DAY 35: WHAT IF FEAR WON’T LET GO?

What if fear doesn’t leave just because you obeyed God?

Jacob escaped Laban, but now Esau is coming with four hundred men.

The past he ran from is standing in front of him.

In Genesis 32, Dr. Shawn walks through Jacob’s fear, his honest prayer, his wrestling at the Jabbok, his new name, and the God who can change the person before He changes the circumstance.

What if fear doesn’t leave just because you obeyed God?

Jacob escaped Laban, but now Esau is coming with four hundred men.

The past he ran from is standing in front of him.

In Genesis 32, Dr. Shawn walks through Jacob’s fear, his honest prayer, his wrestling at the Jabbok, his new name, and the God who can change the person before He changes the circumstance.

Question for your heart:

What fear keeps meeting you on the road, even after you’ve taken the right step?

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#BibleTeaching

#Genesis32

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:48

What do you do? When the thing you ran from you ran from it. And now it's standing right in front of you. What do you do when God tells you to move forward? But moving forward means facing the wound. Facing the brother, facing the failure, facing the consequence, the apology, the conversation, the fear. Jacob has left Laban. God has stopped the danger behind him. But now Jacob has to face the danger now ahead of him. Behind him was Laban. In front of him is Esau, and Esau isn't just his brother. The memory of Jacob's deception. Esau's the consequence. Walking toward him with four hundred men. I don't know who I'm talking to, but I know some of you. You know that feeling. Maybe you're you know that feeling now. Maybe you maybe you're going through it right now. You got you got through one crisis, you thought, that's behind me. Only to find good morning, all. Good morning. Only you you got through that one crisis, you thought, man, I'm never gonna get through this. Only to find another fear waiting right down the road. You obeyed God, but obedience didn't erase anxiety or consequences. You moved forward, but your stomach still tightened. You know that feeling, right? Some of you are right there, right now. You prayed, but the dark uncertainty of night still came. It still came. Genesis thirty-two is for the person who loves God. You love God, you believe God, you want to obey God and you still feel afraid.

SPEAKER_01 4:31

So, here is the question for your heart.

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What fear keeps meeting you on the road?

