Approval Or Achievement Series

you worked so hard for something,

but once you got it,

it wasn’t all you expected it to be?

I once had this dream of being a Navy jet pilot.

And I have never worked harder for anything in my life

than I worked at getting through the Naval Academy,

and then through Navy flight school.

It took me about 7 years for those 2 schools,

so about the same amount of time as Jacob worked.

And then I was finally there, the dream was reality.

I joined VS-37, a squadron

onboard the aircraft carrier Enterprise,

I was a pilot flying the S-3 Viking jet,

And shortly after I joined the squadron,

I kissed Kathy goodbye for 8 months,

and the Enterprise sailed off into the Pacific Ocean.

And all of us pilots would have loved to fly every day,

but jet fuel is expensive,

even back then it cost about $10-20,000

every time I climbed into the jet.

So most of our time was spent

in meetings and training and paperwork.

But I was flying several times a week,

so we’d get catapulted off the end of the carrier,

go fly for 4 hours,

and then the highlight for a pilot was the carrier landing.

And so I got my first 10 carrier landings,

then 20, then 30, then 40, 50, 60, 70,

but at some point the thrill of doing something new,

started to wear off,

and it occurred to me,

you know, this is kind of like a job.

I didn’t think that being a jet pilot was gonna be like a job.

But it feels kind of like a job.

And it’s a fun job most of the time,

but I don’t know if I feel like I’m really helping anyone,

or changing the world,

I just go fly around over the ocean for several hours,

then come back and land.

Its like a job.

and so then I had to ask the question,

Is this what I want to invest my life in?

And I eventually decided, no, I don’t think so.

It was kind of like,

I woke up after the dream wedding night,

and discovered that

I was lying next to the wrong woman.

Jacob is in this situation,

lying next to the wrong woman,

and its kind of his fault,

but its kind of not.

He was deceived,

but it really serves him right,

because he was a deceiver.

so Jacob ran out of the tent, buck naked…

now it doesn’t say that, but you know he did

after he wakes up next to the wrong woman.

Verse 25…

So Jacob said to Laban, "What is this?

Have you ever opened a present…

expecting one thing,

and you pretended you liked it,

But inside you’re going,

What is this?

Uncle Laban,

What is this you have done to me. I served you for Rachel, didn't I?

And this is a pivotal moment in his life…

Why have you deceived me?"

Well Jacob, maybe its because

you’re simply reaping what you sowed.

In case you forgot, Jacob,

the whole reason you’re at Laban’s house,

is because you deceived your father and your brother,

by pretending to be Esau.

And now the trickster has gotten tricked.

How do you think they felt when you deceived them…

Not a good feeling is it?

Here’s the lesson for all of us.

If you live a lie,

you’ll eventually wake up next to Leah.

You can count on it,

God cannot be mocked,

whatever you sow, you will one day reap.