Pressure Filled Moments

(Lessons from Rebekah)                                 

 THINK BEFORE YOU ACT

And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: 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. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? 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. Genesis 25:29-34

Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. Hebrews 12:16-17

Esau was very hungry! Because of his hunger, he made a bad choice. He was so focused on his need right then that nothing else mattered. He swapped the lifelong blessings of his birthright for a bowl of food which was quickly gone.
We all face pressure filled moments like Esau did. We get so focused on our need or desires that nothing else seems to matter. We can so quickly yield to the temptation which fills us for a moment before leaving us as empty as before. But our whole life may be scarred by that wrong and foolish choice.

What are some of these pressures?

The pressure to have something

We see something that we like and start to want. We want it so strongly that soon it's all we can think about. Without thinking it through, we rush ahead and get it. But it's not long before the newness wears off, our money is gone and we wish we'd thought twice.

Have you ever noticed a child who desperately wants a toy that another child has? When they finally get that toy, guess what? They don't want it for very long!

The pressure to do what everyone else is doing

This pressure will be especially strong if you are surrounded by worldly people. We don't like to be the odd one out. We want to do what they're doing just so we're the same as them.

To be different is like swimming upstream. It's so much easier to float along with everyone else.

The pressure to be like others

We feel like we need to look like everyone else and talk the same way. My husband told me about a boy that started working at his work. When the boy first came he didn't swear. But because everyone else at work swore (apart from my husband) he started swearing too. Now nearly every sentence he speaks has a swear word in it. He wanted to be like the others.

Pressure to lose your temper

What regrets this one can bring! Sometimes we hurt others or say unkind words in the process. Afterwards we feel guilty and mean.

Relationship/Sexual Pressure

Everyone faces this pressure sometime or other. If we are controlled and led by our feelings and desires like Esau was, a marriage license will seem unimportant. Nothing else will matter but to fill our desires.

Yet what tragic lifetime consequences this wrong choice brings. What blessings we miss if we sin in this way. I wish every girl would value her purity enough to compare the short term pleasure to the life long consequences. Don't be a fool like Esau!

When he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected.
It may be hard to wait and keep yourself pure for the one God has for you, but it is so worth it. It brings so much blessing.

We need to learn to stop and think before we act. If Esau had done this, I'm sure he would have made the right choice.