WEBVTT 00:00:02.040 --> 00:00:05.919 Howdy Now I gotta tell y 'all There's a gate 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:08.460 that's right over here. It's by the playground. 00:00:08.679 --> 00:00:12.080 Okay, it's over near the preschool It is this 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:16.600 this lock that's on there. Okay? Every time I 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:20.179 go up to it I have the key for this lock and 00:00:20.179 --> 00:00:23.320 I put it in there and I am trying to go ahead 00:00:23.320 --> 00:00:28.679 and get it open and it does not turn Almost every 00:00:28.679 --> 00:00:32.509 single time I put the key in there. I try it. 00:00:32.509 --> 00:00:38.890 One, two, three, four, ten, fifteen times. And 00:00:38.890 --> 00:00:42.969 the key will not open that lock. If I've been 00:00:42.969 --> 00:00:45.310 trying that that many times, you're probably 00:00:45.310 --> 00:00:51.210 wondering, is it the right key? And then it turns. 00:00:53.010 --> 00:00:55.609 And that's the thing about this. I know that 00:00:55.609 --> 00:00:58.090 I've got the right key in my hand. And I have 00:00:58.090 --> 00:01:00.950 been trying it, but it's old. It's a little bit 00:01:00.950 --> 00:01:04.250 worn. And you just got to keep jiggling. But 00:01:04.250 --> 00:01:07.629 the reason I keep trying is because I know it's 00:01:07.629 --> 00:01:12.349 the right key. And you know, it fits. It belongs 00:01:12.349 --> 00:01:14.230 there. And you got to just keep trying. You got 00:01:14.230 --> 00:01:17.370 to just keep turning. Just hold on for one more 00:01:17.370 --> 00:01:21.989 day until it finally clicks. You know, we do 00:01:21.989 --> 00:01:26.250 this all the time, everyday life. Maybe it's 00:01:26.250 --> 00:01:29.709 when you're showing up for your kids. It feels 00:01:29.709 --> 00:01:32.750 like you're not getting through, but you still 00:01:32.750 --> 00:01:36.310 keep doing what it is that you know they need 00:01:36.310 --> 00:01:40.329 from you. Or maybe you're at work, and you're 00:01:40.329 --> 00:01:44.209 trying to do right by someone. They're not responding 00:01:44.209 --> 00:01:46.510 the way that you hope, but you know you've got 00:01:46.510 --> 00:01:50.450 to keep coming up to them with kindness, patience, 00:01:51.510 --> 00:01:54.549 hoping that they'll finally respond well. And 00:01:54.549 --> 00:01:56.969 it's the same thing that Jesus is talking about 00:01:56.969 --> 00:02:00.849 in Luke 18 is the story of the persistent widow 00:02:00.849 --> 00:02:05.530 who keeps coming before the unjust judge. You 00:02:05.530 --> 00:02:10.280 know, this feeling where this judge should be 00:02:10.280 --> 00:02:13.400 doing the right thing, but for whatever reason, 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:17.659 won't. And finally, she doesn't stop because 00:02:17.659 --> 00:02:20.300 she believes there's something, just something 00:02:20.300 --> 00:02:23.860 right that's worth clinging to. Until finally, 00:02:24.520 --> 00:02:28.699 the judge gives in. Not because it's right, but 00:02:28.699 --> 00:02:32.900 because he's just tired of this person. We understand 00:02:32.900 --> 00:02:35.219 that kind of persistence when it comes to people. 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:37.879 But when it comes to God, do we really believe 00:02:37.879 --> 00:02:41.460 it? Do we really believe that He's going to respond, 00:02:41.479 --> 00:02:45.680 that He cares for us, that He delights in what's 00:02:45.680 --> 00:02:48.560 good and right, and that He actually wants us 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:52.120 to keep asking to keep turning to Him and to 00:02:52.120 --> 00:02:57.120 keep clinging to Him? See, we may see what it 00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:01.740 is to do this in everyday life, where you know 00:03:01.740 --> 00:03:04.340 that if you're persistent, maybe you can try 00:03:04.340 --> 00:03:07.009 to finally get what it is that you want. You 00:03:07.009 --> 00:03:09.349 know those times when the kids, they know which 00:03:09.349 --> 00:03:11.949 parent to go to? And the one that's going to 00:03:11.949 --> 00:03:18.449 give in? Oh yeah, yeah. Sorry mom. Or