FOR EXAMPLE: Sleep On It!

I don’t know what you’ve been through in the last year, but if your 2020 was anything like mine, you will agree with me that it was an exhausting year. And so far, I don’t know if 2021 is going to be much better.

Think about it. COVID is still here. Racial tension still exists. Countries are still at war and many parents are still being forced to home school their children.

When we think about our current situation we can sum it up like this:

Life is HARD & I’m EXHAUSTED

But before you give up, give out, or give away your God-given right to continue being who and what God created you to be, there’s a couple of things I think you should do. First, let’s pray about it. And after we pray, let’s talk about it (Pray)

In 1996 I went to Air Force Basic Military Training where I learned the true meaning of sleep deprivation. For nearly 2 months my life was all about late nights and early mornings. There’s nothing like running a few miles, marching a few more, sitting through countless briefings, shooting guns, cleaning guns, marching a few miles back to clean an already spotless barracks and getting to bed at midnight, only to be awakened at 4am by the sound of metal trash cans being hit with sticks as a grown man screamed like a maniac on steroids so that we can do it all over again like groundhog day.

I understand, in retrospect that sleep deprivation was a tool that was meant to train us to think clearly under intense pressure and exhaustion but I’m passed that now. Basic training is over, my military career is behind me and now I just want to not be up at 5 am on Saturdays. I don’t want to have to mow the lawn or pull weeds. I don’t want to leave the warmth of my bed and sometimes, if I am completely honest with you, sometimes I don’t even want to come to church. I’m tired! I’m exhausted. And I’m hangry.

I don’t know if there’s anything worse than being both hungry and tired at the same time. Is that not a recipe for disaster? Speaking of recipe’s, when I’m hungry and tired I don’t want to have to wash dishes, or cook, or anything else. I just want to eat.

Is there anyone else like that? You’re tired and hungry. Your spouse is tired and hungry. The kids are tired and hungry and probably lazy and no one is in the mood to cook nothing. So what do we do? We go out to eat. Be it fast food or fat food, we just want something in our bellies. It doesn’t have to be good for us. We just want to eat. It may even be overpriced junk food. But we are hungry. We are exhausted and we don’t care what it cost. Just give me the burger. Just give me the tacos. I’m not counting calories tonight. I’m hangry!

Now, I understand that some of you have been around me when I've become sleepy. And that’s okay because when I become sleepy I just get a little silly. But when I’m hungry, I get a little irritable. But when I’m exhausted and hungry, I go into a silent rage. So I try to avoid that combination because when I get hangry I can get into trouble.

I know I’m not alone here. Hangry has gotten you into trouble with your spouse. Hangry has gotten kids popped in the mouth. Hangry got some of you fired and some of y’all have had to repent to God because your low blood sugar made you curse.

I think the only thing worse than being hangry and exhausted is being hot, hangry, and exhausted.

In 2001 I was deployed to Saudi Arabia and the temperature at night was around 112 degrees. I worked 12 hour shifts and sometimes during the day it was 118 degrees at lunch time. I remember waking up hungry and as I headed out towards the chow hall, I often found myself back in the bed after about 10 steps thinking, “I’ll just have to sleep it off today. I’m not going out in that heat.”

Then I’d wake up for dinner and 10 steps later find myself back in the bed because 112 degrees at night doesn’t really feel that much cooler than 118 at noon. And even though I was hungry, I wouldn’t eat on my days off because it was just too hot. So, on the days I did have to work, by the time I got to chow, food had never tasted so good and I would’ve given my entire paycheck for a piece of Salisbury steak.

Have you ever been so hungry for something that you made poor decisions to get it?

You wanted that car so bad that you took a loan out at 23% You wanted him or her so bad that you lowered your standards and compromised your faith. You wanted that thing so bad that you risked dying to get it. Ever been there? Well you’re not alone. I want to share with you a story of a man who traded who he was for what he wanted and in the end, he hated himself for it.