SPEAKER_02 4:45

Even after you've taken that, you've done the right thing, you've taken the right step. You've done it, and now here you are. Welcome, welcome to, and welcome back to Through the Bible in a year, walking the story of God. This is true word, faith for life with Dr. Sean. As you might have guessed, I'm Dr. Sean, and today we're walking through Genesis 32:1 to 32, verses 1 through 32. And by the way, before we go any further. I wrote this book. It's library quality, textbook quality. As you might imagine, I went overboard. Paper is heavy, heavy, heavy paper. The print is larger, and it's spread apart so you can read it. Cost more money, do it that way. But it's worth it. I'm hearing stories. People are writing to me saying, hey, I didn't expect to write all over this book, but I have. It can be a beautiful place. If you have specific and deep questions, um, you know, send them to truewordfaithforlife.com. That's also where you can get the book. True wordfa, I know I made it easy. Truewordfaithforlife.com slash store. And then if you want to contact me, there's there's buttons up top and on the side. Feel free. We'd love have your questions. I answer all the questions, and um, it's a pleasure and an honor to do it. Oh, Nicole. Father, Father, we pray for our sister and all those out there that are going through this right now. You've been cut off. Twelve years. Oh, my lands, 12 years. You're flesh and blood. For whatever reason, it's just been separate. God, you know the situation intimately. We thank you that you care. You catch our tears in a bottle, you keep account of our sorrows, and I pray that you bless our sister and all those who are going through that today. May your will be done. May shalom be achieved. For all those out there suffering, emotionally, physically, such terrible pain, pain in their ribs, pain in their pain in their head, pain in their spine. All of the different pains, the neuropathy, the disease. Father, I pray that you give them comfort. Give them strength, give them peace today. We thank you. We love you. Thank you for your son Yeshua Hamashinach, Jesus the Messiah, without whom we would have hope. No hope. Thank you, Father, for reaching toward us and receiving us. We pray this in the name of Yeshua. Amen. Yes. Here we go. We're going in deep, so I hope. I hope that you're ready. Oh, I'm glad to have you all. Thank you for recommending this podcast to people. This is a blessing. I pray it'll be a blessing to you. Look, the book, by the way, it's gonna be it's gonna help you stop living on religious fragments and start walking in the truth of God's word with courage, clarity, and faith for real life. Now here we go. Take a deep breath. Here we go. Today's passage is one of the great turning points in Jacob's life. This isn't just a story about fear. This is this isn't, this isn't even a story about wrestling. It isn't a story about name change. This is the night Jacob stops merely carrying the promise and starts being formed into the man who can walk under that promise. Let me tell you something. I don't know who I'm talking to, but I'm I'm reaching out to you to tell you. By the way, welcome to all of you who folks who are new here. Amen, amen. Jesus is King. Glory to God. Thank you, Father. Oh, without whom I'd have no hope. Genesis 32 opens with mercy. And look, I I just said, I just said something I don't want you to miss. Some of you, some of you are Jacob right now. You're carrying a promise too. And it's difficult, it's super, super hard. And in the process, you're being formed into the person who can walk under that promise from God. Genesis 32, it opens with mercy. Thank God, thank God, thank God. Oh my lands. It opens with mercy. Jacob goes on his way, and the angels of God again meet him. Don't rush past that. Please don't rush past that. This is why we're going through the Bible the way that we are. We're walking the story of God. By the way, this is a moose works. Some of you have asked, where in the world did you get that? Melissa at Mooseworks Bible. I can't, what can I say? Her work is impeccable. I've got three Bibles there now, but she's she's actually ordering for me this uh special, special leather. These are all special. These are gonna be bold. And these three Bibles that I sent to her, um, and it'll be weeks before they're finished because special order, you you have to find the leather and get the leather, and oh my! And she doesn't rush anything, Mr. Krabs. Oh, are you Mr. Blue Crabs? Chesapeake Bay blue crabs. I love them. I'm addicted. I have uh multiple doctorates of theology, um, practical theology with a uh my second doctorate, my last doctorate. My wife tells me your last doctorate uh is in practical theology with a focus on ancient Near Eastern language, culture, and context. Thank you for coming. Thank you for asking. Look, don't rush past this Jacob. He goes on his way, and the angels of God meet him again. They meet him again. Imagine what that does to your head. Does it make your faith this perfect thing? Does it make it easier when the angels of God meet him? Thank you, dragonfly. Oh, she sure enough did. I'm the crabs who's guarding the crabby patty for him. Look, here we go. Look, here we go. We're we're in this place, and we're thinking we got to put ourselves in Jacob's place. He is foundational to our faith, and we imagine, imagine. The angels of God meet him. Before Esau appears, God gives Jacob a glimpse of heaven's presence. Who am I? A glimpse of heaven's presence. Have you ever been there? Have you ever felt that? That glimpse of heaven's presence. Before fear rises, God reminds Jacob he isn't alone. Look, he had a lot to be afraid of.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

Jacob's a great farmer, he's a great conniver. Amen. Amen.

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I used to not be a believer, but then I grew older and wiser. There are too many coincidences that point to a creator. Amen. Thank you, God. We have the smartest audience. And that's um, what a blessing. Good morning, Miss Tammy. It was so nice to see you yesterday. Yeah, well, nice to see everybody over at Virginia Creek Ministries in Surf City, North Carolina. Um, what a pleasure to be there. The opening, the opening service of their revival. They have revival, Pastor Russell, Miss Kathy and Joe, and all of the folks over there. They they all, the Strickland family sang and it was so pretty. It was so sweet. Yeah. It's gonna be all week long. Virginia Creek Ministries, the Virginia Creek Campground. It's awesome. They have a huge tent. It's so sweet, so sweet. If you're in anywhere near the area this week, you should go. I think it's at 6 30, but it was so nice to see everybody over there. What a blessing. What lovely people. I love Pastor Russ. 80, almost 80 years old, getting after it, serving the Lord.

