We live and work in a society that values, even idolizes, speed and instantaneous results. A few years ago I made an ill-informed investment in a startup that, looking back, was based more on the quick (12-month term) 20% return I was positioned to gain, than on sound judgment. In the end, it was too good to be true. The owner of the company misappropriated my investment, along with that of many others’. Part of wisdom is stewarding and growing the resources God has entrusted to us, which is more about the long view—delaying gratification in the immediate for a greater return in the future.
We see both instant and delayed gratification played out in the accounts of Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25-31). At the age of sixty, Isaac and Rebekah gave birth to these twin boys and even from birth there was conflict between them. In one instance, as they grew older, Jacob (whose name meant “take by the heel, cheater”) convinced his slightly older brother Esau to sell his birthright in exchange for a bowl of porridge (25:29-34). In that culture, the birthright was the position as head of the family and resulted in a double share of the family estate. So this was no small trade. In this moment Jacob took advantage of his brother’s weakened state and flippant disposition.
Esau showed no concern for his future, choosing rather to give in to instant gratification.
In another situation we see Jacob seizing a formal blessing from his father and thus cheating his brother once again. The patriarchal blessing in that culture was designed to shape the future of the one who received the blessing, much like the birthright. Isaac completely broke down when he found out he was deceived by his own son (27:33), and Esau was filled with hatred and rage to the point he wanted to kill his brother (27:41). After this, Esau appeared to live a profane and unbridled existence, character qualities that were later passed down to his children and grandchildren. Even in the midst of these family sins, however, God remained faithful to His promises to Abraham and to Isaac as He sovereignly continued to orchestrate the circumstances of their lives.
Equipped with a new aim and fresh blessing from his father, Jacob fled and went to live with his uncle Laban (chapter 28). During these years the deceiver ultimately met his match on more than one occasion. Laban was a man who demonstrated notable business acumen, yet also leveraged his daughters in his covetous scheme. Jacob ended up serving Laban for fourteen years in order to marry two of his daughters and served another six years to obtain animals. Consequently, Jacob’s twenty years of drudgery, discipline, and tenacity paid off well for Laban, as Jacob noted: “For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned” (30:30).
Jacob built his wealth over a long period of time, even while challenged by Laban’s deceit multiple times. After one final dispute, Jacob fled Laban and took with him his two wives, children, possessions, and a few other sentimental items of Laban’s. It is interesting to note, though, that Jacob saw God’s clear leading during his entire experience with Laban: “If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands” (31:42). Yes, Jacob labored and served his uncle, but ultimately he experienced divine intervention and prosperity. Circumstantially, he was forced to delay his gratification. And along the way God chastened Jacob’s pride and challenged his tenacity.
God also purged self-sufficiency from his will to win, attain, and obtain, and God redirected Jacob’s love to God Himself.
An increasingly popular way to view what happened to Jacob was karma, the ancient, Eastern concept pertaining to the consequence of past actions. Ultimately, karma has to do with rebirth or reincarnation, but the term has more broadly come to mean “good things happen to those who do good and bad things happen to those who think or do bad things.” Karma isn’t a biblical concept, regardless of how prevalent this belief has become in business and pop culture. You and I, like Jacob, aren’t the sum of all of our actions. Sure, there are positive and negative consequences for decisions we make. But through it all, God is in control and orchestrating the circumstances of our lives.
Others may deceive and wrong us, yet God, our heavenly Father, uses that hurt to strengthen and grow us. God is more than capable of intervening in our lives, even when we make stupid, short-sighted decisions like my too-good-to-be-true investment. He is able to right the wrongs when we have been conned or deceived in our business dealings. God is sovereign, not the nebulous universe that “experts” today tell us to “speak into.” This is based on the New Age belief and pseudoscience known as the Law of Attraction where positive thoughts attract positive results and negative thoughts yield negative results. This is not a biblical teaching.
Take a moment to look back on your life and the many decisions you have made. Can you think of any examples where you made a decision based on the short-term benefit or based on instant gratification? What was the situation, and did you experience any negative consequences as a result? Also, take comfort in God’s providential care and involvement in your life. Like Jacob, God often leads us through seasons of pruning and shaping, where He is chipping away the rough edges of our character and teaching us to trust in Him for the long term. He is certainly trustworthy.
[Adapted from devotional #12 Instant vs Delayed Gratification (Vol. 1) in the Wisdom Calling devotional series]