Transcript
Speaker: Mic on. Hey there, folks. This time i my podcast called. Mic on.
Speaker: Mic on. I'm now going to be playing an episode called... Mic off.
Speaker: Mic on. Wrestling with God, at The Reckoning by Jeff Griffin. Enjoy.
Speaker: Hi friends, my name is Maria Nelson. I'm the pastor of adult ministry and guest services in Bolingbroke. And I'm so happy that you're joining us online today. If you have not filled out a connection card before, we would love for you to take just a minute of your time to fill it out right now, as this is the best way for us to connect with you. And if you've never been to one of our campuses in person, I would love to invite you to one of them.
Speaker: We have services offered in Naperville, Plainfield, Hinsdale, South Naperville, Wheaton and Bolingbroke. And the last three locations have services offered in Spanish as well.
Speaker: You can find out more at thecompass.net. And while you're there, check out a possible group you may want to be a part of. Some are in person and some are online. And if you're a young adult, we have several groups in our different locations for you to be a part of as well.
Speaker: We'd love to meet you and get to know you better. Friends, the Compass Church is all about helping people find and follow God. We want every person, either watching online or who is joining us in one of our locations, to not only discover who God is, but also follow his practices.
Speaker: God sent his son Jesus to model for us what it looks like to follow him. The gospels are filled with examples of what Christ did to model what his father looked like. One of our priorities at the Compass Church is to pursue Him daily. And I have found that daily Bible reading is key in my pursuit of God. I've been studying the book of Luke every morning, and I wanted to share two verses that stood out to me.
Speaker: Luke 5.16 says, But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Jesus spent the night seeking God's direction on who to choose as his apostles.
Speaker: He didn't want to make any decision on his own, but he desperately wanted his Father to guide and instruct him on what to do next. He modeled so beautifully what it looks like to depend on the Father. If Jesus, the Son of God, began his day connecting with the Father, how much more should we do the same?
Speaker: I personally have noticed the benefits of beginning my day in His Word and in prayer, and it's helped me to pause and remember to check in with Him all throughout the day. And I'm reminded that I'm not alone in my decision making. He is with me and wants to be a part of everything I do.
Speaker: Friends, now we're going to go into a time of worship. But before we begin, we'd like to encourage you to set aside any distractions so that you can give your full attention as we worship our Lord and Savior.
Speaker: Blessed assurance,
Speaker: Jesus is mine.
Speaker: He's been my fourth man in the fire, time after time. Born of his spirit and washed in his blood.
Speaker: And what he did for me on Calvary is more than enough. I trust in God, my Savior, the one.
Speaker: He will never perfect
Speaker: I've just ordered my steps. So this is my story. And this is my song.
Speaker: trusted God.
Speaker: I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will give
Speaker: The Bible says to trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.
Speaker: When you seek the Lord, you will find Him.
Speaker: I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. sought the Lord and He heard and He answered.
Speaker: That's why I trust Him. That's why I trust Him. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. sought the Lord And He heard and He answered sought the Lord And He heard and He answered That's why I trust Him That's why I trust Him I sought the Lord
Speaker: He said, yes, I saw. And He heard and He answered. That's why trust Him. That's I trust Him.
Speaker: I trust Him. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered.
Speaker: I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. That's why I trust Him. That's why I trust in my Savior.
Speaker: He will never fail. trust in God, my Savior.
Speaker: I trust in God
Speaker: Friends, don't know if you ever heard that I boxed in my old days. How about that? Well, if you did hear that, it's not true. I never boxed once. I've watched the Rocky movies. I'm a big fan. I've seen all of them more than once each.
Speaker: Always dreamed of getting into the boxing ring. So this is so much fun.
Speaker: Friends, you may wonder why we've come to the Harvey Boxing Club this week. Well, let me tell you why. It's important with Jacob and his journey. Remember, we're in a series called The Reckoning.
Speaker: Now week five, and we've arrived at this moment where Jacob wrestles God. No kidding. Jacob was out sleeping under the stars in the wilderness when all of a sudden God showed up. Jacob doesn't know that it's God at first, but God starts wrestling him. You know, to call it wrestling, I fear that that sounds more playful.
Speaker: Yeah, you want to wrestle? No, no. This was not like that. This was an all-out brawl. Jacob fought. fought God. the the Lord jumped him and just started pounding him. I mean friends, this was hand-to-hand combat, more like MMA, you know, where they were throwing each other and slamming each other and twisting and turning and fighting all night long.
