Dressing Up To Be Loved
(7 minutes)
One day when Isaac was old and turning blind, he called for Esau, his older son, and said, “My son.”
“Yes, Father?” Esau replied.
“I am an old man now,” Isaac said, “and I don’t know when I may die. Take your bow and a quiver full of arrows, and go out into the open country to hunt some wild game for me. Prepare my favorite dish, and bring it here for me to eat. Then I will pronounce the blessing that belongs to you, my firstborn son, before I die.” (Genesis 27:1-13)
"That's important. The Father desires wild things. That means authentic things. That means things that have not been trapped, that are not in slavery. The Father wants wild things. He wants the real you, the real me. Not the tamed you, or the sophisticated me. The wild me. The one He made me to be, the one He made you to be. That's important." (Pastor Tim)
But Rebekah overheard what Isaac had said to his son Esau. So when Esau left to hunt for the wild game, she 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 27:1-13)
It's not hard to see that there's some dysfunction in this family. The language of "his Son, Esau," and "her son, Jacob," is evidence. This whole time, we thought it was just OUR family that had issues! Like Pastor Tim said on Sunday, this story is a witness that Yahweh will step into any family, any issue, and any circumstance, to change everything.
Rebekah, in this moment, passes the dysfunction that she learned when she was young on to her son by hatching a plan to manipulate Issac and get the blessing that belonged to Esau. Rebekah grew up in a family where this pattern of manipulation was very common. She's simply the product of the way she was raised, like we are. And she's using the only tool she has, manipulation. This is an example of the veils, the blind-spots in our lives, that have just become patterns and our way of being, but are not the real, authentic us that the Father desires.
“But look,” Jacob replied to Rebekah, “my brother, Esau, is a hairy man, and my skin is smooth. What if my father touches me? He’ll see that I’m trying to trick him, and then he’ll curse me instead of blessing me.”
But his mother replied, “Then let the curse fall on me, my son! Just do what I tell you. Go out and get the goats for me!” (Genesis 27:1-13)
Jacob learned something this day that would affect him long after this moment: you have to dress up and pretend to be someone else in order to get the blessing of your father.
How many of us have been told the same thing? How many of us have been convinced that we're not acceptable the way we are and the only way to get the attention of the Father is to dress up and pretend to be someone that we're not? How many of us are doing this because we're secretly fueled by a fear of being rejected?
These are the veils that Abba wants to remove. These are the areas where we are continuing to trust our own opinions and delusional thinking, rather than turning to Him so we can see who we really are and who He really is.
Abba wants a relationship with the real us, not the person we've been dressing up to be. The impostor and pretender are fueled by insecurity and questioning the Father's love, and hide for fear of rejection. Our authentic, original self is fueled by the total assurance of our beloved identity and trusts that we could never be more loved by the Father than we are right now.
Beloved One, you don't have to dress up to be loved.
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