unknown 15:55

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 15:56

Him and Miss Kathy, they're inspirational. All of those folks over there. What a blessing. Joe works so hard on all the stuff. There's so much that goes into a multi-day, multi-night revival. It's incredible. Look, I don't know the life that you're living. I don't know your life, but I'm gonna say this. Many of us have had to face some fears. We have some folks in comments talking about things that they've had to face, things clearly to fear. Amen. I love reading the Bible. You always get a new understanding about God's love. Does anyone feel more spiritual attacks once you oh, oh, come on. Does anyone feel more spiritual attacks once you start reading the Bible for a few days? Oh, come on now. Amen. By the way, Miss Tammy, thank you so much. It's at 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time every night. So cool. Man, oh man. Those demons know who is the one true God. Oh, isn't that the truth? Smart audience. We got a smart audience. Look, but fear, but fear, fear is real. It's a human emotion. Sometimes we fear things, but we got no business fearing. There's nothing to fear. We're just fearing because we're human. By the way, Miss Tammy, she she does the um like the treats and the coffee and all that. It's so nice. So nice to have that warm welcome. You'll never be welcomed. You'll never be welcomed more than that. Look, fear. We talk about fear, we talk about this thing, we talk about this thing. Fear, fear. Fear can dominate us all. Sometimes it's a little fear, sometimes it's big fears. Jacob says, you know, the angels remind him he's not alone. Jacob says, this is God's camp, and he names the place. Which I love this. It means two camps. Jacob has his camp. God has his camp. Jacob sees his household, his wives, his children, his servants, his flocks, his vulnerabilities, sees it all. But God lets him see something else. There's more on the road than Jacob can count. There's more protection than Jacob can manage. There's more presence than Jacob can feel. That matters because fear shrinks your vision. Do you know that? Fear, when you're in fear, shrinks your vision. And you wonder, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? Fear says, look at look at Esau. Jacob very reasonably is fearing encountering his brother. His brother is a hard, hard man. He's strong. He lives out in the in the in the in the wilderness. He goes out into the wilderness and he and he hunts for food, life, food, and faces all the danger. And there's so much danger. He said, I'm going to kill you. Before Esau left. That first time he said, I'm going to take you out. Certainly we can understand it, right? Remember what he did. By the way, thank you so much for the super chat. That's so kind of you. I don't even know. I don't even know how that works. I don't know anything about it, but I appreciate it so much. We're not monetized yet. We have enough subscribers and all that to be monetized. Always love more folks to join us and click on the subscribe and the like and the little bell for all notifications. But um we don't have enough views yet in the rolling 365. And uh so that we're not we're not um monetized yet, but I guess they hold all that till we do, till we achieve that benchmark. It's a hard one to achieve. 4,000 in the rolling 365. It's incredible. But God will sustain this one way or another, what we're doing here. I thank him for it. Look, fear shrinks your vision. It does. I don't I don't know if you've faced it. Maybe you have. Maybe you're in it right now. I don't know. Fear says, look at look at the 400 men coming at you. Look at what could happen. He could wipe you out. Rage. Have you ever encountered someone with such rage you think, oh, I'm done. I'm done here. My past life, I've certainly encountered and dealt with rage. From people who who not only want to do you severe harm, but they will absolutely do you severe harm. Maybe I don't know if this is you. Maybe it's you. Maybe it's you with the rage, and you have the capability to do such harm. Maybe it's your family, just like Jacob and Esau. Maybe it's your family. My goodness. By the way, we continue to pray for Miss Cheryl, Joe. Continue to pray for her. That God would put her his hand on her body and that he would comfort her. Put you in front of the right people that are able to help. God's hand. Amazing. We stream. Um Mr. Krabs is asking. Do we stream every morning? Uh, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. We're walking through the Bible. Through the Bible, and you're walking in the story of God. And then on Sunday, we do a deep, deep dive on the past week. It's a summary, but it's also a deepening. It's powerful. Last Sunday. And they're all, I don't get rid of any episodes. They tell you the best thing to do is to you know pull the episodes down and just do the live. And I want it to be available. We're creating a catalog. There's thousands of videos there now. Some long, some short. And um that's what we're doing. And true word, faithforlife.com. That's kind of a repository for blog posts and all of that. So that's what we do. Look, God. Jacob could have easily seen that. Imagine that's coming at you. 400 men. 400 men. They're gonna do whatever Esau tells them to do. Clearly, things have grown there. You bet, brother. Clearly, things have grown. 400 men. Some good has happened. Some progress has happened. Some growth has happened. And they're behind Esau. They're standing with him. They'll do whatever. Fear says, look what could happen. Look what could happen. But God begins the passage by saying, look again, you're not alone. Look again, you're not alone. It's so easy to feel alone, the devil, the enemy, your family, your friends who who maybe don't encourage you to grow through some of the things you're dealing with. We focus on um, we're we're actually going through the Bible. Mr. Krabs is asking, uh, we're going through the Bible actually in chronological order. We're telling the story, we're walking the story of God. It's a little different. It's a lot different. Um we're not taking boxes, we're we're taking in what I believe we need to learn. Here in this modern, this postmodern Western evangelical world. We're looking back at what actually happened in the ancient Near Eastern world, the language, the culture, and the context. God begins the passage by saying, Look again, you're not alone. Have you ever had to look again? You think you're alone, you're facing it all by yourself. Family's against you, friends are against you, you think, Wow, how did it get here? Breathe. Breathe. Then Jacob sends messengers to Esau. His message is very careful. He calls Esau my Lord. That's not random. He calls himself your servant. Esau, this is his brother. This is his brother that didn't threaten to kill him, told him, I'm I'm gonna. I'm gonna kill you. Come on now, that's that's huge. And Esau, he calls Esau my Lord. Small th, my lord. Humbles himself, my servant. He calls him he calls himself your servant. That isn't random. Look, in the ancient Near Eastern world, honor language mattered. It mattered a lot. Rank mattered. Family order mattered. Jacob had stolen blessing through deception. Years earlier. Years earlier. He did it. Jacob did it. And it was so wrong. He had stolen the deception years earlier, but now he approaches with humility. God whispers to us in our pleasures and shouts to us in our pain. Are we going to be humble when we realize our wrong, when we confront our wrong? Are we going to be humble or are we going to be arrogant and angry? But he approaches with humility. He doesn't swagger into the meeting. He doesn't pretend nothing happened. He doesn't say, Well, God bless me, so Esau, you just need to get over it. No. Jacob knows the past matters. He knows it matters. And this is where the Bible gets painfully, painfully, painfully honest. God's promise doesn't cancel humility. God's calling doesn't excuse what we've done. God's mercy doesn't make repentance unnecessary. I say it all the time that people think you become a person of faith. You place your faith in Christ, you become a follower of the way. And you think everything, any of your consequences, goes away. I told the story of how I encountered a guy who committed murder.

