Genesis Series #52 July 07, 2002
Title: How to Avoid Making a Mess of Your Life
Email: pastorsarver@yahoo.com
Website: www.newlifeinchrist.info
Welcome to New life in Christ. Today we continue with message #52 in our verse-by-verse study of the Book of Genesis.
Read Genesis 26:34-28:9
Opening Prayer
As a pastor, I sometimes provide biblical counseling to people and families that are experiencing turmoil. They may be experiencing trouble in their marriage, in their family relationships, in their ministry, in their finances, in the career, or even in their spiritual walk with God. Sometimes the situations are such a disaster that I often think to myself, "What a mess!" The sad part is that often these messes are the result of their own decisions and actions. Many times when life is a mess, it is our own creation!
Fortunately God can turn messes into masterpieces, so I can give these people hope and direction, but wouldn’t it be much better to avoid the mess to begin with? The obvious answer is "yes" so the subject I will share on today is, "How to Avoid Making a Mess of Your Life."
In this story from Genesis we see a family in turmoil. Through their own actions they create an incredible mess. As the story progresses we see a husband and wife plotting against each other, we see one brother, Esau, weeping bitterly about what he has lost and hating his brother Jacob so much that he plots to murder him, and we see that Jacob has to flee for his life to a distant land where he will be separated from his family for what turns out to be 20 years. This is a situation in which nobody wins. This is a mess in every sense of the word. Life isn’t like an episode of the "Brady Bunch" where everything gets straightned out by the end of the show, therefore it is vital that we learn how to avoid these types of messes. We can learn from this family some practical life lessons on how to do just that. Obviously we cannot learn what to do from their positive example, but we can learn what not to do from their negative example.
In a sense this family’s life is like the totally wrecked cars that the police often place on the side of the road to warn people about what happens when we disobey the traffic laws. We learn from these warnings and these negative examples what not to do or we will end up in the same kind of a wreck.
In this story, I believe we can to learn 2 ways to avoid making a mess out of our lives.
1. To avoid making your life a mess don’t make your decisions on the basis of wrong values.
2. To avoid making your life a mess don’t resort to wrong means of gaining what is good.
We all have to make choices in life. We to make choices about relationships, purchases, careers, ministries, education, entertainment, etc.. . The values that guide these choices will in large part determine whether these choices result in a blessed life are messed up life. Making decisions based on wrong values is one way to quickly make a mess of your life. What are wrong values?
There are many examples of wrong values but the list would certainly include sensuality, materialism, selfishness, and godlessness. In other words we should not make our decisions based on what is pleasing to our senses (sensuality). Our choices should not be based on what will generate the most income or enable us to gain the most possessions. We should not make our decisions on purely selfish motives, which means cosidering what we want but not what God wants. Did Esau and Isaac make choices based on wrong values? The answer is clearly "yes."
Read Genesis 26:34-27:4
To make choices that lead to a fulfilling life we must base our decisions on what is important and valued by God. This is what Esau and Isaac did not do. First in verse 34 of Chapter 26 we’re told that Esau married Canaanite women which were "a source of grief to Isaac and Rebecca." Remember, one of the things God values is purity in marriage. In Old Testament times this meant not marrying any Canaanites because they were a pagan people. Remember how Abraham sent his servant to his family’s homeland to get a bride for Isaac? He did this because he made his decisions based on right values. Certainly Esau was aware of God’s priorities in marriage. Why then did he marry a Canaanite woman? For the same reason he sold his birthright for a bowl of stew, he was making his decisions or choices based on wrong values and therefore making a mess of his own life. He could have waited and made the effort to marry an acceptable woman. He wanted what he wanted and his immediate desires were his only consideration. That is a foolish way to make decisions. What were the results of making a decision based on wrong values? A mess! His life serves as an example to us.
1. To avoid making your life a mess don’t make your decisions on the basis of wrong values.
Isaac also makes his decisions based on wrong values. We’re told in verses 1-4 that he planned to bless Esau. In ancient cultures this was, among other things, an official recognition by the father of which child would be seen as his successor and in this case be the recipient of the blessings belonging to the firstborn. In some ways, this blessing was like the political endorsement a departing President might give to a Vice-President running for the office of President.
Why would Isaac decide to bless Esau? Yes, Esau was the firstborn, but Isaac knew the this was not the only consideration. Isaac himself was the second born of Abraham and yet he received the blessing of the firstborn. Isaac certainly knew of God’s word declaring that Jacob would receive the blessing of the firstborn (Genesis 25:23). Isaac knew the Esau had legally sold his birthright, which included the blessing of being the firstborn. Isaac knew Esau’s marriages to Canaanite women made him unfit as the one through whom that Abrahamic covenant would be fulfilled. Isaac knew all these things but he decided the bless Esau anyways, why? The answer is because Isaac’s decisions were based on wrong values. His decisions were based on sensuality. In other words, he was preoccupied with gratifying the physical appetites, in particular his love for the game that Esau could hunt and prepare as food, and that is the basis of his choices. In verses 3, 4 Issac told Esau to do these things "so that I may give you my blessings." Clearly his decision is based on Esau’s ability to satisfy his desire for tasty food.
In this passage "tasty food" is mentioned six times; "game" meat is mentioned seven times; and "eating" is mentioned eight times. This repeated emphasis is there to let us know what guided Isaac’s choices. Isaac made his decisions on pleasing the flesh instead of God’s priorities, and therefore missed out on God’s blessings. We need to learn from what Esau and Isaac mistakes and faults.
