Surrendering to God's Wisdom

Every one of us carries scars—scars from betrayal, loss, and the sudden, senseless turns of life. We are experts at surviving pain.

But beyond the pain, we share a deeper, more modern affliction: exhaustion from striving for control.

We spend our lives trying to manage our careers, our health, our status, and our future, wearing ourselves out in the process. We believe our will is the engine of our destiny.

Think of Corrie ten Boom. After surviving the horrors of the Ravensbrück concentration camp, she traveled the world speaking about God’s forgiveness. But one day, after a talk in Munich, a man approached her. She instantly recognized him: a cruel former guard from the camp.

Her heart seized up. She knew the Christian command to forgive, but she found herself physically and spiritually incapable of generating the feeling. She was striving—trying to force her will to match the command—but all she felt was cold, dead hatred. She was exhausted from the failure of her own willpower.

The rest—the ability to act—only came when she finally surrendered the effort and asked God to make the action possible. The peace that rushed in when she finally reached out her hand was the rest that defeated a lifetime of emotional scarring and internal striving.

This is the central issue of our spiritual lives. We are worn out because we are still trying to control what God means to master.

Our text focuses on Jacob, the relentless striver.

His life was defined by conflict.

His very name, Israel, means "he who struggles with God."

From grabbing his twin brother Esau's heel at birth to manipulating his blind father for a blessing, Jacob spent a century in exhaustive conflict.

But now, years later, Jacob is on his deathbed, a frail and broken man.

Genesis 48:1–2 “Now it came about after these things that Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is sick.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him. When it was told to Jacob, “Behold, your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel collected his strength and sat up in the bed.”

He musters his last strength to sit up—not to exert one final act of control, but to perform his last, most beautiful act of faith.

This moment is his testimony: God's plan often requires an agonizing journey of struggle, but the end is always blessing and rest.

In many ways, Jacob’s story is reflective of ours.

We are spiritually exhausted because we refuse to surrender control in key areas of our lives.

This debilitating weariness flows directly from the areas where we refuse to surrender:

The Exhaustion of Certainty: Needing to know the why and the when of everything.

We exhaust ourselves with the deep-seated belief that we must control the future, needing to know the why and the when of everything, leading us to continual worry because we lack the answers.

The Exhaustion of Self-Correction: Relying on sheer willpower to fix our own flaws.

We exhaust ourselves with the idea we can fix our own flaws and spiritual coldness through sheer willpower. Instead of asking for God's help, we rely on our own strength and repeatedly fail, landing in spiritual fatigue.

The Exhaustion of Comparison: Trying to control the narrative of how others view us.

We exhaust ourselves trying to control the narrative of how others view us, measuring our progress against others, instead of Christ, only to be left with paralyzing anxiety and the fear we've been left behind.

We exhaust ourselves trying to figure out how any good can come out of our chaos...

Living in a fallen world, striving to enact our own idea of the perfect life, is an impossible task that exhausts us.

Rest and peace alludes us because we want to control the outcomes.

Main Point: We find true rest when we surrender to our Shepherd’s wisdom.

Jacob’s life of striving is coming to an end, and he finally finds the peace he longed for when he chooses to surrender.

As we face our own moments of pain and confusion, Jacob models four indispensable acts of surrender that can release us from our spiritual exhaustion.

Transition to Point I: "The first area where we must surrender is the future—the exhausting need for absolute certainty. Jacob, the old schemer, shows us we find rest when we Anchor Our Memories by Recalling God’s Covenant."

Anchor Our Memories by Recalling God’s Covenant (v. 3–7)

We often exhaust ourselves trying to predict and control the future—so we have to deal with the Exhaustion of Certainty.

Jacob defeats this exhaustion by focusing on God’s oath, not his own pain...

Rest in God's Immutability (v. 3-4)

Genesis 48:3–4 “Then Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and He said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.’”

Jacob anchors his faith in El Shaddai (God Almighty—the all-sufficient, all-powerful one).

He recalls the unbreakable promise given at Bethel.

By reciting this oath, Jacob affirms that the certainty of God's promise—His Immutability (His unchanging nature)—completely triumphs over his present reality (being near death in Egypt).

As hard as his life has been, he rests in the unchanging character of God to fulfill His promises.

This truth defeats the Exhaustion of Certainty because we don't need to know what will happen, only Who holds the future.

We can stop striving for certainty in the details and rest in the certainty of the Covenant-Maker.

Surrender Maintenance (v. 5-7)

Because Jacob is absolutely certain of God's promise, he acts on the guarantee in verse 5.

He declares Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, to be his own, legally claiming the future blessing into his present reality.

This demonstration is an act of ultimate faith...

He is so confident in God's word that he alters his family's destiny based purely on that covenant guarantee.

Jacob's certainty points us to the New Covenant, sealed by Christ’s blood, which guarantees our adoption.

The Apostle Paul states this clearly:

Romans 8:15–17 “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”

We are adopted not because we fixed ourselves or earned it, but because of grace...that grace, in Christ guarantees the promise.