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I helped him turn us turn himself in and confront and acknowledge what he'd done.

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They have consequences. Mercy has teeth sometimes. God's mercy doesn't make repentance unnecessary, for it hurts our habits and our hangups. Some people want God to bless the future while they refuse. Face the damage that they cause behind them. Genesis 32 won't let us do that. Jacob is blessed. Jacob is called, Jacob is protected, and Jacob still has to face Esau. We still have to face our Esau's. The Bible says Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. Oh, come on, wouldn't you be? That matters. The text doesn't shame him for feeling fear, by the way, it names it. Jacob is afraid. He should be. Jacob is distressed. He should be. Faith doesn't mean your nervous system never reacts. Faith doesn't mean your hands never shake. Faith doesn't mean your stomach never drops. Have you been there? Some of you are there now. Some of you are right there right now. Your hands are shaking. They're sweating. Your mouth is real dry. Stomach feels. You're facing your fear. Faith means you bring your fear into obedience instead of letting fear become your God. Jacob is afraid, but he doesn't run back to Laban. He is distressed, but he keeps moving forward toward the promise. That's faith in real life. Not fearlessness, faithfulness. Jacob divides the people and animals into two camps. He makes a plan and then he prays. That order matters. Jacob acts wisely, but he doesn't treat his plan like a savior. He knows the one true God and he pays, he prays to him. He prays one of the most honest prayers in Genesis. O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac. O Lord who said to me, Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good. Jacob praised God's own words right back to him. That isn't manipulation for once in his life. That isn't manipulation. Come on, somebody. Some of us have prayed fears of manipulation, prayers of manipulation. Some of us have prayed just guttural prayers. Things of praying the words of God is foreign to us sometimes. It's foreign to us sometimes. But here we go. Jacob has been, he's caused all these problems, he's done all these things, but he's met God throughout. He's not perfect. He's messy. Are some of us messy? I know I am. God's own words. You know, you can't know God's own words unless you commune with God every day. Through his word, whether it's you got a Bible on your phone, or you've got a Bible in your hand every day. Commune with it every day. Well that's hard. I don't have a lot of time. God whispers to us in our pleasures and shouts to us in our pain. Knowing his words brings incredible comfort. A cold spot on. God's word doesn't return void. Learn how to pray God's word over your situation. I have a video I did um a long time ago. If Arthur Prayers from the gut. That's right. You can you're welcome to it. All of it. You're welcome to it. I'm creating I'm trying to create and curate a library of understanding of the word of God so that you can become you can understand and the true word and have faith for life. That's why I named it this. God's own words. Jacob prays God's own words right back to him. And for once in his life, he's not trying to manipulate his covenant memory. He's saying, Lord, I'm on this road because you told me to return. That's how you pray when fear rises. You don't start with panic, you start with what God said. You you don't start with the worst case scenario, you start with the character of God. You don't start with the size of Esau's company. Oh, here it is. This is the fear. This is the fear. Oh, what are we gonna do? What am I gonna do? You don't start with that. You start with the promise that sent you forward. God said, Do this, go this place, keep moving. Remind yourself of what God said to you. Then, then Jacob says, I'm not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant. Oh, come on, come on. I say it all the time, Lord. Sometimes, I don't know if this is you, but sometimes I'll I will my chair's broken, I gotta stop doing that. I don't know about you, but I have sometimes praise and worship breaks out in this little tiny, little tiny studio. I mean, it's like a closet. Sometimes I will be overcome with worship of the Father. And sometimes if if somebody's home, like if Miss Colleen is home, sometimes she'll walk in and she'll just sort of stand at the door and worship with me. And sometimes, sometimes she'll just very peacefully walk away. I'll kind of feel her presence in the peripheral, I'll see her there. And she'll respect. She understands. Have you ever been there? Has that ever happened to you? Amen. Eduardo, welcome to all of you, welcome to all of you. The nourishment of God's word. Amen. Right on the