2018.07.08: Jacob - Wrestling With God and Finding Myself

we're in Genesis chapter 32 if you brought a Bible along you may want to open it up I'm gonna do that myself to Genesis chapter 32 if you've got a Bible app on your phone feel free we're the church that says it's good to have your cell phone out during the service so here's what we've learned so far about Jacob and for those of you who haven't been here I'm just gonna do a quick review of what we've what we've heard so far we've heard that Jacob was named Jacob because that name means he'll grabber or deceiver and he was given that name because he literally came out of his mother's womb grabbing the heel of his older brother older twin actually Esau from from that point on we see Jacob live out this name from ambitiously trying to grab the family inheritance by serving his brother Esau a porridge when Esau is super super hungry after coming in from the field to Jacob literally dressing up like his brother and acting like his brother so that his father Isaac would bless him instead of Esau we've seen Jacob for twenty years living in Haran the land of his extended family and struggling with a whole family of heel grabbers and deceivers you see what we've learned if we've learned anything about Jacob is that Jacob was a fixer and by fixer I mean if he saw a problem he confidently thought to himself it's up to me and for Jacob the end frequently justified the means it didn't matter how he went about fixing the problem as long as he got the result that he wanted we see that he's willing to cheat and lie and deceive to get the result that he wants because he's a fixer I think it's important for us to see this quality in Jacob and I'll tell you why if you do any study of American culture one of the top things that you're gonna hear about us as a culture is that we are a whole nation of fixers now for some of us the end doesn't always justify the means our character the character that God has built into us will prevent us from that kind of thinking but I'll tell you even for those of us who have the character that doesn't think the end justifies the means it's still pretty hard to rid ourselves of the thought when we face a problem or a challenge or an issue in life it's all up to me I better get on this and fix it right away that's how we are that's what we believe built America and so most of us see that as a highly desirable quality in a person to take the initiative to be an explorer an adventurer to be self-reliant to handle like if I can say I handle my own business that's usually considered to be a pretty good quality but what we're going to see you today is that the Bible takes a little bit different tack and you might be surprised to hear that based on the fact that maybe you two have been taught by your parents by people around you handle your own business and what we're going to see is that through very short moments in Jacobs life and also through sometimes some very extended times where God just drips drips drips change into Jacobs heart what God is doing is fixing Jacobs I'm a fixer mentality and maybe some of us need that fixing as well and I would guess that God is already working on our on our hearts let me tell you a story that illustrates this so there was a gentleman named Scott Rudd and just about two weeks ago he had to get to work he lives in Jersey City wants to get to work in New York City and he was at the end of the month and he didn't have enough money to get across to his job on time on the ferry just didn't have the cash to be able to do that but he's a paddle boarder so being a fixer Scott said I'll put on my suit I'll pack my computer in my backpack sling it over my back brought his stand-up paddleboard to the Hudson River got on the paddleboard and started paddling his way across the Hudson River now imagine this this is not easy to do even Scott himself said a couple of times I thought I was going to be swamped but here's the unbelievable truth you can read this story for yourself Scott got all the way across the river safely did not get dunked even once and that story went wild on the Internet why because Scott's afix her he took care he even made it to his meeting on time that morning and that's we love that we admire that so here's what I'm going to tell you as we learn to sort of give up some of our attitude that we must be fixers this is a lifelong struggle life long struggle and I'm also not saying that God doesn't equip us will see that God at times equips us to be the answer to the prayers that we speak I'm not suggesting that if you're a farmer just say prayers to God and then don't do anything I'm not saying that if you're a businessman pray to God and then have a long long lunch and that's your whole day that's not what I'm saying I'm saying it's about your heart and your mind you may work even harder once you learn what Jacob learned but you will learn to work harder from a different space and that's what we're talking about this morning so I want you to write this down a relationship with God this is what Jacob discovers will give you great peace but there's an irony here because of our nature as sinners to want to fix everything ourselves it's also going to be a lifelong struggle to let go and let God be in control and hand things over to him and let him solve problems for for us to let him be the capital F fixer of our lives so this is this is the irony of the Christian faith once something a lot of people don't necessarily get or understand you become a Christian you get immense peace in your heart as you lean into Jesus and his love and his promises you also get to enter into a huge battle every day as you learn to turn things over to God so let's let's start with the piece I want to start with that part what are some of the things that God gives us because He loves us Phil just talked about God's love for us what are some of the things that God gives you that you can bank on and rely on and know hey God's got this if there's a phrase that I want you to go home with today a phrase that you can especially use in your struggles and your challenges is just this little short phrase you might want to write it down God's got this God's got this that's what Jacob had to learn so what's what's one of the first things that we can look at let's let's dive in to Genesis chapter 32 Jacob is on his way to meet his brother he has not seen Esau in 20 years the last