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.
(Bereshit / Genesis 25:29-34; ESV)
The main
contrast between twin brothers Jacob and Esau was their outlook on life. Jacob
was a planner. His focus was on life's bigger picture. Esau lived in the moment
with little care for the implications of his actions. I just read the story of
Esau selling his birthright for a portion of stew. The account ends with the
comment that he despised his birthright. It is difficult to tell whether he
normally regarded his birthright as worthless or if in the moment the value he
put on food was deemed to be so much greater than that of his birthright. That
is to say perhaps on a better day he would not so easily part with it. My guess
is that he devalued his birthright in the moment, due to the situation he was
in.
This is what
I think due to the reason Esau gave for agreeing to Jacob's offer. He said,
"I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?" He had
determined that the birthright was worthless if he died in that moment. So what
choice did he have? He could keep the birthright, however valuable it was to
him, but it wouldn't benefit him if he died. He probably would have agreed to
anything in order to preserve his life in that moment. Makes sense to me. It
makes sense, except for one thing. He wasn't going to die.
I don't know
if Esau really believed he was at the point of death. Sounds like he did; it
sounds to me as if he panicked. That's something I understand. I have that
tendency. Call it overreacting or whatever, but I am talking about the times
when in the moment everything appears to be going wrong and unless drastic
measures are taken immediately, disaster is guaranteed. I don't know how many
times my overreactions have been proven to be unreasonable. Yet in the moment,
I believe that things are exactly the way I perceive them to be and that I am
not overreacting at all.
Having had
significant experience in this area, I am well-equipped to say that panic is
never reasonable. In fact it is almost always destructive. At the same time,
how do we prevent panic if we don't think we are panicking? The solution is
found in the contrast between these brothers. Unlike Jacob, Esau lived in the
moment. He didn't stop to properly assess his situation based on factors beyond
what he was feeling at the moment.
I know that
there are people who need to learn to live in the moment more. They are so out
of touch with how they feel and what is going on around them that they tend to
deny reality. But reality is not properly perceived by being consumed with the
moment as Esau was. We, of course, actually only live in life's moments, but
effectively living in the moment requires a much bigger view of life. Being
aware that God is in control, that he is trustworthy, that actions have
consequences, and that our feelings can fool us, will prevent us from
overreacting in the moment.
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