button. Listen. Jacob says, I'm not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and the faithfulness you've shown to your servant. I pray it all the time. I might use different words, but the humility, the word behind steadfast love is covenant language. It's God's loyal mercy. Jacob knows he didn't earn this. I didn't earn it. He crossed the Jordan years before with only his staff. Now he has become two camps. That is grace. Oh my. That is grace. Have you ever experienced that? The grace of God. Has that ever overcome you? The closer you get to God, the more you pursue him. You experience that grace, you experience that humility, you experience and understand that mercy that's been shown to you. You take your eyes off the problem and put your eyes on the king. Jacob isn't standing there because he's clever. He isn't alive because he's impressive. He isn't carrying promise because he deserves it. He does not. God has been faithful. Come on, that's the kind of memory fear needs. Fear says, what if God fails you tomorrow? Memory says, look what God has already carried me through. Fear says, Esau is coming with his 400 men. Memory says, God has been faithful since Bethel. Fear says, you're all alone. Memory says you crossed with a staff and God brought you back with two camps. Look what he's done for you. Oh, come on, somebody breathe that in. Come on. Where you've been and where you are, God. God sustained you. You say, well, I have less now. But you understand God now. He brought you through. He's rebuilding you. My wife made this made this pen for me. Made it. With her brother-in-law and her sister-in-law. Made it. This is wood. It had to be turned on a lathe. It had to be shaped. Some some went away. Some of this went away. Some of that wood went away. This is here. Less is more. You're right. You're right. Oh, no worries, Andrea. No worries. You can always start over, always at the beginning. Eduardo is a living testimony of what I'm speaking of. To God be the glory. Oh man. Then Jacob prays plainly to God. Can you imagine this prayer? Put yourself in its place. Jacob prays plainly, please deliver me. He's speaking to God. He's asking of God, please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him. This is not performance. There's no religious costume here. Oh, we we cloak a whole lot of stuff in religious talk. There's no fake confidence here. There's no fake confidence here. I fear him. That may be one of the bravest prayers you could ever pray. Lord, I'm afraid. I'm afraid. I don't know what to do. I don't know what they'll do. I don't know what I'm facing. Or I do know exactly what I'm facing, and I don't know how this ends. Lord, I can't control this. I need you, Lord. I need you. Oh, I've been there. I've been there. I go there every day. Look, you don't have to impress God with some sort of spiritual vocabulary. People have asked me many times, you don't talk like a guy with multiple doctorates. No, I can. Some of my academic writing, sure. I've written, I guess, millions of words by now. I can write that way and speak that way. I choose not to. I'm a real person. You're a real person. We don't have to impress God with some sort of spiritual vernacular. Church words. We don't have to pretend in prayer. I see a lot of people and I'm around a lot of people. This is going to sound so arrogant to you. I no longer attend pastors' conferences unless I'm the speaker. You say, ooh, you want a place of honor. You want a place, oh, believe me, sometimes they only invite me once. I hear all the churchy language and all that stuff, and uh um, no thanks. I see a lot of people pretending. You don't have to pretend in prayer. You're talking to the God who knows your situation. He's deep inside that situation. You don't have to pretend in prayer. The father already knows what fear sounds like inside your chest. Father already knows that shallow breathing that you've been doing. He knows it. Bring it to him. Name it before him. Not because fear is Lord, but because God is. Jacob sends gifts ahead of him: goats, sheep, camels, cows, bulls, donkeys. This is not a small gesture. He worked hard to bring that to being, all of that livestock. In that world, in the ancient Near Eastern world, livestock represented wealth, honor, apology, and relational repair. It was currency. Shalom, shalom. Mary, Mary, Mary, shalom, shalom, shalom. Look, in this world, life, this is a big deal, folks. This is a big deal. Jacob isn't buying grace from God. He's not purchasing grace from God. He's approaching Esau with humility. He's approaching him with shalom. God has given him peace. He spaces the gift out in waves. He says, I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Ooh, the language of face, it matters here. Jacob is preparing to face Esau. Soon he'll say he has seen God face to face. This passage is