Have you heard of “The tyranny of the urgent”?
The tyranny of the urgent occurs when immediate demands dictate your life. This happens at the expense of your most deeply held values and priorities. It’s letting good things get in the way of great things.
It’s amazing what people will trade for something they think they need right now. And marketers play on it.
A brand-new smartphone—just put it on the credit card. A quick payday loan—never mind the sky-high interest rate. Hit that sugar-filled, caffeine-loaded drink—when what your body really needs is rest.
We’d make these agreements only because of our emotions in the moment. Often, the allure of the immediate blinds us to the cost of the trade.
Genesis 25:29-34 is practically a case study in “the tyranny of the urgent.”
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.)
Genesis 25:29-35, New International Version
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.
For a bowl of stew, Isaac’s firstborn son traded his birthright. That’s giving in to the tyranny of the urgent in a tragic way. Esau learned this lesson the hard way.
When Esau returned from the field, he was exhausted and probably “hangry.” Jacob, his little brother, was cooking stew. Jacob offered a deal: stew in exchange for Esau’s birthright. Esau’s birthright wasn’t just a family tradition. It wasn’t just the perk of being firstborn.
It was a covenant blessing from the Lord. It represented his role as the spiritual leader of the family. It included a double inheritance. It also secured a place in the Lord’s redemptive story. A son’s birthright was priceless and irreplaceable.
But in that moment, the urgent need Esau had was eating. All he could think about was his empty stomach. “What good is the birthright to me?” Esau reasoned (verse 32). The temporary need to eat eclipsed the eternal blessing from the Lord. Then Esau traded the eternal for the expiring.
We shake our heads at Esau. How foolish! But you and I make these trades too. Perhaps it’s not our eternal blessing from the Lord, but we certainly trade His blessings for our desires.
We choose a few extra hours of entertainment over time praying or studying Scripture. To advance our careers, we compromise our ethics and values. We choose our comfort over obedience to the Lord. These decisions may seem small in the moment, but they reveal what we value most.
Don’t let a temporary craving cause you to forfeit a lasting blessing. The Lord’s promises, character, and calling on your life are worth far more than any “bowl of stew.” Before making a choice driven by the tyranny of the urgent, stop and ask: Will this bring me closer to the Lord’s purposes—or is it trading the eternal for a bowl of stew?
Our Lord’s plan for your life is too valuable to sell for a bowl of stew.
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