How to respond when our plans go awry? (Gen 27:30-28:10)

My father always wanted to become a medical doctor, but he was barred from training by the Communist regime of the time. Every year for fifteen years, he completed the entrance exam and did well, but was rejected on political (and religious) grounds. The last question at his interview was always, ‘Do you believe in God?’, to which he replied ‘yes’ and that sealed his fate. By the time the way opened for him, he was the sole breadwinner providing financially for his widowed mother. Since medical training had to be done full-time, this was no longer an option, but the desire never left him. A few years before he died, when he briefly had to stay in hospital, he told me that he still felt the old ache to be a doctor. Yet, he made the best of it in a different career and carried no bitterness for his disappointment. Whenever he was asked, he always said that he had a good life, a full life.

Plans that go awry

In our reading, Esau finds his way blocked to the blessing. If he had arrived a few minutes earlier, he could have stopped Jacob, but it was not meant to be. The initial anguish of father and son is understandable (Gen 27:33-34), though we might wonder if Esau is even entitled to the blessing of the firstborn given that he sold his birthright. Moreover, Isaac’s favouritism in wanting to heap all the best blessing on Esau has backfired: he has nothing more to give now that his favoured son missed out (Gen 27:36-37). Blessings (like curses) were seen as powerful and performative in the ancient world intended to bring about what had been said. Thus, the blessing on Jacob could not be retracted. Isaac’s ‘blessing’ for Esau sounds more like a curse, though his descendants, the Edomites would shake off Israel’s dominance over them from time-to-time (Gen 27:39-40), a statement whose truth was borne out by later history.

Reactions

Esau’s extreme reaction does not end after the initial shock. His ongoing bitterness and plans for murder (Gen 27:41) focus on Jacob’s misdeeds, while he shows no self-awareness regarding his own behaviour and the little value he placed on his birthright before. Isaac, on the other hand, responds to Jacob in a surprising way. As the latter is sent to Paddan-Aram (or Haran; Gen 27:43; 28:2), ostensibly to find a wife among Laban’s daughters, Isaac pronounces the blessing of Abraham over him (descendants and land; Gen 28:3-4). It is as if Isaac has come to recognise God’s hand in what had happened and that the promised line of Abraham will continue in Jacob, rather than Esau. Given Isaac’s earlier favouritism, this is a remarkable transformation. The lengthy paragraph detailing Esau’s reaction reveals that he recognises his father’s changed perception and by marrying a granddaughter of Abraham he is attempting to regain his father’s esteem (Gen 28:6-9). This, however, is too little, too late.

How do we respond?

Esau and Isaac’s reaction challenges us regarding our own response to plans that go awry. Do we rant and rave, become angry with God, bear a grudge and carry bitterness against those who stopped us in our intended path, whether human agents or God? Initial disappointment when we do not get our way is understandable, but we are also called to ponder what God might be doing in our lives through events. There are, of course, some events whose effects are reversible. We may encounter setbacks but could be encouraged by God to persevere in our chosen path. Other times, a door may be firmly shut in our face, our circumstances may point us in a direction that is unalterable, and we have to make peace with what God had given and withheld. May we take comfort that the Lord can transform our attitude and give a different perspective even when things do not turn out the way we had hoped.

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