His story is found in

Gen 25:19-34

Genesis 25:19–34 NIV

19 This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. 21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” 24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them. 27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.) 31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” 32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” 33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, there are two things I want you to understand before we go any further. First, we need to understand the importance of a birthright. If you’re an eldest child then you might understand how being so can feel like a blessing and a curse.

In Paradise to Prison: Studies in Genesis, John J. Davis writes concerning the birthright that

“The eldest son enjoyed particular privileges in the ancient patriarchal household. During his father’s lifetime he took precedence over his brothers; after his father died, he received a double share of the inheritance and became head and priest of the family.”

Scholar, Nahum M. Sarna adds in Understanding Genesis that

“The status of the first-born was thus bound up with responsibilities and obligation on the one hand, and rights, privileges and prerogatives on the other, including a double portion of the patrimony.”

Now, the second thing you should know about this is that it was not uncommon for a man to sell his birthright in those days; however, it normally would have cost the buyer more than a bowl of soup. The selling of the birthright should mean weighing the benefits, compiling the pros and cons, performing a SWOT analysis and finally, sleeping on it before a decision is made.

But Esau, is hungry. He’s exhausted and he probably was tired of getting slack from his parents every time his brother conned the neighbors out of a goat. You have to understand, Jacob was a master manipulator. If you were to read more about him in Genesis you would find that he spent his entire life deceiving folks.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Jacob’s Character

He cheats Esau out his birthright and blessing (Gen 25:27–34; 27:1–40).

• He manages Laban’s livestock in a way that benefits him and not his master (Gen 30:42–31:1).

• He divides his family in a way that protects his favorite wife and his favorite son in case Esau attacks them (Gen 33:2).

• In the account of Dinah, he seems more concerned for his own safety than for the honor of his daughter (Gen 34:30).

He is not the guy you want as a best man in your wedding! But Esau, not wanting the responsibility throws the baby out with the bathwater and he forfeits his future for a right now moment. And this, ladies and gentlemen is what I’m asking you not to do. God has a plan for you. He has a purpose for your life. God has set aside blessings for you and your end is meant to be successful.

I know you can’t see it right now because you’ve been working hard and you still find yourself hungry. I understand you’re tired. You’re exhausted. You’ve been through a lot and you’ve done everything you can to make ends meet. Like Esau, you’ve been out in the fields hunting for success. And as far as we can tell, Esau either didn’t catch what he was hunting for or he was too exhausted to prepare what was in his hand.

If he didn’t catch anything today, he would still live to hunt tomorrow. And if he did catch today, what was in his hand could have sustained him long enough to think about his future and make an informed decision with clarity. But!

His appetite for now robbed him of his security in the future.

And all he really had to do was sleep on it. I know things seem bad to you right now, but in the morning you’ll find out that you can still make it another day. Your future is to important to make bad decisions based on hunger. Sleep on it. The car will be there tomorrow and if not, another one will come along. Sleep on it.

If he can’t wait til you’re married, then let him run off with that other girl. There’s someone who will honor you if you will just keep honoring yourself. Don’t rush. Sleep on it. God’s got you. He knows what you need and when you need it.

At the beginning of this year I asked God to start speaking to me in dreams. But I didn’t just ask him to speak to me. I asked him to speak to every one connected to me so that we can make sound decisions together. So I need the people around me to sleep on it.

Sleep on It!

Before you sow your next seed, sleep on it and see what God says. Before you make your next major decision, sleep on it and see what God says. Before you marry him or date her, sleep on it and ask God to reveal to you what he wants you to do. His plan for you is bigger than that bowl of soup you’re settling for.

Your inheritance is worth more than lentils being offered to you. Your life is more valuable than a morsel of bread. In fact, your life is so valuable that Jesus Christ gave his own life in exchange for yours. That’s right. He died so that you can live. He gave his life so that you wouldn’t have to give yours.