full of faces. The face of the brother he fears. The face of the God who meets him, the face of the past, the face of the future. And some of you, you're right there. You're right there. You can't heal what you refuse to face. You got to call it what it is. And if it's you that messed up everything, if it's you that jacked up everything, you got to call it what it is. Own it. Don't run from it. Own it. If there's apologies to be made, make the apologies. Oh goodness. Sometimes we got to make the apology. We got to face it. We got to own it. We got to say, hey, I did this and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Look, you can't obey God while hiding forever. You can't. You can't trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. You cannot walk into covenant maturity while fear keeps making all of your decisions. There comes a time when you have to face the thing that you've avoided, but you don't face it alone. That's the difference. You don't face it alone. That's why we stand together, we gather together. So when one falls, we can, instead of picking up stones and throwing it at them, no, no, no, no, no. We help them up, we help the brother up, we help the sister up. We encourage, we say, come on, here you go. We warn, we say, hey, if we see it, you're headed towards that cliff, man. Sister, brother, you're headed towards that cliff. Come on, don't keep going this direction. Sometimes when somebody falls, sometimes when somebody's facing grief. Somebody out there is facing grief right now. And it's it's overwhelming, it's crushing your chest. I can't breathe. We lift each other up. That's how it's supposed to be. Then Jacob sends his family across the stream. Oh, come on. The Bible says Jacob was left alone. Oh, that line is heavy. Alone. No Laban, no Esau, no Leah, no children, no servants, no flock standing between him and the dark. Just Jacob. And a man wrestles with him until daybreak. Oh, a man wrestles with him until daybreak. The text calls him a man, but by the end, Jacob knows he has encountered God. This isn't just a physical struggle, it's a holy confrontation. Have you ever been there? A holy confrontation. Some of us have to go there. Some of us have to go there. Jacob spent his entire life grasping, grasping the heel coming out of the womb, grasping the birthright, grasping the blessing, grasping outcome. Sometimes we have to grasp the outcome. Jacob grasped survival. Now God meets, God meets the grasper in the night. And Jacob can't scheme his way out of this one. He can't manipulate it. He can't run from it. He can only cling to God. The man touches Jacob's hip socket. He literally touches his hip socket, and Jacob's hip is put out of joint. That's mercy with a limp. That's mercy with a limp. God wounds Jacob in the place of strength, not to destroy him, but to change him. Jacob will walk away from this wrestling match blessed, but he won't walk away untouched. That's how it is when we encounter God. We cannot encounter God and not be untouched. That matters because a lot of us want blessing without breaking. We want God to help us, but we don't want him to humble us. We want God to protect us but not to change us. We want God to deal with Esau but not to touch Jacob. But God loves Jacob too much to let him enter the next season unchanged. Oh, some of us are in a season and we need to be changed. Sometimes the thing God touches is the thing that you've relied on far too long. Your control, your cleverness, your self-protection, your ability to run, your ability to manage everyone, your talent, your ability to look strong while staying unsurrendered. God may not be hurting you. He may be freeing you from the false strength that kept you bound. The man says, Let me go, for the day is broken. And Jacob says, I will not let you go unless you bless me. Oh, there's Jacob again. There's Jacob again, still wanting blessing. But something is different now. He isn't stealing it. He's not tricking his father for it. He isn't wearing Esau's clothes for it. He isn't using deception. He is clinging to God. And that, my friends, that's transformation. The old Jacob grasped people to, he used to grasp people to get a blessing. A changing Jacob. He clings to God for a blessing. Then comes the question: what is your name? He says, Jacob. That's confession. Jacob means heel grabber, supplanter, the one associated with grasping. God makes him say the old name before receiving the new one. Sometimes God asks us to name what we've been so we can hear what he's making us into. Then God says, Glory to God. Then God says, Your name shall no longer be called Jacob. Oh, come on, here we are. Here we are. Your name, this is what God says. Your name shall be called. No, you're no longer Jacob. You're no longer that past. You're no longer that jacked up dude. That's not you anymore.