time he saw Esau Esau was threatening to kill him so you have to understand that context Jacob doesn't know what the state of Esau's mind or heart is for all Jacob knows that last statement I'm gonna kill him as soon as I get the earliest opportunity still applies so I don't know if you've ever been to a meeting where you were just so anxious about the meeting maybe at your work maybe a talk that you knew you needed to have with your wife or your children maybe a little conversation you needed to have with your neighbor about something that he's doing and you were headed into that meeting with a lot of anxiety about how is this gonna turn out what's gonna happen here that's what Jacobs going through Jacob also went on his way and the angels of God and met him when Jacobs when Jacob saw them he said this is the camp of God so he named that place Mahon I'm if there was ever understatement in the Bible this has got to be the prime example oh yeah Jacob was just on his way and two armies of angels met him ho-hum that's gone how it sounds but we see this happen in the Bible over and over again where God sends angels when people are in certain trying circumstances to strengthen them let them know they're protected let them know that God is providing we saw earlier in Jacobs own life at Bethel where Jacob saw a ladder or a stairway with angels ascending and descending on it God's message to that then and now is Jacob I've got this and I got lots of help to help me get this truth number one if you want to have peace in your heart God's got this and often he is going to get this using just natural means we're gonna see something that Jacob doesn't in a moment that is sort of trying to make sure he deals with his own fears nothing wrong with what he does in fact you might say God gave him some insight so that he could create a little plan and deal with his fears and what was happening with his brother Esau but we're also gonna see that we can trust that God will serve and protect us if necessary supernaturally not just naturally and one of the lessons of this account of Jacob's life is Jacob if you need supernatural help in this situation I've got plenty of supernatural help now some of you have gone through things where you thought to yourself I think I just saw like I didn't see the angels but I think I saw the effect of what they're doing you've been in an accident and your life was protected and your car was prevented from going into oncoming traffic or something happened and you said to yourself oh my goodness that was not natural that was supernatural God was at work and his angels were working overtime today what I'm telling you is we don't often see this and as frequently as we see maybe God do something like this in the Bible there are also even in the Bible long stretches of time where God is it works supernaturally but we don't necessarily hear accounts of that that's true in your life - and so truth number one you can say God's got this because God is going to serve you he loves you he's your father and he's gonna protect you naturally if necessary but also supernaturally if necessary so write this down God sends his angels to serve and protect me and that's exactly what they're designed to do look at Hebrews 1:14 it says are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation now let's switch over a little bit to the natural side because God definitely uses what we might call natural means to be on our side help us serve us and protect us and one of those ways that he does is he gives us wisdom and insight starting by the way right here why do we at crosswalk Church frequently maybe some would say constantly reinforce the idea to be in your scriptures every day number one because God Himself works supernaturally in the power of the Holy Spirit through this book we know this from what the book itself tells us we know this from our own experience number two this book gives us the kind of wisdom read for example through the book of Proverbs and and for those of you who might want to have just a good place to start reading now it's it's a lot of collected versus single verses of wisdom you'll want to take it slow probably not a bad way to start because it gives you immense wisdom and insight for your life what Jacob knows here is he better do something and he's gonna need some insight so look at what happens next when the messengers returned to Jacob they said we went to your brother Esau and now he is coming to meet you and four hundred men are with him now what do you think is Jacob's first thought when he hears that my brother is still holding a grudge I have to believe he's thinking that otherwise why four hundred men it must look an awful lot like his brother Esau is bringing overwhelming force to bear Jacob doesn't have this kind of force to fight back with so Jacobs afraid we here right here verse seven in great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups and the flocks and the herds and the camels as well so he's separating them later on he's going to separate them even further and send them in five ways and so he's saying if I can't win I better give some thought to how I'm gonna run and how at least some of us are gonna get away that's what he's doing here he thought if Esau comes and attacks one group the group that is left may escape so write this down God grants insight to handle tough situations wisely look if you are facing overwhelming force the smartest thing in the world to do is to say I don't have the means to fight this I better have another plan and that's what Jacob is doing here and so very wisely he's figuring out if these 400 guys are a war party not a welcoming party we better figure out how to run and run fast where in your life do you need insight where in life do you need to get God's thoughts on what's coming up where in life are you facing what you might think over what our overwhelming odds and and you're feeling great fear and distress like Jacob is one of the one of the most powerful pieces of the gospel is to know that God your father wants to help you and that's why he gave us this beautiful book with all of its promises so that in those promises those promises are like those hooks and the velcro and and we can take the loops of our heart and attach them to the loops of the velcro and find solace and peace and comfort and know that if Christ was willing to go all the way to the cross for me bleed and