The Struggle is Real (Gen 25:19-26)

Sermon Outline for Genesis 25:19-26

Theological Proposition: God’s sovereign purposes often unfold through struggle. Sermon Purpose: To encourage hearers to trust God’s sovereign plan, even when life is marked by delay, pain, or unexpected struggles. Homiletical Proposition: Trust God’s plan, even in the struggle.

Introduction:

Image: Like the opening of the Disney Pixar film Up, sometimes our dreams in life are interrupted by so many different challenges and struggles. In the end, we’re left holding shattered dreams that never came true.

Need: We all face hardships in life, that don’t align with our plan – or what we think God’s plan should be.

Homiletical Subject: How do we trust God in the midst of our struggles?

Passage Context: Genesis 25 explores the idea of God working out his grand plan, yet struggle and conflict are right there with it.  

Message Preview: First, we’ll see that God has a plan, second that the plan often coexists with struggle, and lastly how to trust God’s plan during our struggles.

Announce & Read Text: Turn with me to Genesis 25:19-26.

(Transition statement: First, let’s look at how this story reminds us that God has a plan—a grand design that He’s been unfolding long before the struggle ever shows up.)

I. God is working out His plan. (v19-23,26)

A. God continues his plan established in Abraham through Isaac. (v19) (Illus. ---)

B. God plan persists with the creation of two might nations from Isaac. (v23)

C. [MTR} God is always working out His plan

D. His plan differs from the cultural norm; “the younger will serve the older”. (v23)

(Transition statement: But here’s the tension: just because God has a plan doesn’t mean the path is easy. In fact, what we find next is that God’s plan often runs right alongside real, painful struggle.)

II. God’s plan co-exists with earthly struggle. (v21-26)

A. Isaac and Rebekah had to struggle with 20 years of bareness. (21,26)

B. Despite conceiving, there is still struggle in Rebekah’s birth. (v22)

C. God’s plan co-exists with earthly struggle (Illus. Even when God gives us the desires of our heart – we often find its still not “happily ever after”.)

(Transition statement: So we see that God has a plan, but struggle is right there with it. So what do we do when the struggle is part of the story? When we’ve waited, we’ve cried, and life still feels heavy, what are we supposed to do? That’s where we turn to the final truth in this passage—we learn to trust God’s plan in the midst of the struggle.)

III. Trust God’s plan, even in the struggle.

A. Seek the Lord when you face struggles.

1. Isaac “pleads” with God about his wife’s barrenness. (v21)

2. Rebekah “goes to seek” God when she doesn’t understand her struggle. (v22)

B. In struggle, Receive God’s word… even when it defies the cultural norm. (v23) (Illus. The cultural norm says to turn to dating apps when you can’t find a spouse. The cultural norm says to turn to pornography when you feel unloved. The cultural norm says to cut people off when they hurt you, not forgive them. The cultural norm says to deconstruct your faith when life gets hard, not to press into God. The cultural norm says to protect your comfort at all cost, not to carry a cross.)

C. Trust God’s plan, even in the struggle.

Conclusion:

Repeat the HP verbatim: Trust God’s plan, even in the struggle.

Reinforce the message: Remember that struggle is coming. It exists in this world that we ruined. But God is working out his plan, even in the midst of our struggles. Even if it’s hard to see, he is doing something in this world, he is doing something in this universe, and he is doing something in your life and in mine. When struggle comes, don't abandon hope that God is working in your life. His plan isn't struggle avoidant, it co-exists with us, in the midst of our struggles. As we we encounter struggles in our lives – trust his plan. Trust him through prayer, trust his word. and wait on him to work out his perfect plan, in his perfect timing..

Manuscript:

Have you ever noticed how life rarely unfolds the way we expect? If you’ve ever seen Disney Pixar’s UP, it demonstrates this beautifully. It starts with this beautiful montage of a couple’s life together—young love, shared dreams, the hope of children, the adventure they plan to go on together. But over time, hardship after hardship invade this beautiful life. Infertility. Financial setbacks. Loss. And in the end, the big adventure never comes. What this coup left with is this haunting picture of dreams unfulfilled, plans unraveled, and a man holding the pieces of a story that didn’t go the way he hoped.

And the reason that scene hits viewers so hard - that’s not just a movie, is it? That’s us.

We all know what it’s like to dream, to plan, to pray—and then to struggle. Maybe it’s the career path that never quite opened up. A relationship that ended in heartbreak. The prayers for healing or provision that still seem unanswered. Life is filled with moments where our expectations collide with reality—and it’s painful.

But here’s the deeper struggle: what do we do with that pain as believers? How do we make sense of hardship when we believe in a good, sovereign God? How do we walk with Him and trust when life doesn’t go as planned.

That’s the question I want us to wrestle with this morning: How do we trust God’s plan in the midst of our struggles?

We’re going to look at a passage in Genesis that might be unfamiliar to some of you—Genesis 25:19–26. It’s a snapshot of Isaac and Rebekah’s life. It’s the kind of passage you might skim past on your way to Jacob and Esau’s rivalry or the bigger drama later in Genesis. But if you pause and really look, it’s a powerful story about how God works his plan through the hard parts of life, not around them.