Speaker: Jacob fought with God. In fact, at the end of the fight, God gives Jacob a new name. Can I show you? This is from Genesis chapter 32, verse 28.
Speaker: God says, your name will no longer be Jacob. From now on, you will be called Israel because you have fought with God and with men and have won.
Speaker: the name Israel means fought with God. It means you're a fighter. And so Jacob is is called by God the fighter. He's been fighting his whole life. Not only did he fight with God that night, but he's been fighting people And God seems to compliment him and said, you're good at it, man. You are, you won so and so let's talk about Jacob, the fighter. It is true. Isn't it from the very moment of his birth. you remember? He was one of twins.
Speaker: His brother Esau came out of the birth canal first. And even then Jacob was like reaching out and grabbing his ankle. Remember he's called heel grabber. The name Jacob meant heel grabber.
Speaker: And so from the beginning, he's wrestling his brother saying, get back here. I want to be the firstborn. And then he he he fought with Esau when he swiped the birthright. Remember, Esau came back starving and Jacob manipulated his desperation to sell him bowl of stew for the rights of firstborn.
Speaker: Jacob was fighting with his father. He took advantage of Isaac when Isaac was old and blind. and Jacob stole the blessing of the firstborn by posing as his brother Esau when his dad was bamboozled and gave Jacob that blessing intended for Esau.
Speaker: Jacob was fighting with his father-in-law Laban. we We learned about that. Now Laban was fighting back. Laban got Jacob to work first seven years, but then 14 years to get Rachel, the the love of his life. And so Jacob fought Laban for his wives. He fought Laban for his flocks.
Speaker: ah Jacob went into partnership with his father-in-law and Laban tried to mess him over and steal all the flocks. But Jacob fought back and ended up with two wives with lots of flocks. He was wealthy. He was a fighter his whole life.
Speaker: And so God says, Jacob, let's let's call you Israel. let's Let's call you fighter. You know, when God compliments him and says, and and you you fought and you won,
Speaker: It sounds like the Lord is viewing his fighter status as an admirable trait. is it Is it good that Jacob is a fighter? He does have a feisty tenacity that's been demonstrated his whole life that God wants to redeem.
Speaker: If you will, there's good and bad about Jacob being a fighter. As we're going to see, God wants to change the way he fights. He's been delivering low blows, if you will, below the belt. And and God's like, we've got to redeem your fighting ah tendencies.
Speaker: And early on, Jacob has been fighting against God and Jacob's been fighting with his own strength, his own scheming. And God says, no, no, no. From now on, you're going to fight for me, Jacob.
Speaker: And you're not going to fight with your own strength. You're going to learn to fight with the strength of God. and so, yes, that's the path we need to follow. And so let's learn from Jacob as God teaches him how to fight well.
Speaker: Can I read you a verse? The the psalmist, he's reflecting on this glory days of Israel when Joshua led them into the promised land. They just kept winning battle after battle after battle.
Speaker: But look what the psalmist says. Psalm 44. They didn't gain success by their own power. Your powerful right hand and your mighty arm gave them victory.
Speaker: was the right hand of God. You know, I find it interesting that in the Bible, God's power is compared to his righty, might arm. You know, is his arm is strength. He's the one who delivers the blow that brings the victory.
Speaker: And so it's real interesting. The passage says they didn't gain success by their power. Their arm, their hand was not in the glove. God's was. And so here's a question I have for you.
Speaker: Whose hand is in your glove? Are you living by the power of god Or are you living by your own strength? When it comes to the challenges in your lives, oh, think of family challenges, work challenges, finances, health, marriage.
Speaker: ah whos Who are you depending on? Is it an exercise in your own self-reliance? Or do you have a humble dependence on God? That's really the heart of what we're getting at. And it's a challenge for us because a lot of us have self-reliance For a very variety of reasons. For some, we've had success for a long time. And so it's easy for us to just say, I got this.
Speaker: Others would say, i've I'm good. have a gifting in this area, so I don't need God. Others would say, I've got a lot of experience doing what I do. And so it's just natural to rely on myself.
Speaker: Others would say, it's a lack of faith that God's really going to do anything. for Whatever the reason may be, It is a lifelong battle of the believer to remain with God's hand in the glove. That is dependent on his power and not on our own.
Speaker: Well, that's going to be the issue for our guy, Jacob. it's it's It's a central question for him. ah Let's read. You may recall he is now leaving laban his father-in-law. Finally, he's got flocks, he's got wives, kids, and he's called by God to return home, to go back to his brother Esau and the land where his family lives.
