| As a full-time primary care physician, I have seen that, without a doubt, the reason most of us get sick and go to our doctors is because of the choices we make. The unfortunate thing is that many of us aren’t taught how to make wise decisions. Our mission at the Kenneth Acha Foundation is to help people live life to the fullest. In line with that mission, I have spent several years researching why people make bad decisions and how we can make wise life-giving decisions. This article is one of many I have written on the subject. I hope it helps you live life to the fullest. |
Having an Eternal Perspective Can Help Us Make Wise Decisions
A popular Old Testament story recounts the terrible life-changing choice that Esau made. One day Jacob was cooking stew when Esau, his older brother, arrived home exhausted from a hunting trip.
Esau: “Boy, am I starved! Give me a bite of that red stuff there!”
Jacob: “All right, trade me your birthright for it!”
Esau: “When a man is dying of starvation, what good is his birthright?”
Jacob: “Well then, vow to God that it is mine!”
And Esau vowed, thereby selling his firstborn rights to his younger brother. Then Jacob gave Esau bread, peas, and stew. Esau ate and drank and went on about his business, indifferent to the loss of the rights he had thrown away. You can see this scene of the story in Genesis 25.
After many years had passed, Isaac, the father of Esau and Jacob, was about to die. At this time, Isaac was blind and couldn’t see. Jacob cashed in on the purchase he had made of his birthright many years earlier. He tricked their blind father into following along and giving him the blessings that belonged to the first-born child, Esau.
When Esau discovered that his little brother had tricked their father and gotten the first-born blessing, he begged their father in tears to give him a blessing as well. But his father, following a strict, righteous moral code, would not redo the blessing, saying instead, “I blessed him just before you came. And yes, that blessing must stand!”
When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry. “Oh my father, what about me? Bless me, too!” he begged.
But Isaac said, “Your brother was here, and he tricked me. He has taken away your blessing.”
Esau exclaimed, “No wonder his name is Jacob, for now he has cheated me twice. First, he took my rights as the firstborn, and now he has stolen my blessing. Oh, haven’t you saved even one blessing for me?”
Isaac said to Esau, “I have made Jacob your master and have declared that all his brothers will be his servants. I have guaranteed him an abundance of grain and wine—what is left for me to give you, my son?”
Esau pleaded, “But do you have only one blessing? Oh my father, bless me, too!” Then Esau broke down and wept.
Finally, his father, Isaac, said to him, “You will live away from the richness of the earth, and away from the dew of the heaven above.
You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother.
But when you decide to break free, you will shake his yoke from your neck.”
The last scene of the story can be found in Genesis 27 TLB.
Esau’s downfall started when he chose to sell his birthright for a bowl of soup. This was a deliberate choice he made. Had he looked at the situation in the light of eternity, he would never have made such a foolish decision. Instead, focusing on present circumstances that were only temporary, he made a decision that had eternal ramifications. We all suffer a plight similar to that of Esau when we let our emotions and the present circumstances control our decision-making process.
When you look at the first scene of the story, Esau magnifies his sense of hunger into something bigger than it really was. He said he was going to die. The truth, however, is that Esau was never going to die from missing one meal. Science tells us that an average human being can go forty days without food and not suffer any harm as long as they stay hydrated. All Esau needed to do was drink a cup of water and then go about preparing something for himself to eat. Instead, he blows the situation out of proportion and ends up selling the most valuable thing he had for peanuts. In Psychology, we call people like Esau catastrophizers. Catastrophizing is a maladaptive style of thinking called a “cognitive distortion.” A lot of us have this kind of thinking. I see it all the time in the clinic, especially with anxious and depressed patients. People who catastrophize have irrational thoughts. They believe that something is far worse than it actually is. Catastrophizers can make a catastrophe out of a present situation or even a future situation.
Esau’s example is not limited to people who lived thousands of years ago. We make Esau-type decisions in this country every day. We sell our future joys for fleeting pleasures of all sorts. We make emotional decisions under the pressure of the present moment to take car loans, house loans, credit card loans, and other kinds of debt that then crushes us for years. These choices cause us to live in constant anxiety that causes us to become physically sick. As a primary care doctor, it’s sad to say that it’s been reported in reputable medical journals that about 80% or more of all doctor visits can be traced back to anxiety. A few decades and centuries ago, our ancestors died from infections because antibiotics and vaccinations were not yet discovered. Today, we are dying from anxiety that is caused by our choices.
There is not a single one of us who is not making decisions under our emotions and the spur of the moment. Yet, there is hope. If we pause and let the light of eternity shine on our situations, it will drive the cloud of emotions and the deceitful urgency of now that is fooling us to sell our souls for nothing.
Before you make a choice, ask: How would this choice look when seen in the light of eternity?
Related Article: WISE PATH: 8 Filters for Making Wise Decisions.
