Last night I was doing my daily Bible reading (yep, I’m still behind!), and I got pretty amused while reading the story of Jacob and Esau. What a drama queen! You likely know the story, but in short, Esau had been out hunting and was tired, while Jacob had been cooking back at the tents. Esau comes in and wants some food so Jacob decides to make a bargain with him. “Your birthright for this bowl of beans!” he suggests. Esau’s response – “I’m about to die; so what is this birthright to me?” And guess what, after eating some bread and the bowl of beans, Esau arose and went on his way. Not exactly what I’d call near death. Drama queen.

Maybe this passage speaks to me because I’m sort of a drama queen too. Only ½ as bad as Esau I’m sure, but I’ve got some of it in me too.

While that exchange between Jacob and Esau recalls some memories of “bargaining” (read arguing) with my sisters, it also makes me think of a saying my father has repeated to me many times – “Don’t make a decision when you’re running on emotions.” You sleep on it, you take a few days, you pray about it, you clear your head first. Those words have served me well.

Life gets rough sometimes and can mess with your emotions. School may be stressful, friends may be hateful, even your family can tempt you to make bad decisions. Sometimes you need to step back from it all, and take time to pray and think clearly about things. The heat of the moment is not the time to make big decisions.

I’m pretty sure Esau wished he’d just been hungry for a bit longer instead of letting his fatigue determine his future.

“Thus Esau despised his birthright.” Gen 25:34