Speaker: Genesis 32, 1, Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him. And Jacob saw them and said, this is the army of God.
Speaker: Similar to when, remember he had a a dream where he saw the ladder going to heaven and angels coming and going. Well, this a similar moment. God's opening his eyes to the presence of an angelic army surrounding him on his way. And he may have wondered, why why do I need an angelic army?
Speaker: But that wondering wouldn't be for long because look what happens next. In verse 6, messengers returned to Jacob and reported, hey, we just met your brother Esau and he's already on his way to meet you with an army of 400 men. boy.
Speaker: oh boy Word had gotten to Esau that his brother Jacob, after 20 years, was now returning. And Esau is wealthy, and he's got a workforce of 400 that he is employing at this moment, marching towards meeting Jacob.
Speaker: And so now, if you will, Jacob's got an army of Esau coming at him in a very threatening manner. view But he's also got the army of God's angels surrounding him. And so if you will, there's a test.
Speaker: Jacob is being asked, are you freaking out because of this challenge? Or do you believe that the angels of God, the power of God's right hand is there to protect you?
Speaker: Well, let's see how he does in this test, shall we? Next verse, verse 7. In great fear and distress, Jacob divided the people, that's his people, who were with him into two groups. He thought if Esau comes and attacks one group, the the other group that is left may escape.
Speaker: And so two things we see. Number one, he's freaking out. He's panicking. And that's not a faith-filled response. He's seeing his own weakness and failing to remember that God's power has already been made known to him.
Speaker: Not only is panic a revelation that he's not fully trusting in God's power, also his strategy. He says, you know what, I think we're going to get whooped, and so let's divide in two so only half of us gets whooped, and the other half of my estate can possibly survive.
Speaker: Well, I will tell you, he then turns to prayer, verses 9 to 12. Jacob does say, Lord, help me. But then in verse 20, comes up with another plan. Jacob thought, I will soften Esau up with the succession of gifts I give.
Speaker: And then maybe he'll welcome me. He sends some of his servants with gifts. He at first sends 220 goats, then sheep, And then 50 cows.
Speaker: And then 30 camels. And then 30 donkeys. He's sending these gifts to Esau ahead of him, hoping to soften him up. Francis, there's a battle going on inside of our guy. you know When he prayed, it seemed like he's yeah he he's relying on God.
Speaker: But then he's coming up with these strange strategies which make us wonder, maybe he's still thinking that my scheming is going to solve the day. He's freaking out, which makes us think he's not relying on. There's a tension in Jacob and a tension in us.
Speaker: Sometimes we get to a place of real humble reliance on the Lord where confidently we can say it's his hand in the glove. But then other times we're like, give me that glove, Lord, and we take over again and see it as all depending on us.
Speaker: You know, the Lord has got to purify Jacob and help him become a man of sustained dependence on god alone. got to Jacob.
Speaker: And God does this through a wrestling match. Let's take a look. Verse 24. Let me give the context. that This is when Jacob has sent his family and all of his belongings over this Jabbok river or stream.
Speaker: And it's the night before he's going to meet Esau. And so he wants to spend some time alone. The night he sleeps alone on the east side of the stream all by himself to prepare for this big day. And it's in that place of solitude that God shows up.
Speaker: Genesis 32, 24. A man came and wrestled with Jacob until the dawn began to break. Friends, fighting, wrestling.
Speaker: It's one of the most exhausting things. Even filming that silly little video there where I was just kind of having fun. I was exhausted, panting. and it's just a reminder that fighting all night This was an exhausting battle, probably more than anything Jacob has has experienced to this point in his life.
Speaker: And it's as a man. you know So what we find is at first, Jacob doesn't realize that it's God. At first, he's like, who is this? He's just been jumped by a stranger.
Speaker: But later on, verse 30, he's going to say, I can't believe that I have seen God face to face. And we'll see when, but God eventually reveals the the true identity of the assailant being God himself.
Speaker: All right, so the wrestling, and by the way this wrestling match is kind of God ah figuratively giving Jacob a chance to demonstrate in this battle the tenacity and the endurance that he's been fighting with his whole life. If you will, this night, this fight becomes a type, an expression of what his whole life has been, and that is it's a match, a wrestling match, a fight.
Speaker: But... Here's what happens. Verse 25. When the man, that is on wrestling Jacob, that is God. When the man saw that he would not win and the match, he touched Jacob's hip and wrenched it out of socket.
