*Before you start reading the sermon, I have a sound byte file of the actual sermon given Sunday morning. If you want, please leave me a comment here or on my facebook page with your email address and I will send you the file.
Have you ever thought about decisions as you make them each day? Have you ever thought about the weight of each issue as you decide one way or another? Whether or not we realize it, each moment makes a difference.
I want to tell you a story about a young man. This young man was divorced recently from his wife of a year and had gone off to the big city in order to start his life over. He had problems with women in the past, dating and finding someone who was fit for him. Soon after the divorce, he was back trying to find the hole missing in his life. He thought it was a woman so he went to different websites to try and find someone that would fill the empty place within him. Through it all, he eventually met a girl on the dating site and they conversed back and forth for about a month or two before finally deciding to meet in person. When they met, it was an instant bond. Prior to this, he did not really think the relationship would work. The next morning when it was time for him to go home, the girl was worried that she would not hear from again. The reassurance he gave and subsequent decision thereafter to attempt make the long distance relationship work. The minor decisions one after the other shaped the course of two lives.
No matter how big or small, one decision can affect the rest of the course of your life. Had I not made the commitment that morning to make the relationship work, Sherri and I would not have gotten married, had kids, neither would I have become a minister. Her influence on me made the difference on my walk with Christ. One decision can affect your whole life.
Today we are going to talk about Jacob in Genesis 32:22-32. The focus is on decisions and moments in our lives that change our lives forever, not knowing what they can do while they happen.
22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 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 the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”
29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.
I love this portion of Scripture where we see Jacob wrestling with God. There is so much more to the story than just wrestling with God. Wrestling with God however is a big part of the story because I wrestle with God all the time. As we work through this today, we’ll come back to this point.
I want to point out first that before any wrestling had occurred, Jacob made the decision to send his wives, children, servants, animals…everything he had across the river because he feared his brother Esau. He was coming back and was presenting all of his belongings as gifts to Esau for what Jacob had done 20 years earlier by stealing his birthright. To soften the blow a bit, this was the gesture he was making in hopes that Esau wouldn’t kill him.
So, Jacob made the decision to stay across the river because Jacob thought it would be a bit safer. Unfortunately, having made that decision, he was still resisting what God had told him. Even though he was on his way back to his homeland, he still doubted what God was telling him. He was resisting God at every turn. God, however, had different plans.
While Jacob was alone across the river, he was attacked by a man. It does not say what or who this man is. Most likely, it is an angel or a theophany, an appearance of Jesus before he had been incarnated. In either case, we know after daybreak that this man is indeed God even though he refused to identify himself then as well.
Prior to daybreak, Jacob probably thought he was wrestling with Esau or someone sent by him. In my mind, this is why Jacob fought so hard to defeat this man who attacked him, because it was literally a life or death struggle.
It is interesting here because Jacob was in a very dark time in his life. He had not yet made the God of his father’s Abraham and Isaac his God yet. He was resisting God at every turn and he was doing everything he could to delay doing what God wanted him to. Fear ruled his life. Jacob was walking in darkness, wrestling with God, and in a life or death struggle in his life is exactly what he was dealing with.
Jacob was a very strong man and God was having trouble breaking him on sheer physical strength, both in the wrestling match and in life. So, while wrestling, God resulted to a supernatural touch to his hip socket in order to overpower him. Jacob after this could not rely on his own strength, because God had touched him in a way that previously he had not been touched before, both physically and mentally.
After Jacob realized whom he was dealing with, he held him until he would bless him. God asks him his name and then subsequently changes it to Israel. The significance of this is the fact that had Jacob realized whom he was wrestling with; he probably would not have wrestled with him. When God touched his hip socket and day broke, Jacob then knew it was God and held on for dear life to him because without a blessing, he would crumble and fall. Jacob had been touched by God and therefore, to signify this, God changed his name to Israel, which means, “God fights”. Instead of having to fight his own battles, the nation that will become Israel, will now have God fighting their battles for them.
You see, it is here at our lowest point in our lives that we are usually wrestling with God because we think that we are safer going our path than submitting to the unknown will of God. At least when we are under our own power, we know what is going on. This is why we struggle with handing God the control of our lives.