This truth releases us from the Exhaustion of Maintenance...we don’t have to work to secure our future...it’s already guaranteed in Christ.

That doesn’t mean we stop applying diligence to grow in our knowledge of Him and our responsibility to put off and put on,

It means our salvation is not based on us!

By anchoring ourselves in God's Immutable covenant, we trade the frantic doing of Maintenance for the quiet knowing that our ultimate future is already guaranteed by an unchanging God.

Transition to Point II: "The knowledge that our ultimate destiny is guaranteed by an immutable God finally frees us from the anxiety of uncertainty.

This freedom opens our hearts to a deeper kind of rest: the rest that comes from stopping the exhausting battle to be better on our own.

Jacob, the former schemer, now shows us the rest found in unexpected grace as we Anchor Our Understanding in the Revelation of Grace."

Anchor Our Understanding in the Revelation of Grace (v. 8–12)

Rest in Proximity, Not Performance (v. 8, 10)

After anchoring himself in the past promise, Jacob is no longer striving to secure his future.

That stability allows him to shift his focus to the present and see the unexpected grace God is pouring out.

Genesis 48:8: “When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?””

Jacob's physical eyes are dim, but his spiritual eyes are sharp.

He is operating by faith, not physical perception.

God’s grace is not discerned through human logic or perfect physical control.

Jacob insists on the boys coming near (v. 10)

This pictures God’s desire for us to be near Him...

Unlike Jacob, God is not blind to our condition, He desires that closeness with us, that intimacy where He can display His constant care and intimacy...

Jacob’s grandsons did not have to perform to be blessed...they simply had to draw near...

Grace is simply received...

Surrender Self-Correction (v. 11-12)

Genesis 48:11: “Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your children as well.””

This is the emotional and theological peak.

Jacob had long since surrendered to the pain of Joseph’s loss.

His expectation was minimal, but God’s gift was maximal.

His heart is restored by this "more than" blessing—a whole lineage, not just a reunion.

This theological truth ends the exhausting cycle of Self-Correction.

We fail when we try to earn restoration or fix ourselves through willpower.

Grace defeats that striving by providing a blessing that exceeds our expectations and is purely unearned.

Jacob models a new way of life here.

This time, he simply received the gift; he didn't plot, barter, or work for the blessing. He found rest in the near presence of the unearned gift.

Application: Rest comes when we stop trying to fix our failures through sheer force of will.

We surrender the futile efforts of Self-Correction and embrace God’s unexpected and undeserved grace.

When we feel overwhelmed by our own flaws, we don’t need all the answers or all the self-help when we are clinging to the marvelous grace of His presence.

Transition to Point III: "We find profound rest when we rehearse God’s covenant, and even greater joy when we receive His unexpected grace.

But there is a third, crucial surrender that defeats our deepest spiritual exhaustion—the Exhaustion of Comparison: the moment we must relinquish our human logic entirely.

Jacob models the hardest surrender of all, showing us how to Anchor Our Heart to God’s Sovereign Reversals."

Anchor Our Heart to God’s Sovereign Reversals (v. 13–20)

We find rest when we rehearse God’s covenant, and even greater joy when we receive His unexpected grace.

But there is another crucial surrender that defeats our deepest spiritual exhaustion: the moment we must relinquish our human logic entirely.

Trust God Even When It Seems His Plan is Illogical (v. 13, 17-19).

This is the hardest surrender: letting go of our own reasoning when God’s plan seems entirely backwards.

Genesis 48:14 “But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands, although Manasseh was the firstborn.”

Genesis 48:17 “When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him; and he grasped his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.”

Joseph attempts to manage the blessing. He positions the boys according to the predictable rule: Manasseh (the elder) for the chief blessing.

This is the posture of Comparison: looking at the "firstborn" (the better-positioned, the more logical choice) and expecting God to follow that established hierarchy.

Jacob deliberately reverses the order, crossing his hands to place the superior right hand on Ephraim (the younger).

Joseph tries to correct his father, but Jacob’s response is the mantra of surrender: “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people... Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he.”

God’s unconventional choices are always perfect and final, regardless of how we measure up to others.

God frequently chooses the younger, the unlikely, and the unexpected (like Ephraim) to display His power.

Jacob knew what he was doing...It was this act of faith the writer of Hebrews chose to record in the hall of faith...

Hebrews 11:21 “By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.”

God's unconventional choices are always perfect and final, regardless of how we measure up to others or how they measure up to us.

God frequently chooses the younger, the unlikely, and the unexpected (like Ephraim) to display His power.

By prophetic inspiration Jacob knew that God would bless the younger son in the greater way.

The historical record verified that. After the kingdom was divided, the tribe of Ephraim became the leading force in the northern kingdom of ten tribes.

In fact, many times God refers to the northern kingdom simply as Ephraim (2 Chr 25:7; Is 7:5).

