or even as with Esau, hours… but you’ll be okay. about 90% of our problems come from overly worrying about our problems. Just wait… you don’t have to act RIGHT NOW(!) in most cases. when you feel that urgency about something that’s a MAJOR event in life… slow down… think, pray, ask… One important example of this is our epidemic of suicide. You’re life is not that bleak to lead to that. Don’t use a permanent solution for a temporary problem. Relationships, money, depression… there is real hope in all these things. Ask for help. Reach out to people at a good church. Call the national suicide prevention lifeline 800-273-8255. Get help. Pray. Ask… if you want him, Jesus will not leave you.
*Reading the OT in 2017 plan can be found here
