Perseverance (Genesis 25)

2022-02-17

When you look at anyone successful (by any standard), most times it was not because of natural talent alone. They may have had natural talent, but most times it was years of hard work that accompanied that talent. There is a lot to say about daily keeping your eye on the prize you seek. The skilled hare lost to the persistent tortoise.

Two men in the Scriptures, compared in the same chapter, illustrate this. Isaac was to receive the promise of the Lord by having a son. He married his wife Rebekah when he was 40 years old. “And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived” (Genesis 25:21). This is stated so matter of fact that you need to consider his prayers were not answered until Isaac was 60 years old (Genesis 25:26). Imagine the years of crying out to God and the emotions he would have felt. The Lord had made a promise; what was going on? God kept His promise, and Isaac relied on the Lord during those 20 years of waiting.

On the other hand, his firstborn son Esau comes in from the field ravenous. Instead of waiting to eat, “he sold his birthright unto Jacob” (Genesis 25:33). “Esau despised his birthright” to satisfy his appetite (Genesis 25:34). He also lost his birthright to his brother, “For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears” (Hebrews 12:17). Esau did not have the heart of perseverance his father had.

If you are called by God to do anything, you are in it for the long haul. Every day must be spent moving toward your God-given goal.