1. To avoid making your life a mess don’t make your decisions on the basis of wrong values.
As you look back over Genesis, you can see that this theme has been repeatedly emphasized. The "sons of God" chose to marry ungodly women on the basis of their appearance and were judged. Lot chose to live near Sodom on the basis of materialism and lost nearly everything. Esau chose to sell his birthright to satisfy his physical hunger and in the end cried bitterly because there was no going back (verse 38). They all made their decisions based on wrong values. All of these stories and accounts are given to us in the Bible so that we avoid making a mess out of our own lives by not making decisions based on wrong values. There is also a second lesson to learn from the Scripture passage.
Read Genesis 27:5-27a
2. To avoid making your life a mess don’t resort to wrong means of gaining what is good.
There is a strong warning in this passage against using ungodly or unacceptable methods for achieving or acquiring something good or promised by God. This was the mistake that Rebecca and Jacob made. They decided to use deception to get Isaac to bless Jacob. After all the blessing had been promised to Jacob and legally transferred to Jacob, so it seemed justifiable to use any means of getting the promised blessing.
Jacob was just as guilty as Rebecca in the scheme. He did hesitate to get involved (vs. 11, 12) but not on moral grounds. He simply feared getting caught. Once he was assured that the plot might work and that he would not be cursed, he went along with the plan wholeheartedly. In the process he lied repeatedly to his father, who was suspicious, and even used God in his lies(verse 20).
In a sense it seems like their plan worked perfectly. Isaac was fooled and did bless Jacob as we see in verses 27-29.
Explain Isaac’s Blessing Briefly (vs. 27b-29)
There are two things I want you to notice here. First, just because a method works does not make it right. Second, ungodly methods that seem to work usually cause a mess in the end. This was certainly true in this case. In the end, Jacob had to flee his family’s home, serve and be deceived by Laban, and 20 years later actually bow down before Esau instead of Esau bowing down before him (Genesis 33:3). Their plan worked but it just was not worth it, just like with Abraham and Sarah’s plan to have a child through Hagar The plan worked but the mess it created wasn’t worth it. Resorting to a wrong method to gain something good may seem to work but in the end it will make a mess of your life.
2. To avoid making your life a mess don’t resort to wrong means of gaining what is good.
What we need to do is trust God to provide what he is promised and what is good, instead of trying to attain those things through wrong means.
This means not resorting to Madison Avenue techniques to increase church attendance. This means not being deceitful on job, loan, or scholarship applications to get money but rather to trust God to provide what he has planned and promised. This means that saved wives should not resort to pressure or manipulation in order to get their unsaved husbands in church. These are but a few examples of people using wrong means to gain what is good. When we fail to trust God to provide for his promises, in his way and in his time ,we end up with a mess.
1. To avoid making your life a mess don’t make your decisions on the basis of wrong values.
2. To avoid making your life a mess don’t resort to wrong means of gaining what is good.
Read Genesis 27:30-40
Sometimes the messes we create cannot be undone. This was certainly the case with Esau. He has sold his birthright and the blessing that went along with it. There was no avoiding the consequences of that foolish choice. God did not approve of Jacob and Rebekah’s methods but he did use them to make sure Jacob, and not Esau, received the blessing promised. God made sure that Esau did not return too soon from his hunt, so that Jacob would receive the blessing (verse 30). When Esau found out what happened, which is described in verses 31-40, he begged and pleaded with many tears for another chance (verse 34) (Hebrews 12:17), but to no avail. There is a message for us here. Be careful that you do not make your decisions based on wrong values because many times the grievous consequences cannot be avoided no matter how sorrowful you may be! Sometimes people think that a few tears will resolve everything, but it often doesn’t. If you cheat on your spouse, that may be the end of your marriage, no matter how remorseful you are. If you steal from your job, you’ll probably lose that job no matter how many tears you shed. If a pastor commits grievous sins, he may not get a second chance! One decision can cost a great deal so be careful about your choices and actions.
1. To avoid making your life a mess don’t make your decisions on the basis of wrong values.
2. To avoid making your life a mess don’t resort to wrong means of gaining what is good.
There is something else I want you to notice from vs 30-40. Esau was sorrowful but not repentant. He was tearful because of what he had lost, not because of the wrong he had done in selling his birthright. He doesn’t cry out and confess how foolish he had been in despising his birthright rather he accuses Jacob, in verse 36, of taking his birthright by deception. This wasn’t true and demonstrates a lack of true repentance. Esau knowingly chose to value a bowl of stew more than spiritual blessings.
Briefly Explain Esau’s blessings (vs. 39-40)
Read Genesis 27:41-28:9
This part of the story concludes with anything but "They lived happily ever after!" The family is now more divided than ever. Esau is plotting to kill Jacob. Jacob is sent away for 20 years, never to see his mother again. This is a mess but God even use a mess of are creating for good. In this case God uses this situation to start Jacob on a physical and spiritual journey. A journey which ends with Jacob learning to trust and follow God. A journey in which Jacob finally acknowledges the Lord as his God, something he has not done to this point (Genesis 27:20, 28:20, 21).
In the end, Isaac seems to yield to God’s plan. He blesseds Jacob once more, especially noting that he was the recipient of the blessing given to Abraham.
Conclusion: I hope we learn some Bible lessons from these people’s actions and choices. You can make a mess out of your life, your ministry, your family, your career, etc. but you don’t have to. Here’s how you could avoid making a mess out of your life:
1. To avoid making your life a mess don’t make your decisions on the basis of wrong values.
2. To avoid making your life a mess don’t resort to wrong means of gaining what is good.
Closing Prayer
