Episode 367
Making Wise Decisions in Times of Need
"When we are hungry, we make irrational decisions. This hunger can be physical, spiritual, or emotional."- Wesleyne
Word of the Day:
"Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright." - Genesis 25:34
This episode delves into the biblical story of Jacob and Esau from Genesis 25:29-34, highlighting the consequences of physical and emotional hunger.
Driven by his immediate need for food, Esau trades his valuable birthright to Jacob.
This narrative is used to illustrate the dangers of making decisions out of desperation, whether that hunger is physical, emotional, or spiritual.
It emphasizes the importance of not allowing oneself to reach a point of desperation and the need to seek God's guidance and community support to avoid making irrational decisions.
Takeaways
- Don't let yourself become so desperate that you make irrational decisions.
- Seek God and community support before reaching a breaking point.
- Recognize the dangers of emotional and spiritual hunger, which can lead to poor choices.
- Always help those in need, as God commands us to support our brothers and sisters.
- Be wary of taking advantage of others in their vulnerable moments.
Chapters
- 00:00 Introduction to the Story of Jacob and Esau
- 00:58 The Dangers of Favoritism and Inflated Self-Importance
- 02:22 The Moral Obligation to Help Those in Need
- 04:24 The Consequences of Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Hunger
- 06:13 Avoiding Desperation and Seeking Rest and Support
Reflect on what you have gained from today's episode and leave a review.
Seek support and take breaks to avoid reaching points of desperation.
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Transcript
Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, quick, let me have some of that red stew, I'm famished. This is why he was called Edom. Jacob replied, first, sell me your birthright. Look, I'm about to die, Esau said. What good is the birthright to me? But Jacob said, swear to me first. So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright. Genesis 25 verses 29 through 34. So there are two people who are wrong in this story of Esau and Jacob. Esau was Jacob's older brother.
And at a very young age, Jacob's mother always tried to elevate Jacob above Esau. She favored Jacob and Esau's father favored him. So the first thing that we have here is we have parents favoring children and giving them the idea in their mind that they're better than their sibling. That is not the way.
that God wants us to love our children, to care for our children, or even the thoughts or things he wants us to put in their minds. Why? Because when they go into the world, they have this inflated sense of self, which doesn't serve them or those around them well.
So yes, we love our children. Yes, we build their confidence, but we don't ever want them to think that they are higher or better than another person. So Jacob was cooking some food and his brother came in and he was hungry. And so what are we supposed to do when our brother, whether it is our blood brother, it is our brother or sister in Christ is hungry?
Wesleyne (:We should offer them something to eat. That is what God commands us to do. But Jacob took it a bit further. He was an opportunist. He saw this as an opportunity to have something that his mother had planted in his brain for years and years and years that was rightfully his. So he said, okay, I'll give you some food, but give me your birthright. I want your birthright.
And Esau said, I'm about to die. So if I die, you're gonna have it anyways. And so Jacob made him, he said, I'll give you this dude, but you need to give me this birthright first. So Esau gave him the birthright because he was hungry. When we are hungry, we make irrational decisions. And this hunger can be a...
physical hunger, it can be a spiritual hunger, it could be an emotional hunger. If we are emotionally hungry, we connect to the wrong types of people. We allow the wrong people to come into our lives. We allow the wrong people to be close to us, to pour into us emotionally. And that causes us to be dependent on them, codependent on them. So emotional hunger,
is dangerous too, because you can very well sell your birthright. You can sell your soul. You can sell your body. You can sell parts of you that are not for sale when you're emotionally hungry. So Jacob took this opportunity of Esau's physical hunger to take something from him. And he ate, he filled his body, he filled himself.
But he despised what he gave away. When we give away something,
Wesleyne (:in hunger. Well, let me back up a few steps. The first key here is don't allow yourself to become starving. When you are starving, you do anything. You make irrational decisions. You make barters. You do things that you would have otherwise not done. So if we're spiritually or emotionally or mentally hungry,
Before we get to that breaking point, we need to lean and turn to God, get professional help, sleep, build community, do what you need to do to fill your cup. Don't just keep going and going and going and going until you're at the point where you're like, the next man that shows up at my doorstep, the next man that.
That's as I on social media. I'm just gonna give myself to them because I've just I'm so tired of being alone I'm just so emotionally drained the next time my boss asked me to do any task that Will make take me away from my family. I'm just gonna do it because I'm so desperate for this promotion Don't allow yourself to get to that point of desperation Catch yourself as you're falling
When you start to feel fatigued, emotionally fatigued, mentally fatigued, physically fatigued, rest, stop, take breaks.
The best thing that you can do for your hunger before it moves to starvation is to stop, to rest, to take a break.
Wesleyne (:So remember when you give away pieces and parts of you out of starvation, out of hunger, you will despise the person that you gave it to. You will despise yourself. You will not be happy because you made a rash decision.
Wesleyne (:So don't be like Jacob, don't be an opportunist and take from people when they are in their places of starvation or hunger. And don't be like Esau, allowing yourself to get burnt down so much that you make irrational decisions.