we know 00:03:18.449 --> 00:03:20.610 that you don't bother going to the other one 00:03:20.610 --> 00:03:22.689 because they're going to say no. That you go 00:03:22.689 --> 00:03:24.930 to the one that's going to say yes. You know 00:03:24.930 --> 00:03:28.090 which door is going to open and you just keep 00:03:28.090 --> 00:03:29.889 pushing them until you know that they're going 00:03:29.889 --> 00:03:34.270 to say yes. Maybe even at work. You know, somebody 00:03:34.270 --> 00:03:38.189 knows that this manager or this coworker will 00:03:38.189 --> 00:03:40.250 eventually give them what they want. They're 00:03:40.250 --> 00:03:43.250 not really nervous about asking, even though 00:03:43.250 --> 00:03:46.750 it is a bad idea and everybody knows it. They 00:03:46.750 --> 00:03:49.689 know that if they go to this one person, they'll 00:03:49.689 --> 00:03:52.250 be able to get it. You don't need to justify 00:03:52.250 --> 00:03:55.770 it, tiptoe around it. They just ask because they 00:03:55.770 --> 00:04:00.110 know persistence works in this way. They know 00:04:00.110 --> 00:04:03.289 how to work the system. In the world, we believe 00:04:03.289 --> 00:04:06.990 in persistence. We believe in negotiation, effort, 00:04:07.210 --> 00:04:10.009 repetition. But when it comes to God, we start 00:04:10.009 --> 00:04:14.310 to wonder, is God even listening? Am I saying 00:04:14.310 --> 00:04:18.069 it right? Did I get the right combination for 00:04:18.069 --> 00:04:21.310 God to be listening? You know, that's where we 00:04:21.310 --> 00:04:24.709 get confused about the lock. See, sometimes we 00:04:24.709 --> 00:04:28.649 treat prayer like a combination lock. We keep 00:04:28.649 --> 00:04:31.209 entering what we think is the right combination. 00:04:31.550 --> 00:04:34.569 Over and over, we wonder if we're doing it wrong. 00:04:34.769 --> 00:04:36.910 So then sometimes, you know, you change up the 00:04:36.910 --> 00:04:38.810 order because you're thinking, well, it should 00:04:38.810 --> 00:04:42.529 have worked. I should have gotten it open. But 00:04:42.529 --> 00:04:45.550 you see, God is not a combination lock. He's 00:04:45.550 --> 00:04:47.930 not waiting for us to say the right words or 00:04:47.930 --> 00:04:50.709 to perform the perfect formula. He's not looking 00:04:50.709 --> 00:04:55.389 for a right combination because He is the key. 00:04:56.170 --> 00:04:59.250 And He invites us to keep clinging to Him, not 00:04:59.250 --> 00:05:03.310 because we figured Him out to get what we want, 00:05:03.930 --> 00:05:08.110 but because we trust Him. And that is what brings 00:05:08.110 --> 00:05:12.170 us to Jacob today. The man who literally wrestled 00:05:12.170 --> 00:05:15.970 with God. Jacob spends the entire night grappling 00:05:15.970 --> 00:05:21.170 with a mysterious figure, a man, the Hebrew says. 00:05:22.050 --> 00:05:27.459 Though it's clear, this is no ordinary man. Jacob 00:05:27.459 --> 00:05:32.199 is about to see his brother Esau years after 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:35.160 he had deceived him and stolen his birthright. 00:05:35.639 --> 00:05:38.360 And he does not know what is about to happen. 00:05:38.740 --> 00:05:42.519 And a man comes along. How else do you think 00:05:42.519 --> 00:05:45.920 he is feeling at this moment but anxious and 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:50.019 willing to take on anyone? And he wrestles all 00:05:50.019 --> 00:05:53.920 night long. and he refuses to let go. Even when 00:05:53.920 --> 00:05:56.800 his hip is thrown out of joint and Jacob still 00:05:56.800 --> 00:05:59.980 clings to him and says, I will not let you go 00:05:59.980 --> 00:06:06.660 unless you bless me. That's faith. Not the tidy, 00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:09.759 polite faith that we're supposed to have after 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:14.879 confirmation, but desperate clinging faith. The 00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:16.639 faith that says, I don't understand everything, 00:06:17.420 --> 00:06:20.959 but I'm not letting go of you. And the limp that 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:24.300 Jacob carries afterward because his testimony 00:06:24.300 --> 