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That's not you. Your name shall this is what God says to him.

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Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel.

SPEAKER_00 52:28

For you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.

SPEAKER_02 52:42

Israel. The man who wrestles with God. The questions. Listen, I I I sat under the teaching in my schooling from a man named Dr. Skip Moen, Arthur J. Moen. Look him up, he's a prolific writer, travels all over the world speaking, PhD from Oxford, stuttered, stuttered, uh, studied uh under Francis Schaefer at Liberty. The guy's pedigree is intense. But when I studied under him, I learned about the wrestling with God, wrestling with scripture, wrestling with the word in the ancient Near Eastern language, culture, and context. It doesn't look the same as the sanitized version that many of us have been taught. And I had to wrestle with that. I had to wrestle with myself, I still do. But the wrestling with God, that's real. The covenant family will carry that name, Israel. Not because the family is perfect. When I see people look at Israel and they say, oh, well, they're this, they're that. They're how in the world could they be of God? How could they be God's chosen people? Look what they've done. Well, I'd say, look at what they've actually done. Israel has accomplished and does so much good. But they're not a perfect people. We are not a perfect people. Look, the family isn't perfect. Because God meets our wounds, he meets our blessings. God meets real people who form. He forms us. He forms us into people who cling to him. Do you cling to God? Part of part of disciplined reading of scripture. Every day, that's clinging to God. Part of clinging to God is prayer every day. Jacob names the place Peniel. Saying, For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered. Then he limps away as the sun rises. Can you see that image in your mind? Israel, Jacob, Israel, limping away as the sun rises. The night is ending. It has been a night of struggle. And learning and understanding and revelation. We have to sometimes we have to go through the night to see the sun rise. Look, the fear isn't fully resolved yet. Esau is still ahead. But Jacob is different. He has a new name. But he has a limp. He has a blessing. He has met God in the dark. He has met God in the dark. That's real spiritual formation. Some of us are meeting God in the dark right now. Your life. Your experience.

SPEAKER_00 56:39

You're in the dark.

SPEAKER_01 56:45

You are being spiritually formed.

