MY ESAU EXPERIENCE

I often used to wonder why God was so unhappy with Esau; why the bible would say "Jacob I love but Esau, I hate". Anyway, this year, while studying the bible, I seemed to notice this one word that I didn't take notice of while reading the story of Jacob and Esau; that one word was contempt.

What is contempt? For those like me, I shall put it up for you.

CONTEMPT: 

• The feeling that a person or a thing is worthless or beneath consideration. 
• Disregard for something that should be considered.

In Gen 25: 27-34, a story is told about two brothers who were twins but had very different personalities and physical features; while one was outgoing and seemingly wild, the other was more of an introvert and a mommy's boy. Esau was the first of the twins and the outdoor person, while Jacob was the youngest and the mommy's boy.

One day, Esau went to hunt and came back hungry while Jacob stayed at home and made a nice pot of stew. 

When Esau got back, he asked his brother for some of the stew, Jacob would not heed except Esau gave him his birthright which Esau did because he felt like he would die if he did not eat. 

Behold, the verse that caught my attention:

Verse 34: then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew. Esau ate the meal, then got up and left. He showed CONTEMPT for his rights as the firstborn.

Do you remember in Exodus (Exodus 11:1-10) what God did to ensure that Pharaoh let the people go? He killed every firstborn of both man and animals. Why the firstborn? Because they were of grave importance.

In Exodus 13:1-2, you hear God instruct Moses to dedicate every first offspring of both man and animals to Him because they belong to Him.

So, here is my point, the first born position given to Esau was such an important gift and a privilege that had been given to him by God as a seal and mark of how important he was to Him but here is Esau, showing total disregard  for something he should have considered with high esteem. In other words, he showed contempt for a blessing of God.

It is easy to look at Esau and just call him a fool as per would he have died if he did not eat that stew? He felt like he would die, but that was simply a feeling and feelings are not emotions we should make lifelong decisions based on.

Assuming he had decided to fast when the brother refused to give him or even went to a neighbor to ask for food or just behave like my older sister Didi and use her position as the oldest child to bully you and cause you to cave, he could have held onto his birthright but would he do it? No, Esau compromised and gave in for temporary pleasure. We all know he would not have died if he did not eat that stew.

He gave in to his brothers demand because he didn't know how important his birthright was but Jacob knew.

Let me bring it a little bit closer to him for us all, and this is what God asked me "How many times have I blessed you with something and you don't even know the value and are quick to give it out or treat it with contempt?" For some, God has given you a great spouse, but because you are so used to the person, you begin to treat them with less respect than they deserve, or you have kids and you just keep complaining about them, your parents are alive and you disrespect them because they have not given you as much money as you think you deserve or they have fallen out of grace in some way and you just treat them badly, you have friends and you just do not value them, the list is unending in all honesty but I got the point. 

God has blessed us in so many ways and more often than not, we do not value those blessings or we allow over familiarity get to us and so we disrespect the gift and in that sense, the giver as well.

For everything we have in life, it is a blessing from God and a blessing He has withheld from some people but has given you.

Even though Esau was oblivious of his blessing and showing contempt over it, notice that his brother Jacob was well aware of it and had been waiting for any opportunity to present itself so he could take it.

Likewise, those blessings of God in your life that you are just devaluing, someone else very close to you is looking at it enviously and just praying for you to mess up in anyway so they can swoop down and grab it.

You look at your husband and be like ' it is just.... abegi, and you yell at him or ignore him or talk down to him.  If God were to simply open your eyes, you would be shocked at how many girls so close to you are praying something goes wrong between you both so they can quickly come and take him and treat him better than you could ever imagine.

Please bear in mind that this same scenario applies for guys as well, so it's not just the ladies I'm talking about.

Anyway, to cut the long story short (cause my brother has warned me about lengthy posts), you need to always value all that God has given you and put in your life 'cause believe me, someone else is noticing how special they are and waiting for an opportunity to take them from you so Wise Up!!

THE CHARACTER OF GOD AND THE JOURNEY TO ANAIAH

TIME: BEFORE ANAIAH  (22ND NOVEMBER, 2017)

SERAH'S LESSON

For a while, I've been battling with a little doubt and discouragement over one seemingly unanswered prayer request. I've been telling God I want twins but for every scan I attend, they just see one.

God and I have been discussing the issue almost everyday and some days I ask him, "where do I draw the line between faith and knowing that what I want, may not be what You want for me?".

Some people say that God's answers are yes and amen. Amen means let God's will be done and one thing I know so well is that His will and my will may not always be the same. Isaiah 55 makes that clear when He says " His ways are not our ways nor are His thoughts like ours...". 

Paul was a man of great faith but three times, he asked God to take a particular thorn from his flesh and God said no, my grace is sufficient for you. That to me, was his Amen to Paul. 

My husband and I had discussed it and we came to the agreement that if God will not give you something, He will tell you and make it clear just as He did with Paul ; but it doesn't mean you lacked faith or your faith failed you. It just meant He had a different plan for you.