00:06:28.699 is what it becomes. Every step he takes from 00:06:28.699 --> 00:06:32.220 then on reminds him of that night of the struggle, 00:06:32.300 --> 00:06:38.819 the pain, the encounter, and the blessing. See, 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:42.620 the Hebrew that's in there, it simply says ish, 00:06:42.980 --> 00:06:47.079 aleph, yod, shin, ish, a man, that's it. But 00:06:47.079 --> 00:06:50.790 the identity, it unfolds itself. because Jacob 00:06:50.790 --> 00:06:54.810 later says, I have seen God face to face and 00:06:54.810 --> 00:06:59.649 yet my life is preserved. This is why many interpreters 00:06:59.649 --> 00:07:03.069 understand that this is a theophany, a revelation 00:07:03.069 --> 00:07:06.970 of God, a visible appearance of God, the angel 00:07:06.970 --> 00:07:09.709 of the Lord who represents God's presence in 00:07:09.709 --> 00:07:14.209 a tangible form. You see, others, they see the 00:07:14.209 --> 00:07:17.329 outward expression of his inner struggle. with 00:07:17.329 --> 00:07:20.730 his brother, with his father, who didn't love 00:07:20.730 --> 00:07:23.470 him the same way as his older brother, his uncle, 00:07:23.649 --> 00:07:26.069 who took advantage of him with his wife. And 00:07:26.069 --> 00:07:30.509 now, with God Himself, He's always wrestled to 00:07:30.509 --> 00:07:33.870 control His own destiny. And now, He has met 00:07:33.870 --> 00:07:38.129 the one that He cannot actually manipulate, and 00:07:38.129 --> 00:07:43.629 He won't give up. And Hosea 12 says, He strove 00:07:43.629 --> 00:07:47.470 with the angel and prevailed, and wept. and sought 00:07:47.470 --> 00:07:52.110 His favor. This wrestling match with the angel, 00:07:52.790 --> 00:07:54.990 a representative of God's will and blessing, 00:07:55.509 --> 00:08:00.410 God has met Jacob in the struggle. He is in the 00:08:00.410 --> 00:08:03.990 middle of it. It's not peace. It is not comfort. 00:08:04.350 --> 00:08:09.110 It is confrontation and communion with God at 00:08:09.110 --> 00:08:12.730 the same time. And let's be honest, we know what 00:08:12.730 --> 00:08:14.689 it's like to wrestle with something that just 00:08:14.689 --> 00:08:18.829 won't change. We see something wrong in our life, 00:08:18.930 --> 00:08:21.850 in our world. We know it's not the way that it's 00:08:21.850 --> 00:08:25.589 supposed to be. We ache for the change, but nothing 00:08:25.589 --> 00:08:30.009 changes. But then sometimes we just stop praying. 00:08:31.110 --> 00:08:35.909 We stop believing. We stop wrestling. That's 00:08:35.909 --> 00:08:39.470 the thing about human nature. Journey may say, 00:08:39.690 --> 00:08:43.210 don't stop believing, and yet we oftentimes do. 00:08:44.280 --> 00:08:47.259 It's like that line from The Terminator, not 00:08:47.259 --> 00:08:52.960 the I'll be back. But rather, it's in your nature 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:58.360 to destroy yourselves. For a world that knows 00:08:58.360 --> 00:09:02.860 what AI can do and still pursues it, we do that 00:09:02.860 --> 00:09:07.139 spiritually, giving up on the very things that 00:09:07.139 --> 00:09:10.480 keep us alive because we didn't get what we wanted 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:14.259 when we wanted it. we quit going back to the 00:09:14.259 --> 00:09:18.700 one who can bless us. But God calls us to keep 00:09:18.700 --> 00:09:22.059 clinging because when the path is revealed, when 00:09:22.059 --> 00:09:27.539 the blessing does come, we'll know it was only 00:09:27.539 --> 00:09:32.860 His doing, not ours. But you know, there's something 00:09:32.860 --> 00:09:36.360 funny in this passage. You see, when we read 00:09:36.360 --> 00:09:41.000 our English translation, we read, the man saw 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:44.960 that he did not prevail against Jacob. Did you 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:48.220 know that's not what the Hebrew says? What it 00:09:48.220 --> 00:09:53.419 actually says is, when he saw that he did not 00:09:53.419 --> 00:09:58.460 prevail against him. It doesn't tell us who he 00:09:58.460 --> 00:10:03.120 is. Who is he? Who is him? Is it the man who 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:05.620 