Let’s read Genesis 25:19–26 together.

The first thing I want us to see is that God is working out his plan. Our passage opens with, “These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham fathered Isaac.” This might be one of those verses we're tempted to pass over. But it’s actually packed with significance. In Hebrew, it literally says, “These are the generations of Isaac, son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac.” It’s repetitive—on purpose. I think it's trying drawing our attention to something: God is working out His plan.

This line reminds us of a key promise made to Abraham back in Genesis 12. Let me give you the backstory. Genesis 1–11 shows humanity rebelling against God and trying to build their own kingdoms. But in Genesis 12, God intervenes. He calls Abraham and says, “I’m choosing you. I will bless the world through you.” This is a radical restart of God’s kingdom plan.

But—there’s a problem. Abraham is old and has no kids. So in Genesis 15, God promises him a son. Spoiler alert: Isaac is that son. So when we read, “Abraham fathered Isaac,” it’s a loud confirmation that God is doing what He said He would do. He has a plan, and he’s working it out.

And the story continues. In this chapter, God provides children for Isaac, just like He did for Abraham. He’s continuing His plan. In verse 23, God tells Rebekah, “Two nations are in your womb.” One couple, two nations—God uses ordinary people to birth huge things. He is working out his plan in the mundane.

But here's the thing: God’s plan doesn’t always look how we expect. Sometimes it even defies cultural norms. Verse 23 says, “The older shall serve the younger.” That was radically countercultural. The firstborn always received the inheritance. But God’s word overturns the norm—and it still does today . God’s ways don’t always align with the world’s ways, but he has a plan and is working it out. And he uses people to fulfil this plan.

 So first, this story shows us that God has a plan and is working out. But the second thing we see in this story is that God’s plan coexists with earthly struggle.

Look at verse 21. God promises to make Abraham a mighty nation—but now we’re told his daughter-in-law is barren. The promise is immediately met with an obstacle. Isn’t that how it goes in our lives too? We step into a ministry we feel called to… and face opposition. We get the job we prayed for… and our boss is a nightmare. We long for marriage… and face rejection. Life rarely unfolds without struggle.

So often we have we have dreams and hopes and expectations - and maybe even feel like these align with Gods plan for our lives - but things just aren't working out. Thats exactly what we see in this story. And take note, this wasn’t a short struggle. Verse 26 says Isaac was 60 when the twins were born. They got married at 40. That’s 20 years of barrenness. So, while this story in the bible resolves in less than10 verses, Isaac and Rebekah’s infertility lasted 20 years. Often times, our expectations and timelines don’t go the way we want.

And even when they finally did conceive, there was STILL struggle. Verse 22 says the children "struggled" within Rebekah, and she asks, “If it is thus, why this me?” It’s an odd Hebrew phrase, but it captures a feeling we all know very well. “God, if this is your plan… why is it happening like this? Why is it so hard?”

 And we often ask this question. Sometimes it even leads us to doubt God’s plan, or think we’re missing his plan. why cant it be easier? Struggle doesn’t mean you’re outside God’s will. We often assume that if we obey, things should go smoothly. But God’s plan unfolds in the struggle—not in its absence. He doesn’t remove the hardship; He blesses us through it.

And you might ask why?” Why does God do this, or allow it? And that’s a really good question. It's not one that I have time to answer in a 15-minute sermon. But rather, what I want us to land on is - how do we trust God’s plan in the midst of the struggle? Because we often wont know the “why” to why God is allowing struggle to come in to our lives. But we do get some things we should do when it does.

This story gives us two ways to trust God even when it’s hard. The first is that, when we face struggle, we’re called to seek the Lord. Verse 21: Isaac “pleaded” with God. Verse 22: Rebekah “went to seek the Lord.” Literally, “she walked to seek Him.” That’s our call as well— to plead, seek, pray. It might not resolve overnight—remember, they waited 20 years. But we seek the Lord and wait on Him, trusting His greater plan.

And the second thing is, we trust His Word...even when it defies the culture. Rebekah heard God’s message and believed it. Later in Genesis, we’ll see her treat Jacob as the favored son—because she believed what God said, even though it overturned expectations. We need that same trust. We need to trust in the word of God, even when it goes against the cultural norms. When we feel lonely, we don’t turn to quick fixes—we trust that God is enough. When we feel unloved, we don’t numb ourselves with sin—we trust that we are deeply loved children. When we wrestle with generosity, we don’t follow the world’s “get yours” mentality—we trust God’s promise to provide. Even when it’s hard, even when it goes against what the world says makes sense—we trust God’s word.

So as we close: first, remember that struggle is coming. It exists in this world that we ruined. But God is working out his plan, even in the midst of our struggles. Even if it’s hard to see, he is doing something in this world, he is doing something in this universe, and he is doing something in your life and in mine. When struggle comes, don't abandon hope that God is working in your life. His plan isn't struggle avoidant, it co-exists with us, in the midst of our struggles. As we we encounter struggles in our lives – trust his plan. Trust him through prayer, trust his word. and wait on him to work out his perfect plan, in his perfect timing.