die for me rise from the dead for me I can attach myself to those hooks those beautiful promises of love and I can find wisdom in the Bible so that I can know how to move forward guys one of the reasons that we have growth groups here at crosswalk is so that you can get other Christians around you others who have hooked themselves into God's promises if you're trying to do things on your own in great fear and distress not knowing how to solve a problem can I just ask you a simple question why are you doing that on your own why are you not tapping into other people here at your very own church family who love you and want to protect you from Satan and from and from loss who want to help you and and get yourself around other people growth groups is a fantastic way to do that ministry teams is a great way to do that because as you serve together you start to get to know each other and as you get to know each other you build friendship and trust and you start talking to one another and and you begin to feel comfortable to be a little bit more transparent a little bit more open so I just want to encourage you on this God has great insight you access it here you access it in places like your growth group in your ministry team let's move on third reason why we can no we we have peace in God's love then Jacob prayed O God of my father Abraham God of my father Isaac Lord you who said to me go back to your country and your relatives and I will make you prosper I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan but now I have become two camps save me I pray from the hand of my brother you saw for I am afraid he will come and attack me and also the mothers with their children but you have said will you underline that phrase you have said I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea which cannot be counted those words are so critical you have said what first of all though what Jacob doing here what's he doing then Jacob prayed to whom oh god of my father Abraham the God that my father Abraham worshipped the God that my father Isaac worshipped and then he quotes God you ever had somebody do that you're if you're a teacher or you're a boss or you're a dad and all of a sudden you know one of your kids comes up and quotes you oh yeah I said that didn't I that's what Jacob is doing here right he's praying and he's saying father didn't you say this and why did I have you underlined save me I pray from the hand of my brother Esau and but you have said here's why this is the pivotal point where we really see Jacob say you know what I can't fix everything I may be by nature a fixer I may be someone who just loves to handle stuff not need anyone or anything outside of myself but I've come to the end of my rope god I'm done with being the fixer I need you to be the fixer because you have said I can grab hold of those hooks called your promises see God gives us prayer so that we can respond to the great wisdom and insight we get here great promises we get here and say to God god I'm done with myself I want to come back to you and I want you to be the fixer and that's exactly what Jacob is doing here this a beautiful prayer if I had more time I'd take you into how Jacob but you do this this can be a little bit of homework for yourself take this home and ask yourself how does Jacob handle this prayer what what does he say what does he do if you are not familiar with prayer and you want to have a great model for what prayer should look like because I don't have time to get into it today but you can figure it out take this home look at this prayer and you will learn how to be a better prayer from the way Jacob prays here so turn the page notice notice what James says before you turn it is anyone among you in trouble let's say these last three words together is anyone among you in trouble let them pray all right turn it over here's your filling God gives me prayer so I can hand my fears to him so beautiful truths to give you peace number one God is going to help serve and protect you naturally and even supernaturally through his angels if need be truth number two God is going to through his word and his promises give you the insight and the wisdom you need to take part in the solution of your problems and then finally God is going to God has bought you the most beautiful cellphone you'll ever learn it's an invisible cellphone but you should use it and you should talk to God no let's get rid of should we get to talk to God we get to talk to God and lay anything we want before him and he is the loving father of all of us and the god of the universe so who wouldn't want to use that cellphone so first part you become a Christian you get there is so much peace and by the way I know a lot of times people think when you become a Christian this is all dramatic and it's emotional can I tell you I'm not I mean I'm dramatic and emotional but in all the wrong ways like if I get frustrated angry you'll see me dramatic and emotional I wish sometimes I had a little bit more of that emotional side that responded to God's promises and you know as you sometimes see people do they they just feel and cry I mean like for me it's not like that maybe it's not like that for you either that doesn't mean you don't have faith it it simply means you can have faith and be a Christian go God's got amazing promises of love for me and I'm gonna live in them it's far more important than you that you get yourself connected to those hooks whether it's emotional for you or not to believe God's promises just connect to those hooks and live your life as if they're truly true those promises that's what God is looking for now I said this earlier and we're gonna wrap up by saying this you get great peace when you become a believer you also enter a great battle a great struggle and we're gonna see that Jacob's gonna wrestle with God that night Jacob got up so he he is just about the next day going to finally meet his brother he got up and he took his two wives his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the floor of the Jabbok if you want to get a picture in mind of what this looks like if you've ever been to being down the Salt River there are places on the Javik that look a lot like the Salt River so you can kind of picture that's what it looks like okay how many of you been to be come on now we need to get you know what we got to have a crosswalk tubing day there's not enough of us after he