couldn't prevail against Jacob? Or is it actually 00:10:05.620 --> 00:10:08.019 Jacob who realized he couldn't prevail against 00:10:08.019 --> 00:10:13.870 the man? Both masculine. If it's the first, if 00:10:13.870 --> 00:10:16.029 it's that the man couldn't prevail against Jacob, 00:10:16.090 --> 00:10:20.669 which we oftentimes assume, then it shows the 00:10:20.669 --> 00:10:23.590 tenacity of Jacob's faith. He simply refuses 00:10:23.590 --> 00:10:26.789 to let go until God blesses him. But what if 00:10:26.789 --> 00:10:31.350 it were the second? What if Jacob realized he 00:10:31.350 --> 00:10:35.190 could not prevail against the man? Because then 00:10:35.190 --> 00:10:40.779 that's the moment of surrender. when Jacob realizes 00:10:40.779 --> 00:10:45.600 he cannot win by his own power, and he finally 00:10:45.600 --> 00:10:51.419 clings in dependence on God. Because either way, 00:10:51.480 --> 00:10:54.580 faith looks the same. The moment that you know 00:10:54.580 --> 00:11:01.179 you cannot win, but you still won't let go. When 00:11:01.179 --> 00:11:04.539 the man touches Jacob's hip and dislocates it, 00:11:05.179 --> 00:11:08.299 it's not an act of cruelty, it's consecration. 00:11:09.070 --> 00:11:11.929 Because a single touch from God is enough to 00:11:11.929 --> 00:11:16.549 remind Jacob that he is not God's equal. The 00:11:16.549 --> 00:11:19.149 limp is his testimony for the rest of his life. 00:11:19.309 --> 00:11:25.389 I met God and I lived. Because that wound, it's 00:11:25.389 --> 00:11:30.289 not a punishment. It's transformation. It's breaking 00:11:30.289 --> 00:11:35.110 the reliance upon yourself. Jacob cannot run 00:11:35.110 --> 00:11:40.399 anymore. He can't fight, he can only cling. The 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:43.659 one who used his cunning and his control throughout 00:11:43.659 --> 00:11:48.519 his life must now depend entirely on grace. And 00:11:48.519 --> 00:11:51.500 through that weakness, God gives him a new name, 00:11:52.019 --> 00:11:59.740 Yisra 'el. The one who strives with God. Because 00:11:59.740 --> 00:12:03.519 the wound and the name, they come together. You 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:07.500 do not get a new name. without the struggle. 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:12.299 He is marked and renamed by God at the same time. 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:16.419 Every step after that, it is the sermon of his 00:12:16.419 --> 00:12:19.399 life. The blessing did not come from his strength, 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:22.700 but because of the mercy of God in his weakness. 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:27.950 This is what we often miss. Wrestling, it's not 00:12:27.950 --> 00:12:31.490 just resistance, it is formation. When a father 00:12:31.490 --> 00:12:34.230 wrestles with his child, it's not because of 00:12:34.230 --> 00:12:37.049 some emotional need to defeat the child, it's 00:12:37.049 --> 00:12:40.669 actually helping them grow. Maybe you find that 00:12:40.669 --> 00:12:44.529 one or two off, but by and large, it's to build 00:12:44.529 --> 00:12:49.450 coordination, courage, and confidence. So what's 00:12:49.450 --> 00:12:52.649 happening in Jacob's story, he's wrestling with 00:12:52.649 --> 00:12:55.759 God because of preparation. for what is about 00:12:55.759 --> 00:12:59.919 to come with his brother. He's being strengthened 00:12:59.919 --> 00:13:02.659 for the reconciliation that awaits him with Esau. 00:13:02.919 --> 00:13:05.919 The struggle in the dark is shaping him for the 00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:10.799 light that is about to come. Because yes, wrestling 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:15.220 feels like opposition, but sometimes it's invitation. 