By grace, Jacob is now doing what God wants him to do with his life...Jacob finally sees God’s plan unfolding.

He rests with confidence in God’s plans even when they defy human logic.

Surrender Comparison (v. 15–16)

Jacob's ability to defy human logic stems entirely from his trust. Before the blessing, he invokes God as the Shepherd:

Genesis 48:15–16 “He blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, The angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; And may my name live on in them, And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.””

This declaration is the foundation of his surrender. He can trust the "illogical plan” because he trusts the constant care of the Shepherd. He knows the ultimate result is safety, even if the method is confusing.

Application: When we fully relinquish control and accept God's Sovereign Reversals, we defeat the Exhaustion of Comparison.

The constant striving to justify our life or manipulate outcomes ceases because we accept that God's choices are final and perfect, regardless of how we measure up to others.

When His will feels illogical or even painful, we surrender our demands for clarity and trust He knows what He is doing.

Jacob is so confident in God’s plan, he gives Joseph a double blessing...

48:21. Using the name Israel, Jacob declared to Joseph that he was about to die but that he believed God would be with Joseph and take him back to the promised land.

The Hebrew word for you and your is in the plural.

Like Jacob, Joseph would return to the land after his death. But his descendants would return to the land en masse four hundred years later.

48:22. Joseph was also given a double portion of the land.

This is clearly stated in 1 Chronicles 5:1: “The sons of Reuben … his rights as firstborn were given to the sons of Joseph.”

This occurred because Jacob saw him as one who is over your brothers.

Joseph was not the oldest son of Jacob, but he was used to provide for the rest of the family as the oldest son often did.

As a result Jacob gave him the ridge of land that he took from the Amorites...

Transition to Point IV: "Jacob modeled surrender well: He remembers God's promise, he receives His grace, and he relinquishes his logic to the Shepherd's illogical plan.

But where did the power come from to make that final, painful surrender?

It doesn't flow from Jacob's willpower; it flows entirely from the ultimate act of God's grace...the finished, perfect work of the Great Shepherd.

The final act of surrender is to Anchor Our Souls in the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ."

Anchor Our Souls in the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ

Jacob looked back at the Shepherd who had guided him; we look forward to the Shepherd who is our rest.

48:15–20.

Genesis 48:15 “He blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,”

Genesis 48:16 “The angel who has redeemed me from all evil...

Look at how Jacob called upon God....

The God of the covenant

The God who had been his Shepherd

The Angel who delivered him from all harm...

The Hebrew word translated “delivered,” expressed the protection and reclamation Jacob experienced from trouble.

With these remarkable descriptions of God, Jacob prayed for God’s gracious blessing on the boys. Here one catches a glimpse of Jacob’s faith, setting an example for us...

Rest in the Ultimate Sovereign Reversal: Justification

The reversals we saw in Jacob's life were only a shadow of the ultimate, divine reversal accomplished in Christ.

This single act of faith provides the rest we so desperately long for...

2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB95

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

In a very real sense, we are the ultimate "Ephraim"—the undeserving, the unrighteous.

Yet, in Christ, God reversed so many aspects of our life...explain (our status, our nature, our destiny, our minds,)

He bore our sin, so we could become His righteousness.

All our striving for righteousness apart from Him is futile...our justification before God is guaranteed in His Son, not our efforts...Romans 5:1: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

Surrender the Heavy Yoke: The Guaranteed Invitation

Because our standing is secured by the ultimate reversal (justification), the Great Shepherd extends an invitation that is a statement of guaranteed fact, not a hopeful wish...He guarantees peace and rest...

Matthew 11:28–30 NASB95

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Are we weary spiritually today because, we are trying to carry a load Christ has already borne?

Because of Christ, we are guaranteed a far greater weight of glory that gives us an eternal perspective of our earthly suffering...

2 Corinthians 4:17 NASB95

For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,

Application: The full acceptance of Christ's finished work provides both earthly and eternal rest.

Our value and destiny are no longer determined by our performance or logic, but by the finished, perfect work of the Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep.

Lesson for Life: We Can Trust Our Shepherd

Jacob, a man defined by struggle, found his final, lasting rest in weakness, not strength. His final act was not to complain about his pain or exert his will, but to pass on a covenant of hope.

We must finally cease the exhausting striving by surrendering the yoke of our efforts:

We surrender the yoke of Certainty by Rehearsing the Covenant.

We surrender the yoke of Self-Correction by Receiving Grace.

We surrender the yoke of Comparison by Trusting God's Sovereign Reversals.

We surrender the yoke of Self-Justification by Resting in Christ's Finished Work.

When confusion or pain hits, stop trying to make sense of our “Manasseh moments”— the expected blessing or logical path that God chose to bypass.

Instead, surrender your human logic and embrace the truth revealed fully in Christ:

“My destiny is determined by the sovereign, loving choice of the God who has been my Shepherd all my life, and fully revealed in Christ. I will surrender my why for His Who, and thereby find true rest."