WEBVTT 00:00:01.679 --> 00:00:03.439 Well, hey guys, I'm so glad you're still watching. 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:05.919 I am so excited about what we're going to talk about today. 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:10.160 Last Sunday, we started a new series, simply called Expect. 00:00:11.039 --> 00:00:18.480 The simple truth is that the experience we have in life is directly related to our expectations for life. 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:22.399 Your experience is shaped by your expectations. 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:35.280 In fact, you might even be able to say that there's nothing that affects the experience you have in life more than your expectations, because your expectations are actually one of the only things that you actually have some control over, or at least a lot of control over. 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:38.159 You can't always control what happens to you. 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:46.560 You can't always control the things that you experience, but you can always control your expectations about what you're going to experience. 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:52.320 So if we want to have the right experience in 2021, we've got to have the right expectation. 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:54.640 Last Sunday we started with this one. 00:00:54.880 --> 00:00:56.960 Expect God to be God. 00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:01.840 If we want to have the best experience in 2021, we've got to expect God to be God. 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:04.480 We've got to expect God to show up because that's what he does. 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:08.799 We've got to expect God to do God things because that's what he does. 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:21.359 Right now, if you're looking at the world around you and you're seeing all the chaos and all the turmoil, and you're wondering what's going to happen, and you're fearful and you're full of anxiety, and maybe even I've talked to people who are depressed because of all that's happening. 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:22.799 I have a simple question for you. 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:24.799 Is God still God? 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:27.280 Is God still God? 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:34.000 And if the answer to that question is yes, which it is, then we should always be filled with hope. 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:41.599 We should always be filled with an expectation for something good to happen because God is still God, and God is good, and God does good things. 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:48.959 No matter what happens in our world, no matter how much division that we see, no matter how much ang we see, God is still God. 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:50.400 He still sits on his throne. 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:55.280 And as followers of Jesus, we've got to put our faith in that more than anything else. 00:01:55.439 --> 00:01:59.200 Definitely more than the kingdoms of this world, that's for sure. 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:02.879 God is God, and we should expect God to be God in 2021. 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:11.360 Today, we're gonna go with another expectation, and this is one that, to be honest, has probably been on the forefront of my mind the most in the last year to two years. 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:12.240 This is a big one. 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:19.599 I think this is a big one, not just for me, but really for all followers of Jesus, for all believers, because this is something that I see a lot of people miss. 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:22.400 And it's something I've missed at different times in my life. 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:29.840 And when we miss this one, when we don't have this expectation, we're we're very easily discouraged and disillusioned. 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:32.879 I use those words a lot, discouraged and disillusioned in our faith. 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:33.840 And we don't want to be that. 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:35.120 And here's the expectation. 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:40.080 In 2021, expect to wrestle with God. 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:43.919 Expect to wrestle with God. 00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:47.199 Now, I don't know how much wrestling experience you have. 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:50.159 I have a decent amount, not like official wrestling experience. 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:53.120 I was never on a wrestling team, but I'm a I'm a boy. 00:02:53.280 --> 00:03:01.439 And I grew up with two brothers, and I have three sons, and so I have done my fair share of just boys being boys wrestling. 00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:05.919 When my oldest son was two or three years old, he used to love to wrestle with me. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:11.039 In fact, sometimes he'd just look at me and he'd have this glow in his eyes, and he would say, Dad, let's wrestle. 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:14.639 Except he couldn't really say L's back then, so it was like it was Wetz Wessel. 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:15.439 That was what he would say. 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:16.800 Dad, Wetz Wessel. 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:20.560 And when he would look at me and say, Let's wrestle, we would begin this whole wrestling match thing. 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:24.560 And, you know, any dad that's ever done this with your child, you know what I'm talking about. 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:29.280 You you kind of make it seem to them like it's really dangerous, but it's totally under control. 00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:36.800 So I would lift him up high and I kind of make it seem to him like I was about to slam him down on the ground, but I would totally control the velocity, and we would have so much fun. 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:42.319 Well, one day we were we were having one of our wrestling matches, and uh I stood up really fast. 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:49.520 And I didn't realize this, but there was this wooden piece of furniture that was like right, the corner of it was right above my back. 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:56.719 And because I stood up so fast, I caught the corner, and it was a really sharp corner of this piece of furniture, and it literally like cut my back. 00:03:57.120 --> 00:03:58.560 Like it drew blood. 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:02.000 I had this long, just huge, more than a scratch. 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:04.960 I'm not gonna say it was like a gaping wound, but it was it was pretty deep. 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:10.560 I had this huge scratch down my back, and it was bad enough that it actually left a scar. 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:21.439 Now, at this point, this is years ago, eight years ago, at this point it's pretty much faded, but for a solid two years, I had a very visible scar going down the side of my back, and it looked really intense. 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:26.000 In fact, I had a few different people who saw it at different times, and they went like, whoa, what happened? 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:27.920 Did you get like a knife fight or something? 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:28.879 Did you get stabbed? 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:32.399 And I had to look at him and say, No, I got in a wrestling match with a two-year-old. 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:38.319 And they just kind of stare at me confused, and I would say, You should see the two-year-old, as a joke. 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:39.519 But no one ever laughed at that. 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:41.360 Um, and I understand why. 00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:49.360 I had this wrestling match with my son, and it ended up with me having a little bit of a wound, but at the same time, I enjoyed those moments so, so much. 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:53.759 Uh, if he wanted to wrestle with me now, I would throw my back out, so I can't do that with him anymore. 