Discovering Destiny (Part 19): God Does Not Need Your Help To Bless You

https://youtu.be/8EGWG933SKQ?si=62Ye3ua_rzYcOU6A

Today, we continue our focus on THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, as we learn to maintain our posture of faith after God has revealed His plans for our future.

Yesterday, in our “Discovering Destiny” series, we watched Esau trade his birthright for a bowl of stew. Today the story moves from the kitchen to the bedside: goat skins, borrowed clothes, and a blessing stolen with a lie.

Key scriptures for this year:

2 Peter 3:18 GNT“But continue to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be glory now and forever.”

Luke 10:20 Mirror“It’s time for you to rediscover who you are from Heaven’s perspective.”

1 John 3:10 Mirror“There is a very visible and vast difference between living one’s life from your God identity or from a fallen man’s mindset.”

Proverbs 25:2 NKJV“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.”

Jeremiah 29:13 NIV“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Scripture(s) we will study today:

Genesis 27:6-10 NLT“[Rebekah] said to her son Jacob, ‘Listen. I overheard your father say to Esau, “Bring me some wild game and prepare me a delicious meal. Then I will bless you in the LORD’s presence before I die.” Now, my son, listen to me. Do exactly as I tell you. Go out to the flocks, and bring me two fine young goats. I’ll use them to prepare your father’s favorite dish. Then take the food to your father so he can eat it and bless you before he dies.'”

Genesis 27:21-23 NLT“Then Isaac said to Jacob, ‘Come closer so I can touch you and make sure that you really are Esau.’ So Jacob went closer to his father, and Isaac touched him. ‘The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s,’ Isaac said. But he did not recognize Jacob, because Jacob’s hands felt hairy just like Esau’s. So Isaac prepared to bless Jacob.”

Supporting scriptures:

Genesis 25:23 AMPC“The Lord said to her, [The founders of] two nations are in your womb, and the separation of two peoples has begun in your body; the one people shall be stronger than the other, and the elder shall serve the younger.”

Genesis 27:33 NLT“Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably and said, ‘Then who just served me wild game? I have already eaten it, and I blessed him just before you came. And yes, that blessing must stand!'”

Genesis 27:41 NLT“From that time on, Esau hated Jacob because their father had given Jacob the blessing. And Esau began to scheme: ‘I will soon be mourning my father’s death. Then I will kill my brother, Jacob.'”

Proverbs 10:22 AMPC“The blessing of the Lord—it makes [truly] rich, and He adds no sorrow with it [neither does toiling increase it].”

Galatians 6:7 ERV“If you think you can fool God, you are only fooling yourselves. You will harvest what you plant.”

Isaiah 46:10 AMPC“Declaring the end and the result from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure and purpose.”

Setting the Stage:

Isaac is old, and his eyes are dim. He calls for Esau and says, “Hunt me some game, cook it the way I love it, and I will bless you before I die.” Now hold on. I am sure Isaac knew the word God gave Rebekah before the boys were born: the elder shall serve the younger. But Isaac loved Esau’s cooking, so he set out to bless the wrong son anyway. Rebekah overheard it, and instead of praying, she started plotting.

She dressed Jacob in Esau’s clothes, covered his neck and hands with goat skins, cooked the meal herself, and sent her son in to lie to her blind husband. Jacob said, “I am Esau.” Isaac felt the hairy hands, smelled the clothes, ate the food, and blessed him. The scheme worked. And every person in that house paid for it.

So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.

1. God Does Not Need Your Help To Keep His Word.

Here is what makes Rebekah’s scheme so sad: she was the one who received the prophecy. Genesis 25:23 was not secondhand information to her. God spoke it to HER: “The elder shall serve the younger.” She carried that word for decades. And when it looked like Isaac was about to bless the wrong son, she panicked and reached for goat skins instead of reaching for God. Do you see what happened? Rebekah believed the WHAT, but she did not trust God with the HOW. She believed the promise and doubted the process. And a believer who trusts the promise but not the Promiser will always end up scheming.

How this applies to you:

— Genesis 25:23 KJV says, “the elder shall serve the younger.” God said it. That means the outcome was never truly in danger. The only thing Rebekah’s scheme accomplished was adding pain to a promise that was already guaranteed.

— A promise from God never needs a plot from you. You may need a plan on how to receive it, but never a plot on how to manipulate it into coming to pass.

— Rebekah was not the first in this family to try to help God. Abraham got tired of waiting on the promised child, slept with his servant, and produced Ishmael. When you try to give birth to God’s promise through your flesh, you produce something God never asked for, and you will have to live with the consequences.

— Psalm 75:6-7 says, “Promotion comes neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south. But God is the Judge: He puts down one, and exalts another.” Promotion does not come from your angles, your connections, or your maneuvering. It comes from the Lord.

— Faith learns to wait on the Word, while flesh is always looking to work an angle.

— Rebekah paid for her own scheme. She told Jacob to run to her brother’s house for “a few days” until Esau cooled off, and she never saw her son again. The manipulator always has to pay the bill for his/her manipulation.

— Let me ask you the question: is there an area of your life where you believe WHAT God said, but you have taken over HOW it happens? I have done that a bunch of times. If you are doing that now, REPENT. Hand it back over to God now. He does not need your help; He wants your trust.

