It's out of love. We want our kids to succeed! But when is it too far? When are we taking matters into our own hands? These are real questions Christian moms need to consider, and God's Word is our guide once again.

Don't forget to listen to the Again podcast on biblical motherhood for an encouraging testimony on parenting ADHD! And while we're on the topic--do you think Esau had ADHD?!?

Look for our Bible reading plan here. Follow it to a T or not, but make sure to check out what we have to help! www.entrustedministries.com/podcast

Today's Reading: Genesis 24-27

Scripture Read:

Genesis 24:10-21, 26-28

Genesis 25:22-23

Genesis 27:34

This is the Dwelling Place from Entrusted

Ministries, and I'm Stephanie Cock.

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Today we're looking at

Genesis chapter 24 through 27.

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Already we'll see the end of the

life of Abraham, and we'll learn

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more about his son, Isaac, and

his grandsons, Jacob and Esau.

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While I believe there is so much

purpose and power in going through

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scripture slowly, there's also something

really beautiful about going through

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it quickly because you can see the

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overarching redemptive story

of how God was at work,

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in chapter 24, Abraham says he's getting

older and he commissioned his servant to

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make a 450 mile journey back to where he

was from to get a wife for his son, Isaac.

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This is an honorable task and it's

assumed that the servant he's asking to

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help him is Azar, and I'm gonna give mad

props to Azar because he is the servant

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that would've received all of Abraham's

fortune if Isaac had not been born yet.

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He can continues to faithfully serve.

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Though he's been displaced his

humility and his diligence in

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the search is truly impressive,

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and Abraham tells him, the Lord

will send his angel before you

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I'll begin in chapter 24, verse 10.

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Then the servant took 10 of his master's,

camels, and departed taking all sorts

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of choice gifts from his master.

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Ani arose and went to Mesopotamia to

the city of Naor, and he made the camels

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kneel down outside the city by the well

of water at the time of evening, the

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time when women go out to draw water.

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And he said, oh Lord God of my master

Abraham, please grant me success today and

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show steadfast love to my master Abraham.

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Behold, I am standing by the spring of

water and the daughters of the men of

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the city are coming out to draw water.

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Let the young woman, to whom I shall say.

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Please let down your jar that I

may drink and who shall say drink

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and I will water your camels.

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Let her be the one whom you have

appointed for your servant, Isaac.

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By this, I shall know that you have

shown steadfast love to my master

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to before he had finished speaking.

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Behold Rebecca, who was born to

BeWell, the son of Milah, the

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wife of Nho, Abraham's brother.

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Came out with her water

jar on her shoulder.

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The young woman was very

attractive in appearance.

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A maiden whom no man had known.

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She went down to the spring

and filled her jar and came up.

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Then the servant ran to meet her

and said, please give me a little

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water to drink from your jar.

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She said, drink my Lord.

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When she had finished giving him

a drink, she said, I will draw

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water for your camels also until

they have finished drinking.

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So she quickly emptied her jar into the

trough and ran again to the well to draw

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water, and she drew for all his camels.

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The man gazed at her in silence

to learn whether the Lord had

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prospered his journey or not.

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Continuing.

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In verse 26, the man bowed his head and

worshiped the Lord and said, blessed be

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the Lord, the God of my master Abraham,

who has not forsaken his steadfast love

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and his faithfulness toward my master.

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As for me, the Lord has led me in the

way to the house of my master's kinsman.

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Then the young woman ran and told her

mother's household about these things.

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It is so endearing to me that

he tells the Lord, behold, I am

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standing by the spring of water.

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You can tell his theology is still being

formed by the way he prays, and the fact

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that he doesn't understand it's the God

who sees, he believes in the Lord, but

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is it his God or is it just his master's?

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God?

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In any case,

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he praised a specific prayer of

faith, and before he had finished

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speaking, Rebecca shows up.

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The cultural standard of that time

would've been for Rebecca to offer

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a stranger something to drink,

but to offer something to the

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animals was going above and beyond.

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But do you know how above and beyond

she was going, this might have

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been 250 gallons worth of water.

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So if you're thinking just because

a girl offers you some water, how

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do you know she's marriage material?

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But if she's willing to draw 250

gallons of water for some candles

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and a stranger she's never met,

I'm pretty impressed with her too.

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They go home and explain the story to

her family, and she's willing to make

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the journey back to Abraham and Isaac.

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Her family blesses her.

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We read that she notices

Isaac meditating in the field.

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And it's probably because he was

mourning and grieving his mom's death.

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As the last verse in the

chapter will tell us,

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the servant fills Isaac in on all that's

happened, and God's word tells us.

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Then Isaac brought her into the tent of

Sarah, his mother, and took Rebecca and

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she became his wife and he loved her.

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There's a lot to admire about

Rebecca and Isaac's Union.

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Well, until you get to the

way they parent together,

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That song Father Abraham had many sons.

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In chapter 25, we realized,

oh, he had another wife and

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he did have some more sons.

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And at 175 years, Abraham

breathes his last.

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He's buried with Sarah, and God now

passes the blessing onto Isaac, his son.

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Then we read that Isaac prayed to the Lord

because Rebecca, his wife, was barren.

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They've been married for 20 years at

this point and still don't have a child.

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Here are more people who love the

Lord struggling with infertility and

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incredibly painful circumstance.

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But God hears Isaac's prayer and

he opens Rebecca's womb and blesses

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her with not one but two babies.

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And this prophecy is not to be missed.

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When Rebecca inquires of the Lord about

why her pregnancy is so difficult,

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the Lord said to her, two nations

are in your womb and two peoples

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from within you shall be divided.

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The one shall be stronger than the other.