had sent them across the stream he sent over all his possessions so Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him till daybreak so this is we've had some weird stuff asked me to explain exactly how this is going down I don't know Phil told you earlier this is the the pre-incarnate christ it is the pre-incarnate christ because he's gonna say i just wrestled with God so Jacob was left alone a man wrestled with him till daybreak when the man saw that he could not overpower him he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with a man and the man said let me go for it is daybreak but Jacob replied I will not let you go unless you bless me even that question tells you who Jacob is wrestling with here the man asked him what's your name Jacob he answered then the man said your name will no longer be jacob but israel because you've struggled with god underline those words struggled with God and with humans and have overcome Jacob said please tell me your name but he this man truly Christ replied why do you ask my name and then he blessed him there so Jacob called the place Peniel saying it is because I saw God face to face and yet my life was spared the Sun rose above him as he passed the Nile and he was limping because of his hip therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon the son of God comes while Jacob is trying to get some quiet time all alone gather his thoughts he still got great fear in his heart he doesn't know how this meeting with Esau and the four hundred soldiers are going to go the next year this is a stressful talk about anticipatory anxiety Jacob's got that in spades and so he's like okay I got to gather my thoughts he sends everyone away he's gathering and all of a sudden in the dark comes this guy whom Jacob thinks at first is a man and they just start wrestling it's it's Throwdown time and they're wrestling and they're wrestling and at one point it says he touches the socket of Jacob's hip now I don't know if you've ever thrown your shoulder out how's that feel painful let me just tell you your hip is a much larger joint if your hip gets injured or inflamed in the tendon or whatever it was it's excruciating ly painful Jacob knows I'm not gonna win I can't solve my own problems and I can't I can't beat this guy but it's becoming clear this is not a natural event it's a supernatural event this is God himself I'm wrestling with and so Jacob makes one determination in this I can't win but I can hang on I don't care how painful it is III don't I don't care what else happens he is not gonna make me let go until he blesses me if you want a lesson for yourself out of Jacobs story of wrestling with God is because you want to be self-reliant because Jacob wanted to be self-reliant because I want to be self-reliant it's a lifelong struggle to give up control and to let God be in the driver's seat of your life to truly trust his love that much and I'm telling you to trust his love that much when you're in pain like Jacob was that's taken it to a whole nother level to trust God when he's facing a meeting like he's facing the next day that's taking it to a whole nother level because how do you know whether or not you're trusting yourself to be the fixer or God to be the fixer times of testing times of challenge times of pain if in those times you can just say God I'm velcroing myself to the hooks of your promises and I am not letting go that's what God is teaching us today you may be able to do absolutely nothing just like Jacob was able to do absolutely nothing except for hang on to God's love and God's grace and God's forgiveness look we've all done things that we're horribly ashamed of we've all done things that we carry guilt for from today if you're anything like my family was when we were going to church we were fighting all the way to church and then put on the smile good morning yesterday you did some stuff last week last year last decade but God's promises to you is that has all been put in the dumpster through this great exchange of God giving his life Jesus Christ giving his life on the cross so that we could have his forgiveness and his righteousness this is truth and it's truth that you can bank on and cling to and stick to whatever challenges in life you're facing hang on to God and His love whatever pain you have in your life whatever you're anxious about hang on to God and his beautiful promises just let yourself let your heart be those little loops clean to the hooks of his love for you here's the last verse for whoever wants to save their life will lose it just just as Jacob does here just surrender give up trying to be the fixer but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it so write this in to find my life I will lose it and stick to Jesus Christ last point please understand this if you want to lose your life and give up the whole idea of fixing everything yourself expect that to be a lifelong process just as it was for Jacob it's going to be that way for you too and you're going to waver back and forth okay sometimes I'm ready to give it all to God and sometimes man I'm like God let me take it back let God keep working on your heart and just stick to his loving promises let's pray your Father in Heaven it's so clear today that you want us to teach us not just to be better people or to live transformed lives you want to transform our hearts first you want to transform our heart so that we become less and less independent and fixing everything ourselves and living that stressful life where we got a rush and Drive you want to just say to us would you lean into me would you trust my love would you believe my promises to me too would you believe my promises to you yeah that's what you're saying to us today Lord and I pray for the people in this room that that we would we would say Lord I give up I'm ready to lose my life lose my attitude of I gotta fix everything and give it to you and let you for once and maybe even for always be the one who through your love and promises fixes my heart and helps me in life Lord your son Jesus tells us if we do that we not only get a life filled with peace here we get eternal life based in your forgiveness and in your sacrifice on the cross help us to believe that in live at Lord in Jesus name you

Channel: CrossWalk Church

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Length: 35min 57sec (2157 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 08 2018