Speaker: All right. This is fun. A little confusing, but fun. First of all, when it says, when the man saw that he would not win the match, that's a little confusing. It's like, wait a minute, God can't whoop Jacob.
Speaker: It's important for us to know here that God is not expressing his divine power. i mean, he does when he touches his hip and it all, his hip blows up there. But prior to that moment, God had been limiting his power to that of an average man.
Speaker: and And if you will, one way of saying it is he's letting ah Jacob win. He's saying, all right, buddy, let's show how ferocious you are. It reminds me of when I wrestled with my little kids. you know i would I would let them win. Just for the record, I could have pounded them.
Speaker: But I let them throw me on my back. And when they really got feisty, I rewarded that, you know, with allowing them learn. And that's what God's doing. God's limiting his power, and he's impressed with the tenacious fighting of Jacob.
Speaker: But then God says, all right, it's time for me to show him who is strongest. And it's such an amazing moment. God just touches his hip.
Speaker: And with a simple touch, divine power makes the hip dislocate. if you've ever dislocated a joint, it is crazy painful. And all of a sudden, in this flash of a moment, Jacob realizes, oh, my opponent is no ordinary man.
Speaker: It's in that moment of divine power being released that Jacob realizes, I'm fighting God. Not only does he realize this is God, but he has suddenly realizes that God is so much stronger than him that if he wants to, a simple touch to the hip is all he needs to leave Jacob whimpering and just writhing in pain. God wins with the touch of his finger.
Speaker: And that's what happened. Let's read on verse 26. Then the man God said, all right, let me go. In other words, fights over. But look at this. But Jacob said, I will not let you go unless you bless me.
Speaker: So Jacob's totally changed the application of his tenacity. It had been, going to fight and beat this guy. But now he is clinging to God desperately, dependently, and saying, I beg you to bless me. I need your blessing.
Speaker: that interesting? And this is where God is so proud of Jacob and announces his name change. Verse 28, we've read this already, but I'll read it again.
Speaker: Your name will no longer be Jacob. From now on, you will be called Israel because you have fought with God and with men and have won. I imagine that Jacob is like, ah I don't think I won against you. i was doing all right until you did that hip maneuver.
Speaker: And boom, i I was transformed instantly to a whimpering ah weakling, desperately clinging to you, begging for a blessing. I'm not exactly a picture of strength and victory.
Speaker: But you know what God's like, yes, that's right, Jacob. That's how you win. That's how you won. Is you realize that the point of life and of this fight is to shift from trying to be your man and conquer the day on your own strength to clinging to the Lord and saying, I need your blessing. You're my only hope.
Speaker: God's like, through desperate recognition of weakness, you won the victory. And friends, the same is true for us. It is through humble acknowledgement of our insufficiency and constant reliance on God and his hand being in the glove.
Speaker: That's the win in the human adventure. That's the point of life is to reenter a posture of need and and reliance on God.
Speaker: You know, I thought of just this simple example, and that is and on Wednesday afternoon, late Wednesday afternoon, I started to get a little nervous. I'm like, oh boy, i got to film my intro video for my sermon on Thursday morning.
Speaker: And I didn't have any ideas on where I could film. Every week, you know, there's this need to come up with an idea of how to use the the creative intro video.
Speaker: And I'm like, well, what am I going to do? What am I going to And I thought of, oh, it's about a fight. Maybe I could do a ah boxing ring. And I'm like, well, it's late Wednesday afternoon. I have to film tomorrow morning first thing. How am I going to get a boxing ring? And I i started to get nervous.
Speaker: In that moment, I had a couple options. One, I could panic. I could say, I'm dead. got to have an idea. Or two, i could be cocky and say, I got this. I've been doing these intro videos for five over five years. I'm a creative person. I'll come up with something.
Speaker: Or third option is I can say, oh, dear Lord, help me. like I'm not going to panic because I know you provide. I'm going to humbly submit myself in prayer and say, Lord, I have a need as I do all the time. Would you please provide?
Speaker: And through time and failure, I've learned that humble reliance on God. Don't panic. Stay confident that the Lord will deliver. And that's where I went. I called my friend Andy, who works on the videos here. And Andy said, oh, Jeff, let's see, who do we know? a boxer.
Speaker: And then I'm like wait a minute. Petey, the worship leader at our Naperville campus did a little boxing. Really did it this time. do you know that? Called Petey. And Petey's like, maybe I can help you. You need to talk to my mom.
