In the Dirt Wrestling with God

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Justin & Krista hosting an 8-week study of the Creation account in Genesis

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You were not meant to just “get by” or survive…

Bishop Tony Miller: (Journey to Significance) There is a Divine Dissatisfaction deep within every man and women trying to shake you awake… “You were meant for more than just Status Quo living!”

Jacob Rolls in the Dirt with God

Genesis 32:22–32 “The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. “So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh.”

WWF in the 1980’s: Growing up holiness there were a lot of shows I was not allowed to watch (He-Man, Smurfs, believe it or not even Care Bears!)…but one show that seemed to be acceptable back then was the amazing Worldwide Wrestling Federation (WWF)… I grew up on names like Hulk Hogan,” Macho Man" Randy Savage, André the Giant, ”Rowdy" Roddy Piper, The Iron Sheik, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, “The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Sgt. Slaughter, and my favorite "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. Me and my brothers would go outside (that’s when we let kids play outside) and wrestle in the dirt…pretending we were our favorite wrestler…come back to the house covered in dirt, but no doubt proud of the size of our muscles and impressive wrestling moves…

*I’m not sure I would want to get in the ring with the late Hulk Hogan, but Jacob somehow finds himself in a wrestling match with God!

In Scripture, Jacob is the story of the Two Halves of Life

Jacob’s life is divided by this moment right here in Gen. 32

The first half of his life he is a negotiator, a manipulator, a contender, a fighter, and a deceiver (Name: Jacob).

The second half of his life he is humble, a servant, surrendered, fulfilled, and confident in God’s Promises (Name: Israel).

[Spiritual Truth] There is a process for all of us where we have to wrestle with the habits, attitudes, and thinking that keep us from becoming the man or woman God has called us to be….All of us have to come through the First Half of Life…no one gets a pass!

We don’t get to avoid the trials.

We don’t get to avoid the mistakes.

We often have to do it wrong, hit a few curbs, be an idiot sometimes to finally figure out that I really don’t know what I’m doing!

[Spiritual Truth] We all have to wrestle through our mistakes, failures, and arrogance…but we don’t have to stay there! If we’re willing, God has provided a path to Purpose, Calling, Contentment, and Fulfillment.

*but here’s the catch…all God’s promises and provision is yours, but your’e gonna have to wrestle for it!

That’s how boys settle their issues, they just scrap it out…they’re not like girls…little girls are just smarter than boys…they will find a way to torture you…slander you…say that one thing that cuts to the bone…. Boys just have it out in the dirt! Then it’s over.

Avoiding a Fight

Confession from a pastor: I told my daughter to punch anyone who tries to bully her! Anna had some trouble with a girl in early middle school…we tried to talk her through deescalation skills, ignoring her, looping in the teacher and principle…but it persisted. Finally one day I told her, “If that girls back you into a corner and tries to hurt you I want you to do 2 things…(1) as loud as you can I want you to scream GET AWAY FROM ME, and then (2) I want you to punch her right in the throat!”

The problem is that most of us have built a life that helps us bury the pain, bury our problems, and bury our sin so we don’t have to face it.

We numb ourselves into believing this is all there is for us in the world…we settle for less than God’s best.

Our face-paced, loud culture is built to numb the pain and keep us distracted from what is real.

Because we’re distracted we end up using up our energy getting angry and up in arms about the wrong things!

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2 Things the Enemy Wants to Steal: Your Identity and Your Purpose

Identity - how you label, describe, and define yourself as a person

Purpose - what you do with the life you’ve been given

Identity:

Genesis 32:5–8 “I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.’ ” And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.” Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, thinking, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.””

Until you get clear on who’s you are you can’t understand who you are, and you will live in a perpetual loop of confusion, discouragement, and fear.

Jacob is wrestling with his identity because he’s still trying to define hisself rather than let God tell him who is was created to be.

That’s why identity issues are such a bid deal in the church….it’s not about politics…it’s about discovering who you are in Christ rather than deciding who you think you are.

Romans 8:29–30 “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

Genesis 1:26–27 “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Purpose:

Genesis 32:12 “But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ””

Hears what God actually said: Genesis 31:3 “Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.””

anyone ever have your kids repeat back to you something you said, but when they say it it sounds a whole lot different??!!…there’s a lot of “interpretation” and “filling in the gaps”

Because Jacob can’t get settled on his identity, he continues to misrepresent God and misrepresent his own purpose.

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

There were (actually) Three fighters wrestling in the dirt that night at Peniel

Jacob - who knew in his gut that God had more for him than a life of manipulation and striving

God - who was calling Jacob to become the man he was meant to be

Jacob’s Old Self - the same old self that kept Jacob in cycles of fear and frustration for years (sinful habits, lies of the devil)

God was not wrestling against Jacob…God and Jacob were wrestling down the old man, the flesh nature (as Paul calls it)…the manipulator, the negotiator, the striver…

Genesis 32:25 “When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.”

One of the most important things I’ve learned from coaches in strength training is that effort you get out of your lifts doesn’t come from raw muscle strength…it comes from the hip…it’s the place of your greatest strength…the fulcrum that you use to get the maximum output from any lift.

God wasn’t trying to keep something from Jacob…he just knew that power and strength and striving could not get him where he wanted to go…so he touched him at the place of his perceived strength (hip socket) so that Jacob could learn this…

[Spiritual truth] The only way to be fulfilled in life is to become fully dependent on the grace of Jesus Christ.

Jacob wasn’t wrestling against God…God was wrestling with Jacob against his false self…against living a status quo life!

What part of your old self, your false self are you still wrestling?

Bring that to Jesus and let him defeat that stronghold in your life.

God has called you a son/daughter of God, now its time to live that way!