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The older shall serve the younger.

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They have a fascinating birth

story and then we're told something

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disappointing that Isaac loved

Esau because he ate of his game.

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But Rebecca loved Jacob.

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Surely they loved both of their children,

but there's clearly favoritism and

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this is certainly a warning sign.

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Next in the infamous story, Jacob

tricks Esau out of his birthright.

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But Issa also is frequently willing to

forego long-term blessing for instant

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gratification, and that is not a trait

that the Lord will honor or elevate.

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And chapter 26, we'll read about another

famine in the land and you're gonna think,

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oh my goodness, is this happening again?

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Isaac lies and says that Rebecca is

his sister because she's so beautiful

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and he's trying to protect himself.

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And I've decided that when I look

haggard and tired and I look at

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myself in the mirror, I'm gonna start

thinking, well, at least I'm not making

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anyone fear for their life today.

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Because man, are these beautiful

women causing their husband

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problems how fabulous they are.

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I can't help but wonder, did Abraham

tell his son, Isaac, whoa, buddy, when

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you get married, whatever you do never

lie to a ruler and say Rebecca is your

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sister, or did Abraham fail to teach him?

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If you've been parenting very long,

you've probably realized there are

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mistakes that you've already made and

you don't want your children repeating.

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You think i've already

made those mistakes.

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You don't need to.

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But sometimes kids have to learn

for themselves and it's painful, but

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we've gotta say whatever it takes,

Lord, to bring them to their niece

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and surrender their lives to you.

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And once again, I can't help but be

impressed that these outsiders that are

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not followers of the God of the Bible

really have a high view of marriage.

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They understood marriage boundaries.

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At the beginning of chapter 26,

God appeared to Isaac for the first

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time recorded in scripture, and

he repeats the covenant to him.

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Isaac settles in the land and it tells

us that the Lord blessed him and he

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became very wealthy, which instead of

kaching means ba, ba as their wealth

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was often measured in flocks and herds.

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The Lord appears to him again at Be

Sheba, and there are some issues with

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the wells that are being dug, and I

would hope that Isaac and Rebecca taught

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their children about how beautifully

the Lord arranged their love story.

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But at the end of chapter 26, it seems

the message just didn't sink in with

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Esau because at 40 years old, he took

two hit tight wives and they made

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life bitter for Isaac and Rebecca.

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Rebecca will even later say that

she loathes her life because

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of these daughter-in-laws.

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And chapter 27 is taught in every Sunday

school classroom across the globe.

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I'm sure you know the story of

Jacob and Esau well and that

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Jacob deceived his brother.

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So I'll just quickly mention a

couple things that I think can

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convict and guide us as parents.

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Interestingly, Isaac lives another

43 years after this, and Jacob and

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Esau would've been 77 at this point.

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These are not teens battling for blessing.

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Isaac.

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Tells Esau to hunt and prepare some

food that he can eat it, and that

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he can bless him before he dies.

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Rebecca overhears and says, Jacob,

go grab me some food from the yard

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and I'm gonna cook it in a way I

know your dad will love, and then you

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can sneak in and get the blessing.

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Jacob goes into his father having

several chances to come clean

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as his dad was like, really?

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You sound like Jacob.

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But he still deceives his

father and Isaac blesses him.

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Then Esau comes in and is irate,

and Isaac says, I really have

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no blessing left to give you,

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birth order mattered so much in

this culture, but still, it's

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hard to understand why he wouldn't

save part of the blessing.

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The last time I studied it, another

thing really stood out to me.

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I shared with you the prophecy that

God said about the younger serving,

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the older, and he gave that to Rebecca.

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It made me wonder, did Rebecca think

she was helping the Lord by making sure

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that Jacob got the blessing instead?

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And I wonder, do I ever do that?

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There are so many ways as moms that

we might be thinking, we're helping

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the Lord accomplish his purposes

in our kids, but we need to step

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back and evaluate our motives.

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Whether it's signing them up for

a sport to develop their talents,

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even though it conflicts with church

activities or family priorities.

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Maybe it's.

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Buying an activity or item for them

that we can't afford because we just

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think they have to have an opportunity.

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We're often tempted to control things.

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So we have to be careful.

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I can almost hear years of Rebecca telling

Isaac, Isaac, that's not what God told me.

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The Lord told me that

Esau would serve Jacob.

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You have to stop favoring Esau

and Isaac not listening and

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she just thinks, you know what?

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I'll take it into my own hands.

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As soon as Esau heard the words

of his father, he cried out with

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an exceedingly great and bitter

cry and said to his father, bless

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me, even me also, oh my father.

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And then have you not

reserved a blessing for me?

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And then again.

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Have you but one blessing, my father bless

me, and it makes me think of the power

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of a father's affirmation over his son.

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Certainly the Lord's intention is that

this does not just happen on a deathbed.

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Let me pray to that end.

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Heavenly Father, we see much to emulate

and also much to caution us here as

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we consider Isaac and Rebecca's story

we ask you would help our children

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to have patience as they date that

they would elevate character over

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appearance and trust you in the process.

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When we think about Rebecca possibly

thinking she's helping your purposes,

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growing us conviction when we're

trying to pave a way for what you

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might be doing in our children's lives.

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Help us to be surrendered to your will for

them, even when it looks counter-cultural

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or different than we had expected.

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We pray our children would not be like

Esau, giving themselves over to instant

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gratification instead of long-term

character growth . And I pray for the

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husbands of the wives that are listening.

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Give these men encouraging words to

speak over their children, that their

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correction would be consistent with

your word, and that they would rightly

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display you as their heavenly father.

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In your name we pray Jesus.

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Amen.