Speaker: and And so I called Petey's mom. And Petey's mom's like, I got a friend who I think can help you. I'll give her a call. And that friend called me back and said, 930, the Harvey Boxing Club, it's reserved for you you. have the place to yourself. Shoot your film.
Speaker: Can you believe it? And I and i see that and it happens all the time. And it's just an example that God provides. God works behind the scenes to arrange things, but we need to be in a posture of humble reliance.
Speaker: ah You can go your on your own power, most do, but you will be without the divine supernatural assistance that we were made for. We were made to be dependent on God.
Speaker: Jacob a learned to cling to him. One more verse, verse 31. It says, the sun was rising as Jacob left that spot and he was limping because of the injury to his hip.
Speaker: You say, oh, poor guy. Lord, that was a costly lesson. He's now got some chronic limp. But do you know, sometimes a reminder of our weakness can serve us well. With Jacob, that limp that, assumingly, he lived with for the rest of his life was a reminder to him that he is weak, but God is strong.
Speaker: And that he was always going to be a man who allowed God to have his hand in the glove of life. He was going to rely on God's power, not his own. You know, it makes me think of Paul's thorn in the flesh. Maybe you are aware of this in the New Testament, 2 Corinthians chapter 12.
Speaker: Paul said, I got this problem in my life. He called it his thorn in his flesh. And he said, three times I begged God in prayer, take away this problem. And God said, no, Paul ain't going to do it.
Speaker: It's a reminder to you that you're weak and that you need to depend on me. And when you depend on me, God said, my power will flow in your life. So Paul goes, okay, well then I'm going to not ask for you to remove the thorn. I'm going to boast about my thorn. I can imagine...
Speaker: Jacob boasting about his limp. Yeah, I limp. It reminds me of how much I need God. Do you know, i've I've shared this before, I have panic disorder.
Speaker: I have panic attacks associated with public speaking, of all things. Doesn't happen all the time, but on a semi-regular basis, i experience a very painful internal failure.
Speaker: Freak out. I've been suffering with it for decades, and I've asked God, take it away, and God seems to say to me, no, no, that's your thorn. That's your limp. That's your reminder, Jeff, that you are weak, and you must rely on me.
Speaker: You know, Jesus spoke in John 15 about abiding in him. That's where we rely on him at all times. The the abiding passage, Jesus said, just as grape branch must stay connected to the vine or it won't produce any fruit, so we must stay connected to the Lord, clinging to him like Jacob clung to God. Only then,
Speaker: only then will our lives be fruitful. May we learn not to be dependent occasionally, but to remain constantly in a posture of humble reliance on the Lord.
Speaker: Let's pray. God, help us. Help us to need you, to realize we need you, to cling to you, There's an arrogant, cocky side to all of us that needs to be extinguished like you extinguished it in Jacob that night you wrestled with him.
Speaker: God, would you please, by your spirit, through the experiences of life, remind us of our humanity, our ordinariness, our weakness, and our need.
Speaker: And make us men, women, and children who humbly cling to you, rely on you in all things. that Let your power flow through our lives.
Speaker: We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.
Speaker: I depend on you. I depend on you. You're the way, the truth, and the lie.
Speaker: You're the will that never runs dry. I'm the branch and you are the vine.
Speaker: For the victor, oh, still in front of me. Oh,
Speaker: yes, I depend on you. Yes, I depend on you.
Speaker: the truth and the lie you're the will that never runs dry I'm the branch and you are the vine draw me close and teach me to abide be my strength my song in the night Be my all, my treasure, my prize.
Speaker: I am yours forever, you're mine. Draw me close and teach me to abide.
Speaker: never runs dry. I'm the branch and are the vine. Come in close and teach me to abide.
Speaker: Be my strength, my song in the night. Be my all, my treasure, my prize. I
Speaker: Draw me close and teach me to apply Would you teach Would you teach I depend on you
Speaker: I depend on you. depend on you. Oh, depend on you. I depend on you. I depend on you. I depend on you.
Speaker: I depend on you. I depend on you. I depend on you. I depend on you.
Speaker: I depend on you.
Speaker: Thanks for joining us today. We are so happy you set aside this time to engage in worship and scripture. If you'd like to give a donation today, you can do so right now online, right here.
Speaker: God bless you, friends. We hope this time of worship and listening to God's word nourished and filled your soul. We hope you join us again as we continue our series on Jacob. See you next week.
Speaker: d lost This completes another episode of... my
Speaker: care until next time
