Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, and instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs. – Isaiah 61:7
When I was 17 years old, I was talking with a girl friend (not a girlfriend) about our lack of significant other. This is pretty common conversation for kids of this age, and we were the stereotypical moody teenagers that felt rejection and isolation more keenly at this age than at any other age of our young lives. We were consoling each other about past rejections (imagined or real, I cannot say now), and we made a pact that if we both reached the age of 28 and were still single that we would get married. While we both acted dead serious about this agreement, I don’t believe either of us thought about it again.
Cute right?
She and her family moved away a couple of years later, and we lost contact soon thereafter. Fast forward 10 years and imagine my surprise when I exited my home to head to work one day, and there she was. She was in a full bridal gown with several of her friends in attendance. She had cans tied with string onto the bumper of my car and the epitome “Just Got Hitched” was soaped onto my back windshield. There was a Justice of the Peace standing on the back of a truck bed behind a small portable pulpit. Her parents were both in attendance as were a few mutual friends that she had hunted down.
I was stunned.
I was shocked.
I am completely making up that whole story.
Nothing after the “she and her family moved away” actually happened. If it had, we probably could have gotten on Springer or Maury! The idea of sticking to a hormonal induced pact made by my 17 year-old self is absurd. I actually never heard from this young lady again after my 18th or 19th birthday. I hope she’s living a wonderful life, but I certainly never again heard about that pact. First of all, we were not mature enough to realize how silly the idea of our oath really was. We were in our turbulent teenage years and having a theoretical solution in place (even ten years down the road) made us feel better. Most importantly of course, we never went to any authoritative body to legalize that agreement. The idea of being legally bound by a couple of teenage decisions is outrageous.
The book of Genesis in the Old Testament tells us about the story of Jacob and Esau. These two brothers were as opposite as they come. Esau was a rugged outdoor type and skilled hunter (which his father Isaac really admired, mostly because he loved to eat wild game), while Jacob was a mild man who was more of a home body. They were twins, with Esau being born first and Jacob right on his heels.
One day after a long hunt, Esau came home exhausted and famished. Jacob had just got through cooking a stew and some bread. Esau asked him for some food. Jacob, being a deceptive man and always looking for a way to advantage from others, countered Esau’s request with one of his own. Genesis 25:31-34 reads “But Jacob said, ‘Sell me your birthright as of this day.’ And Esau said, ‘Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?’ Then Jacob said, ‘Swear to me as of this day.’ So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.”
If you’ve spent any time in church listening to sermons and teachings, you have heard this story. Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of stew. Is it really accurate? Well, I guess it is as accurate as possible considering it was an oath from one fifteen year old to another. How much control over the firstborn’s birthright did either of them have at fifteen years old? Probably not as much as I’ve always been led to believe. Even if this promise was more ironclad in biblical times, the blessing of the firstborn from their father would have overridden the birthright. So even after manipulating Esau into promising over his birthright, Jacob still wouldn’t have received the lion share without another deception.
Has the enemy swindled you out of some things in your life? Do you hear the subtle (or not so subtle) whispers that you cannot retrieve everything you have traded away? Don’t believe it! The enemy would love for us to believe that once we’ve agreed to one of his trades, we are locked in for life. This is yet another lie from the father of lies. We can get it all back! No matter what our past looks like, the grace of God continues to make goodness available to us. If there was ever a calling on our life, it is still there and valid. In Romans 11:29-31 Paul writes, “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy.” In other words, God never removes the gifting and anointing that He placed upon His people. If we become disobedient, He is ready to welcome us back with mercy. What a promise!!
Esau had the opportunity to gain back everything he had bargained away, and so do we. Don’t believe the enemy’s lies concerning this. Philippians 1:6 reads, “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”. God isn’t done with us. He will finish what He started!