SPEAKER_02 56:59

God may not change everything around you before sunrise. He may not. But he can change you before you have a face to face with what comes next. And sometimes that's the miracle you needed most. Formation. Look, all of this points us straight to Yeshua, Jesus Christ. Yeshua Hamashiach. That's his actual Hebrew name, Yeshua Hamashiach. You know him as Jesus. Jacob wrestled all night and limped away, blessed. Yeshua entered the deeper night for us in Gethsemane. At Garden he faced sorrow and dread and the cup before him. At the cross he bore sin, shame, judgment, and death. He didn't grasp for comfort, he surrendered to the Father. Oh my. Oh my. And through his death and resurrection, he gives us new identity. Oh good lands, new identity. He gives us through this, he through what he did for us willingly. Not Jacob trying to steal blessing, not Esau trying to defend himself, not Laban trying to control the story. New creation, adoption, forgiveness, life with God. In Messiah, the Father doesn't just rename us sort of as some sort of motivational slogan. He makes us new. What past are you trying to outrun? What conversation are you avoiding? What apology have you delayed in giving? What obedience have you postponed because Esau might be coming with 400 men? Here's the choice. Here's the choice. You can keep letting fear divide your soul into survival camps. Or you can pray honestly and obey faithfully. And sometimes that trust and obey, sometimes that trust and obey, oh, it doesn't look like we'd hoped it looked. Formation. Growing us, healing us, sometimes involves a little bit of pain. Faithfully, trusting and obeying. You can keep grasping for control. Look, we're control freaks in this society. You can, you can keep grasping for control. Or you can cling to God. Somebody. Somebody out there needs to cling to God. Look, you can keep asking God to change everyone else, but the common denominator in all of your struggles is you. You can, you can keep asking God to change everybody else while refusing to let Him touch you, to change you. Or you can say, Lord bless me, change me, and make me the person who can walk into tomorrow, maybe with a limp, maybe with a limp, oh, there is absolutely real hope. Even if you have a limp, especially if you come away with a limp, don't waste the night. If God meets you there, cling to him. If he touches the place of your false strength, trust him. If he gives you a limp, walk with it. Better to limp with God's blessing than to run with that old name. Maybe this is where salvation. Maybe this is where it becomes personal for you. Because sin isn't only rebellion in the obvious places. Sometimes, very often, sin isn't only rebellion in the obvious places. Sometimes sin is the old Jacobiness. Grasping, controlling, running, hiding, trying to secure blessing without surrendering to God, trying to survive by strategy while the soul stays unchanged. Some of us are just trying to survive. We're just using strategy. You've told the story in live chat about your the the funeral you went to. And there was dancing and singing. Enjoy. Oh my. That's kind of what we call homegoing. My people. That's what we do, homegoing. My funeral's all playing. It's all plain, it's all line now. There's gonna be lots of singing. Survive or you can come to Yeshua. Yeshua came for the graspers, he came for the runners, he came for people afraid to face what they've done. He came for people who've spent years trying to become someone new and still can't make themselves new. He came to forgive sin, hurts, habits, and hangups. He came to break the power of the old life off of us. He came to bring us home to the Father and give us a new heart, a new name, a new way to walk. Oh my, but prayer isn't asking for an easy journey. It's asking for a strong back. If you have never placed your faith in Yeshua and Jesus Christ, I want you to pray with me right now, sincerely and truly. Father, I know I've sinned, and I need your mercy. I believe Jesus died for me, was buried, and rose again. Today, I turn from my sin, my hurts, my habits, and my hang-ups. And I place my trust in Him as my Lord and my King. Forgive me. Make me new. Fill me with your Spirit. From this day forward, I want to follow you in Jesus' name. Amen. Oh, glory to God. Glory to God. Whenever I'm asked to speak anywhere, anywhere, no matter where it is, I say, look, I'm going to give an invitation for folks to become followers of the way, to follow Jesus, to follow Yeshua. And it won't be easy. This is not going to be an easy path, honestly. But every time I go to all these different places, every time I go to these places, and I give these invitations, and you know, the many postmodern Western evangelical churches and faith gatherings, they don't want an invitation. But I said, when I answered the call, when God called me to do this, to preach and to author books and do all that stuff, I said, I will always give an invitation. But sometimes after that salvation moment, that moment that you place your faith in Christ, that moment that you you repent in hebrew it's called teshua very often very often we have this thought this image this hope that everything will be super easy it won't be folks are going to come against you folks your friends your family if they're not believers and sometimes even if they are they know your past they know the old you God says I make you new you come to him I make you new you're gonna feel alone sometimes but listen I'm here this gathering of folks it's here people are a kind to you I'll help you find a a a church where you live a gathering of believers I'll help you find a Bible if you don't have a Bible if you don't know which Bible to get I'll help you if you don't know where to go to get one well I'll help you your questions I'll help you it's free listen the decision you just made that that that prayer was a conversation with God it's the most important decision of your existence and you don't have to walk alone I've helped countless people take their first steps as followers of the way followers of Yeshua and I'd be honored to help you too all you have to do go to true wordfaithforlife.com slash contact or you can just click on the button reach out to me directly there's a there's a thing where you can leave me a two minute voice message it's free I pay so you don't have to but that's two minutes use it wisely I have to know how to get hold of you and as soon as I receive the message I will reach out to you and I'll personally help you next steps whatever whatever that means for you all you need to do is ask look the night may be long the night may be long the fear look it it's real sometimes the fear we feel we should feel it's real the past may be walking toward you but God is already there cling to him let him change you let him bless you let him rename what fear tried to define and when the sun rises walk forward even if you have a limp oh my oh my a limp with God is better than speed without him a new name is better than an old disguise and the the God who meets you in the night won't abandon you in the morning if this helped you if this today helped you send it to one person who needs hope they need hope today they need it so bad so desperately maybe get send the link use your social media you have no idea who it might help until tomorrow morning at 7 a.m Eastern Standard Time this has been True Word Faith for Life with Dr Sean for more teachings visit for free Truewordfaith for life dot com until tomorrow morning at 7 a.m Eastern Standard Time Shalom Bashem Yeshua Shalom I come