The Bible says, if your neighbour asks you for something and you can do it then, don't keep postponing it. God is like that and can't contradict Himself. If He won't give you, He will find a way to tell you. Many of us are parents, your child can't keep asking you for something and you know fully well you won't give them, yet you keep letting them ask. If we, as wicked as we are can't do that to our children, the neither can God.

With that issue settled, I kept telling God to encourage my heart everyday concerning the situation.

Last week, I read Hebrews 11:1 which says "faith is the confidence that what we hope for, we will receive.." the word confidence stood out. Some verses later, it speaks of Abraham having confidence that God would take him to the land he had promised. Again, confidence. I asked God to teach me and help me to be confident in Him, concerning the things I trust Him for that are seemingly impossible.

That same day, God taught me a valuable lesson.

In Deuteronomy, God told the Israelites to always remember to thank him because He was bringing them to a land flowing with milk and honey. That was besides the other reasons He stated for them to thank Him. God reminded me and asked me if I believed in Him concerning the issues of my life. He told me that sometimes we tend to want to give up on Him, concerning some pending issues or give up on life because of two reasons:We either don't believe God or we don't know our God and his character.

He gave me two scenarios which I will place before you as well.

1. He said assuming Bill Gates called me and said he has kept 10 billion dollars for me in Lagos and I need to get there by bus to pick it up, would I go? I said yes.

 Assuming in that bus you board, the ac is not working, the bus is crowded, the person in front of you has 4 screaming kids, the man beside you has eaten enough moi moi and is passing gas any how, the other one by your side is eating garlic, you have those nice Igbo songs playing on the bus and another person has bad breath and body odour, would you drop from the bus and say you are fed up and stop at Lokoja to go back to Abuja? No, I doubt any of us here would drop, we won't drop because of the amount of money we were promised and the person who has made the promise. If it were some uncle that just doesn't keep his words, we wouldn't be motivated to stay in that bus or if the amount we were promised is just a mere 2k we wouldn't want to endure the journey would we?

I told God no.

The second scenario He gave me was with my older sister. My sister is like my mum and my husband, she keeps to her words. Since we were children, she would never make me a promise she couldn't keep. 

My sister works in a choice oil n gas company. I have a good idea of what she makes and has. God asked me, assuming your sister Didi, took you out and said pick anything you want, would you think twice about it? Or you went to a restaurant with her and she said pick anything, would you contemplate eating and ordering what you want? I said no. 

He asked me why? I said because I know her, I know what she makes, what she has and I know her character. She would never say what she can't do nor back up.

God then told me that half the time, my children don't know me, don't know my character and don't know who I am, which is why when I make a promise to them in my word, they doubt me, don't believe me and just don't act on it.

The Bible says "tell me the desires of your heart that I may grant them". That is a blank cheque set in front of you. God would never ask you to ask for something He can not do.

He said we don't know Him nor His character. Because if we did, we would know that nothing is too difficult or impossible with Him. He does things that defy science and defy the understanding of man.

He asked me how does a virgin give birth to a child without knowing any man?

How does a man stay in the belly of a fish for three days and survive? Where is the oxygen he is taking? Where is the food and water he is using? This same man will come out healthy and even able to talk and vex?

He asked me how does a man stay in a Lions den and come out unharmed? Can I explain?

How does a man turn from a Prisoner to a Prime Minister in a country where the people were appalled by his race?

How do people walk around in a wilderness for 40 years without change of clothes or shoes size? Can I explain

How does a woman of almost 90 give birth when her husband is about 100?

I couldn't answer but I got the point and I hope you do too.

Yesterday, I was about to give up on my dream and God again took me to James 5:17-18 which says that Elijah was just a mere man like us but prayed earnestly and for 3.5 years there was no rain. It didn't matter who and who would be affected by the lack of rain, God saw his faith and He answered. That same man prayed again and rain was released.

He told me to pray and believe Him.

Elijah wasn't worried or didn't know how God was going to answer his prayer, he just knew that God would and could answer it. He knew God's character and he believed him.

David knew God's character, so did Moses and Joseph and every person who stood their ground in faith.

I pray that God will help us to better understand his character and believe Him.

Our God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all we can ever ask or imagine and He is working everything out for our good; for His plans for us are of good and not of evil to bring us (meaning it's a journey) to a good and expected end. Every situation that is facing you right now has a start date and an expiry date.

This year, I see God as the one who makes a way where there seems to be no way and I choose to be like Abraham who hoped against all hope that God would do as He has said.

Rom4:18 says "even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping/believing that he would be the father of many Nations. For God had said so to him."

Open your ears to what God is saying to you and believe Him. 

Please believe Him for He does not and cannot lie and if it does not happen as we plan, know it is as He planned and His plans must always take preeminence over our own.

Have a lovely day.

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LIFE AS WE KNOW IT

My name is Mrs M. I have an amazing husband and  two lovely daughters. My first is Nailah who is 3 plus and my second is Anaiah who is 10 months today.

Parenting has taught me so much about God in ways I could never believe even though I have always had a very unique relationship with God since childhood parenting however, has opened my eyes to so much more.

Permit me to use this page to share all that God teaches me and has taught me through the years and hopefully, it would help encourage or provoke at least one person's thought process or relationship with God.

I hope to help you see God through my eyes and cause you to fall in love with him more.