00:13:17.259 --> 00:13:22.500 And the man is trying to get away, not because 00:13:22.500 --> 00:13:26.159 he is scared of Jacob, But because when the light 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:32.059 comes, then Jacob would see Him, and no one can 00:13:32.059 --> 00:13:37.879 see God and live. The Father is calling us to 00:13:37.879 --> 00:13:41.539 engage, to push, to grow, to become the people 00:13:41.539 --> 00:13:44.720 who can stand in the day ahead. Because through 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:48.100 the wrestling, we become people who can withstand 00:13:48.100 --> 00:13:50.860 what is coming. People who can live in blessing 00:13:50.860 --> 00:13:54.600 without forgetting the One who gave it. Because 00:13:54.600 --> 00:13:57.799 when Jacob rises from that encounter, he walks 00:13:57.799 --> 00:14:01.519 differently, not just because of the limp, but 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:06.259 because he has changed. He sees Esau differently. 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:09.559 He sees his family differently. He sees himself 00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:12.399 differently. That night's wrestling wasn't just 00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:15.600 about him. It was about what God was going to 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:20.259 do through him. The blessing of God is never 00:14:20.259 --> 00:14:24.840 only personal, it's also communal. Because your 00:14:24.840 --> 00:14:30.220 limp might be a testimony that someone else needs 00:14:30.220 --> 00:14:35.720 to see. Your struggle might be the very place 00:14:35.720 --> 00:14:40.720 where God is bringing healing to others. The 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:43.620 places where you could not prevail might become 00:14:43.620 --> 00:14:46.480 the places where God's strength is prevailing 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:50.399 through you. Because maybe faith isn't about 00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:53.220 winning a match. Maybe it's about refusing to 00:14:53.220 --> 00:14:57.740 let go. Even when you know you cannot prevail 00:14:57.740 --> 00:15:03.419 because you trust the One who holds you in the 00:15:03.419 --> 00:15:09.139 struggle. See, we are people who don't let go 00:15:09.139 --> 00:15:14.879 easily. It's not of God and not of faith and 00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:19.889 not of hope and not of one another. When we see 00:15:19.889 --> 00:15:24.649 something broken we don't give up We pray we 00:15:24.649 --> 00:15:29.169 wrestle we cling We wrestle in prayer we persist 00:15:29.169 --> 00:15:34.129 in love we cling to grace Because that's who 00:15:34.129 --> 00:15:40.370 we are called to be as people of God One day 00:15:40.370 --> 00:15:44.850 when the dawn breaks in your life and the blessing 00:15:44.850 --> 00:15:49.740 comes then you get to look back, limping maybe, 00:15:50.899 --> 00:15:54.059 but knowing that you've seen God and you've lived 00:15:54.059 --> 00:15:58.720 and that you have been strengthened by being 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:05.179 weakened. Because the limp is our witness. We've 00:16:05.179 --> 00:16:09.700 seen God and the blessing is not because we know 00:16:09.700 --> 00:16:12.940 we're stronger than Him, but because we know 00:16:12.940 --> 00:16:21.009 we've been loved by Him. There we are with that 00:16:21.009 --> 00:16:27.289 key. Do you keep turning? Are you willing to 00:16:27.289 --> 00:16:30.529 keep trying? Because you know that's the right 00:16:30.529 --> 00:16:38.610 key. Keep turning it. Keep asking. Keep clinging. 00:16:39.870 --> 00:16:42.070 Because the God who meets us in the struggle 00:16:42.070 --> 00:16:46.289 is the God who delights in those who will not 00:16:46.289 --> 00:16:52.850 let go. So keep turning, keep clinging, not because 00:16:52.850 --> 00:16:55.610 you've mastered the right combination, but because 00:16:55.610 --> 00:17:00.090 you are with the One who opens the door when 00:17:00.090 --> 00:17:06.490 He is ready for you to do through. And when you 00:17:06.490 --> 00:17:09.890 walk through, you will know that the blessing 00:17:09.890 --> 00:17:15.789 was His doing all along. And through you, that 00:17:15.789 --> 00:17:19.619 blessing will ripple outward. to a community, 00:17:20.579 --> 00:17:26.900 a people, and a world that God is still redeeming 00:17:26.900 --> 00:17:30.319 through the suffering He was willing to have 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:35.180 for us. In Jesus' name, Amen.