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.