Each individual decision that Jacob had made had a difference on his life. Had he not decided to send over his wives and possessions, would he have wrestled with God? What if Jacob had gotten to the river and said, “Man, I ain’t going through with this!” Seriously, what would have happened? The small decisions that Jacob made, made all of the difference in the world in his future.
The decisions we make on an everyday basis affect our future, but it is so hard to see way down the line 20 years at the decisions we make. The only way to relieve this is by letting go and letting God.
God touched Jacob in a way that he had never been touched before. Jacob had been stubborn and wanted to go his own way instead of God’s way. When God touches us, we can respond in two ways. 1) We can accept what He is doing and allow Him to work is Will; or 2) we can reject what God is doing and continue on our own path.
For years, the opening of “The Wide World of Sports” television program illustrated “the agony of defeat” with a painful ending to an attempted ski jump. The skier appeared in good form as he headed down the jump, but then, for no apparent reason, he tumbled head over heels off the side of the jump, bouncing off the supporting structure.
What viewers didn’t know was that he chose to fall rather than finish the jump. Why? As he explained later, the jump surface had become too fast, and midway down the ramp, he realized that if he completed the jump, he would land on the level ground, beyond the safe sloping landing area, which could have been fatal.
As it was, the skier suffered no more than a headache from the tumble.
To change one’s course in life can be a dramatic and sometimes painful undertaking, but change is better than a fatal landing at the end.
You see, like the ski jumper, Jacob had changed course in his life, perhaps saving it in the long run. Jacob allowed God in and made the choice to accept what he was saying.
Are the decisions you’re making in life affecting your future? No doubt they are…but the more important question is this: what are you doing with the touches from God? Are you allowing God to fight your battles or are you resisting at every corner like Jacob did.
When we allow God’s touch, we can be forever changed by the decision that results from His divine touch. Just like the decision in the story that led the sermon off this morning. My decision to pursue the long distance relationship forever changed my life for the better.
I want to encourage you to take a look at the decisions you’re making in life. Look at the effects years down the road and allow God’s touch to forever change your life and the lives of others around you, because God will indeed bless you.
Have you ever thought about decisions as you make them each day? Have you ever thought about the weight of each issue as you decide one way or another? Whether or not we realize it, each moment makes a difference.
I want to tell you a story about a young man. This young man was divorced recently from his wife of a year and had gone off to the big city in order to start his life over. He had problems with women in the past, dating and finding someone who was fit for him. Soon after the divorce, he was back trying to find the hole missing in his life. He thought it was a woman so he went to different websites to try and find someone that would fill the empty place within him. Through it all, he eventually met a girl on the dating site and they conversed back and forth for about a month or two before finally deciding to meet in person. When they met, it was an instant bond. Prior to this, he did not really think the relationship would work. The next morning when it was time for him to go home, the girl was worried that she would not hear from again. The reassurance he gave and subsequent decision thereafter to attempt make the long distance relationship work. The minor decisions one after the other shaped the course of two lives.
No matter how big or small, one decision can affect the rest of the course of your life. Had I not made the commitment that morning to make the relationship work, Sherri and I would not have gotten married, had kids, neither would I have become a minister. Her influence on me made the difference on my walk with Christ. One decision can affect your whole life.
Today we are going to talk about Jacob in Genesis 32:22-32. The focus is on decisions and moments in our lives that change our lives forever, not knowing what they can do while they happen.
22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 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 the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”
29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.
I love this portion of Scripture where we see Jacob wrestling with God. There is so much more to the story than just wrestling with God. Wrestling with God however is a big part of the story because I wrestle with God all the time. As we work through this today, we’ll come back to this point.
I want to point out first that before any wrestling had occurred, Jacob made the decision to send his wives, children, servants, animals…everything he had across the river because he feared his brother Esau. He was coming back and was presenting all of his belongings as gifts to Esau for what Jacob had done 20 years earlier by stealing his birthright. To soften the blow a bit, this was the gesture he was making in hopes that Esau wouldn’t kill him.
