You don’t know the value of what you’ve got until you lose it.
In a bid to “have it now”, many people lose what truly matters. A jewel that can’t be bought back.
Oh, how Esau got stung by this! In Genesis 25:
29 And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:
30 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.
31 And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.
32 And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?
33 And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.
34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.
It isn’t wrong or sinful to be hungry. It’s human. But Esau, when you heard “give me your birthright in exchange”, you would have said, “thank you but no thank you”, and dropped the pottage. You’d have walked into the kitchen, just endured it for even 30 minutes, and make your sumptuous meal. The food and birthright would have still been all yours.
Esau couldn’t wait. He couldn’t delay that food gratification. He hurriedly threw off a cherished possession – his birthright. How painful!
It didn’t end there. One day, he sought for that birthright, carefully with tears, but couldn’t have it back. (Hebrews 12:15-17).
Handling Those Longings
Desires come and go, hunger will rise, but what God has for you is better than just a pottage. From ages past, there has always been a need for patience in all we do. Running faster than your shadow will only lead one to the unexpected. When God called Abraham he said unto him “walk thou before me and be thou perfect.” Walk in patience, walk in perseverance, walk with precaution, walk in prayer.
The road has never been easy, the journey has never been smooth. Yet as bad as it sounds that we know not the way, there is a consoling plea from the Master who has assured us that He knows the way through the wilderness. He alone knows the path even inside the Red Sea. Don’t be too fast to swim, don’t be too fast to call for a ship, He knows what to do at that red sea of yours.
Most wrongs can never be made right. What is that thing that demands your temporal pleasure now, that thing that demands you do it the fast way at the expense of what is vital (your salvation)? Put it away.
No matter how sweet the pottage may be, it is only temporal and cannot be compared to what God has kept for you. If you go faster than Him, He’ll sit and watch you fail and come back to Him.
In marriage, career, business, or anything, He, the Master of the ship, is saying “wait.” Whatever it is, “wait”.
Failure to delay gratification has led many intending couples to fornication, many girls to unwanted pregnancies, many young men into robbery, and led many young souls to an unprepared eternity.
What the Father has for us is bigger than what we can say. We might have gotten a little knowledge of it from a distance like Moses, yet we need to be patient with God to take us there.
