Personal Liberation - The Art of Forgiveness - Part III

“Personal Liberation - The Art of Forgiveness – Part III”

The end result of blaming God and others is isolation.  I visualize Esau spending lots of time alone.  He might have gone on numerous hunting trips.  Each one of them undoubtedly reminds him of his victimization at the hands of his duplicitous brother and acquiescent parents.  Each time he relives this experience, it drives him further away from all of them.  Moreover, it expands the chasm between God and Esau.  Practically speaking, resentment means to relive hurtful experiences.  Each remembrance re-ignites our anger and quest for revenge.  Like Captain Ahab in Melville’s Moby Dick, resentment and vengeance poisons the mind and hearts of their barrier.  Isolation is a natural result because nothing matters but the fulfillment of one’s thirst for personal satisfaction. 

Interestingly, total isolation allows one to reach for the one Person who is always there.  We utilize our spiritual imaginations when considering the Esau discourse.  Over the course of the twenty years, Esau finds God in a powerful way.  He realizes God did not abandon him.  Esau’s illimitable material blessings infer the depth of his relationship with Almighty God.  This relationship ensues because Esau’ anger dissipates and he turns to the God of his grandfather, Abraham, and his father, Isaac.  Esau eventually understands God’s love extends to everyone including his deceitful brother, Jacob.  He realizes its mercy and forgiveness particularly for persons who are most undeserving.  Esau recognizes the power of God’s love to overcome the greatest personal transgressions.  More significantly, he acknowledges the ability of God’s love to restore broken relationships.  Esau grasps the power of God’s love to repay those who have been harmed.  Time, patience, and nature set the stage for the end of Esau’s isolation and his reach for God.

A very necessary part of re-establishing a relationship with God and ending personal isolation is willingness to assume responsibility for your role in any dilemma.  I posit that Esau was able to accept his role in creating the circumstances of Jacob’s deceptive deeds.  In spite of everything, it is Esau who spit on his birthright and relegates its worth to a bowl of lentil soup.  Esau fails to appreciate the value of the birthright until he loses it.  Esau cannot continually blame his parents for his unwillingness to educate himself about the Laws and blessings of Almighty God.  Why should Esau condemn Jacob for studying the edicts of God while he, Esau, plays tirelessly?  At some point within the twenty-year period of Esau’s isolation, he accepts his character flaws and spiritual immaturity.  This process of self-acceptance empowers Esau to re-establish his relationship with God.