So, Jacob made the decision to stay across the river because Jacob thought it would be a bit safer. Unfortunately, having made that decision, he was still resisting what God had told him. Even though he was on his way back to his homeland, he still doubted what God was telling him. He was resisting God at every turn. God, however, had different plans.
While Jacob was alone across the river, he was attacked by a man. It does not say what or who this man is. Most likely, it is an angel or a theophany, an appearance of Jesus before he had been incarnated. In either case, we know after daybreak that this man is indeed God even though he refused to identify himself then as well.
Prior to daybreak, Jacob probably thought he was wrestling with Esau or someone sent by him. In my mind, this is why Jacob fought so hard to defeat this man who attacked him, because it was literally a life or death struggle.
It is interesting here because Jacob was in a very dark time in his life. He had not yet made the God of his father’s Abraham and Isaac his God yet. He was resisting God at every turn and he was doing everything he could to delay doing what God wanted him to. Fear ruled his life. Jacob was walking in darkness, wrestling with God, and in a life or death struggle in his life is exactly what he was dealing with.
Jacob was a very strong man and God was having trouble breaking him on sheer physical strength, both in the wrestling match and in life. So, while wrestling, God resulted to a supernatural touch to his hip socket in order to overpower him. Jacob after this could not rely on his own strength, because God had touched him in a way that previously he had not been touched before, both physically and mentally.
After Jacob realized whom he was dealing with, he held him until he would bless him. God asks him his name and then subsequently changes it to Israel. The significance of this is the fact that had Jacob realized whom he was wrestling with; he probably would not have wrestled with him. When God touched his hip socket and day broke, Jacob then knew it was God and held on for dear life to him because without a blessing, he would crumble and fall. Jacob had been touched by God and therefore, to signify this, God changed his name to Israel, which means, “God fights”. Instead of having to fight his own battles, the nation that will become Israel, will now have God fighting their battles for them.
You see, it is here at our lowest point in our lives that we are usually wrestling with God because we think that we are safer going our path than submitting to the unknown will of God. At least when we are under our own power, we know what is going on. This is why we struggle with handing God the control of our lives.
Each individual decision that Jacob had made had a difference on his life. Had he not decided to send over his wives and possessions, would he have wrestled with God? What if Jacob had gotten to the river and said, “Man, I ain’t going through with this!” Seriously, what would have happened? The small decisions that Jacob made, made all of the difference in the world in his future.
The decisions we make on an everyday basis affect our future, but it is so hard to see way down the line 20 years at the decisions we make. The only way to relieve this is by letting go and letting God.
God touched Jacob in a way that he had never been touched before. Jacob had been stubborn and wanted to go his own way instead of God’s way. When God touches us, we can respond in two ways. 1) We can accept what He is doing and allow Him to work is Will; or 2) we can reject what God is doing and continue on our own path.
For years, the opening of “The Wide World of Sports” television program illustrated “the agony of defeat” with a painful ending to an attempted ski jump. The skier appeared in good form as he headed down the jump, but then, for no apparent reason, he tumbled head over heels off the side of the jump, bouncing off the supporting structure.
What viewers didn’t know was that he chose to fall rather than finish the jump. Why? As he explained later, the jump surface had become too fast, and midway down the ramp, he realized that if he completed the jump, he would land on the level ground, beyond the safe sloping landing area, which could have been fatal.
As it was, the skier suffered no more than a headache from the tumble.
To change one’s course in life can be a dramatic and sometimes painful undertaking, but change is better than a fatal landing at the end.
You see, like the ski jumper, Jacob had changed course in his life, perhaps saving it in the long run. Jacob allowed God in and made the choice to accept what he was saying.
Are the decisions you’re making in life affecting your future? No doubt they are…but the more important question is this: what are you doing with the touches from God? Are you allowing God to fight your battles or are you resisting at every corner like Jacob did.
When we allow God’s touch, we can be forever changed by the decision that results from His divine touch. Just like the decision in the story that led the sermon off this morning. My decision to pursue the long distance relationship forever changed my life for the better.
I want to encourage you to take a look at the decisions you’re making in life. Look at the effects years down the road and allow God’s touch to forever change your life and the lives of others around you, because God will indeed bless you.
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