2. Living By Your Senses Will Get You Deceived.

What happened to Isaac should serve as a warning for us. The man conducted the entire blessing by his physical senses. He tasted the savory food. He touched the hairy hands. He smelled Esau’s clothes. He heard the voice. Four senses voted that day, and three of them lied to him. But here is the part that should stop you: his hearing told him the truth. Isaac said it out loud: “The voice is Jacob’s voice.” He had the right information in his ears, and he overrode it because the majority of his senses disagreed. Isaac did not lack data. He lacked discernment.

How this applies to you:

— Genesis 27:22 NKJV says, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” Isaac heard the truth and talked himself out of it. Deception does not usually sneak past you; it gets your permission.

— Your senses report facts, but only God’s Word and His Spirit lead us to the truth.

— 2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV says, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” Sight is not just your eyes. It is every natural faculty that argues with the word of God. Faith does not deny what the senses say; it just refuses to let them have the final vote.

— Do not miss WHY Isaac was deceivable. He was trying to bless Esau against the spoken word of God, and he was doing it because he loved the man’s cooking. Yesterday it was Esau’s appetite. Today it is Isaac’s. When your flesh drives your decisions, you will be easily deceived.

— Feelings make terrible referees.

— When you prefer your plan over God’s promise, you position yourself for failure. You are outside of God’s will. Isaac knew the prophecy and set the ceremony anyway, so he walked into the trap and fell for it.

— Check your heart. Are you out of position? Are you stubbornly ignoring what God said? If you are, just know that you are setting yourself up for failure!

3. Getting The Right Thing The Wrong Way Will Still Cost You.

Let’s be clear about something: Jacob got the blessing. The scheme worked. But before you celebrate, look at the consequences. Esau is planning to kill him. Jacob leaves home with nothing but a staff. He never sees his mother again. And he spends the next 20 years working for Laban, a man who deceives HIM, swapping brides on his wedding night the same way Jacob swapped sons at his father’s bedside. He could have avoided that pain if he had received the Blessing God’s way.

How this applies to you:

— Galatians 6:7 NKJV says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” Jacob deceived his father, and years later Laban deceived him. That is not a coincidence. That is harvest.

— The scheme got him the blessing, and the scheme got him the exile.

— Proverbs 10:22 NKJV says, “The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.” If what you obtained came soaked in sorrow, anxiety, and hiding, check how you got it. God’s version comes without the sorrow.

— Yesterday I told you that your foolish decisions may not change your destiny, but they will impact the route you take to it. Jacob earned himself 20 years of hard road.

— What you gain by flesh, you have to maintain by flesh.

— Maybe you got something right the wrong way: a position, a relationship, an opportunity. And now you cannot figure out why there is no rest in it. Bring God the HOW, not just the what. Repent of the route, and let Him redeem the road from here.

— God’s way is not only the right way; it is the most pleasant way!

4. The Word Over Your Life Will Outlive The Mess In Your House.

Now step back and look at this family, because this might be the most encouraging part of the whole chapter. Nobody in Genesis 27 was walking in faith. Isaac was led by favoritism and appetite. Rebekah was manipulating. Jacob was lying. Esau was plotting murder. An entire household operating in the flesh at the same time. And when the dust settled, Isaac trembled and said of Jacob, “yea, and he shall be blessed.” Even the patriarch could not reverse it. The word God spoke in Genesis 25:23 stood up in the middle of all that dysfunction and came to pass anyway. Here is the principle: God’s word does not require a healthy house to be fulfilled.

How this applies to you:

— Isaiah 46:10 NKJV says, “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.'” God does not just predict the end. He declares it, and then He stands on it.

— Genesis 27:33 KJV says Isaac “trembled very exceedingly.” That trembling was a man realizing he had spent years resisting the word of God and lost. You cannot out-scheme, out-prefer, or out-maneuver what God has declared.

— God’s word does not need a functional family to come to pass.

— Some of you grew up in a house full of favoritism, scheming, and sibling wars, and you have wondered if all that dysfunction disqualified you. Look at Genesis 27. The covenant of Abraham ran straight through the most dysfunctional house in the book, and it did not lose one ounce of power on the way through.

— The promise does not rest on the people around you; it rests on the God above you.

— But do not confuse survival with approval. The word survived the mess, and everybody still paid for the mess. God’s plan prevailing does not make the pain free. Tomorrow we will watch Esau’s rage send Jacob running from home.

— So rest. If God spoke it over your life, it does not need your manipulation, it is not intimidated by your family, and it is not waiting on perfect people. His counsel stands.

That’s enough for today.

Declaration of Faith:

Father, I thank You that Your word over my life is settled, and it will stand!

I believe the promise, and I trust You with the process!

You do not need my help; You want my faith!

A promise from God never needs a plot from me!

I walk by faith and not by sight!

My senses do not get the final vote; Your word does!

I refuse the shortcut; I take Your route to Your blessing!

Your blessing makes rich, and You add no sorrow with it!

The mess in my house cannot cancel the word over my life!

Your counsel stands, and Your plan for me will come to pass!

This is THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, and GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!

I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!

This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!