00:04:53.839 --> 00:04:56.959 But at least I've got my two-year-old and my four-year-old, I still get to do that with them. 00:04:57.120 --> 00:04:57.600 Wrestling. 00:04:57.759 --> 00:04:58.639 That's what we're talking about. 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:00.160 Let me focus again. 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:01.199 Wrestling. 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:09.519 I don't know if you have any wrestling experience, but what I want you to understand is that God, he's looking for wrestlers. 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:14.160 That God is looking for wrestlers. 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:24.399 And if you want to have the experience with God that He desires for you, if you really want to have a life shaped and transformed by the work that God does in your life, you've got to be a wrestler. 00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:28.160 I want to take a look at a story in Genesis chapter 32. 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:31.199 It's the most famous wrestling story we have in Scripture. 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:33.600 I'm gonna start reading in verse 6. 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:36.959 But to give you a little bit of setup, this is the story of a man named Jacob. 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:40.879 And Jacob has been away from his home for a very, very long time. 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:44.720 And when he left, he left with some really bad blood between he and his brother Esau. 00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:53.040 Jacob deceived Esau, really tricked Esau out of a lot of things that were supposed to go to Esau, because Esau was the older brother in their culture. 00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:55.600 The older brother got the inheritance, got the father's blessing. 00:05:55.759 --> 00:06:00.639 Jacob sort of weasled his way into taking that from Esau, and then he left with Esau vowing to kill him. 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:02.319 It's been years and years and years. 00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:04.240 And now he's on his way back. 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:08.800 And he's nervous because he doesn't know what Esau is going to do. 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:18.240 So as he heads back, he sends a group of people ahead of him, and he sends these people to sort of scope out and see if Esau's there and how Esau is responding. 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:19.439 And that's where we get in verse 6. 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:27.279 It says the messengers returned with the news that Esau was on his way to meet Jacob with an army of 400 men. 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:39.839 Now, if you got news that your long-lost brother was on his way to see you, and you were excited to see him, you'd probably get yourself, maybe a few close friends together and go meet him, but I don't know if you get 400 people to come along. 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:47.120 Jacob was nervous about what Esau would do when he hears the news that Jacob is coming to meet him with 400 men. 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:50.560 Jacob was terrified at the news. 00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:59.120 He divided his household along with his flocks and his herds and his camels into two groups, and he thought if Esau attacks one group, maybe the other group can escape. 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:00.879 And then he prayed. 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:11.920 And you promised to treat me kindly. 00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:16.959 I'm not worthy of all the faithfulness and unfailing love that you have shown to me, your servant. 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:21.600 When I left home, I own nothing except a walking stick, and now my household fills two camps. 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:23.920 O Lord, please rescue me from my brother Esau. 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:27.519 I'm afraid that he's coming to kill me along with my wives and children. 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:36.399 But you promised to treat me kindly and to multiply my descendants until they became as numerous as the sands along the seashore, too many to count. 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:38.480 So here's what's what's happening. 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:43.839 Jacob has actually spent his entire life being a wrestler of sorts. 00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:50.720 It's just that he's chosen to wrestle with people, and he's wrestled a little bit dirty. 00:07:50.879 --> 00:07:53.920 So I said a minute ago, he deceived and tricked his brother Esau. 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:55.839 That's just what, that's what Jacob did. 00:07:55.920 --> 00:07:57.040 He was a deceiver. 00:07:57.360 --> 00:08:01.120 So he would wrestle with the struggle that he had as a younger brother. 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:07.040 He always wrestled with the idea that Esau was going to be greater than him, and he couldn't handle that, and so he wrestled with that. 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:08.480 He wrestled with his brother. 00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:15.199 He had conflict and drama and turmoil, and he ultimately ended up tricking his brother out of his birthright, out of his blessing. 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:16.480 He wrestled with his father. 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:21.839 He wrestled with the idea that his father seemed to favor his older brother Esau. 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:23.120 And he wrestled with that. 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:24.720 He couldn't really come to terms with that. 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:29.680 And so he ends up deceiving his father into giving him the blessing that was due to Esau. 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:36.720 His father was blind and he took advantage of his father's blindness to get something from his father, pretending to be his older brother. 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:42.240 Younger brothers can usually do pretty good impressions of their older brothers, and I guess Jacob could do that as well. 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:44.159 Jacob was always wrestling with people. 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:46.960 He was always trying to grapple with the frustration that he felt. 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:50.399 And actually, at one point in his life, he sort of met his match. 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:56.399 His father-in-law, a man named Laban, was just as much of a deceiver as Jacob was. 00:08:56.559 --> 00:09:07.200 And Jacob and Laban spend really decades kind of wrestling with each other, tricking one another, trying to manipulate the other person to get what they want, and this has been a constant in his life. 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:13.039 He's always wrestled with people, trying to get what he wants out of life, and it's left him in a place of despair. 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:18.399 That's what happens when we choose to wrestle with people the wrong way. 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:20.960 To try to manipulate and get what we want. 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:27.200 We often find ourselves in a place where we feel like we have no allies, and the only person we can turn to is God. 00:09:27.759 --> 00:09:30.159 The good news is when we turn to God, he's there. 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:34.559 Let's keep reading the story though, because this is when the real wrestling starts to happen. 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:40.080 Verse 22, it says, during the night, this is the same day that he's praying, God, please rescue me. 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:45.360 During the night, Jacob got up and he sent his two wives, two concubines, and eleven sons across the Jabbok River. 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:49.279 Now, we read stuff like this sometimes in Scripture, and we're like, oh my gosh, this is horrible. 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:50.399 Two wives, what's going on? 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:54.080 Remember, when we open up the Old Testament, these are old stories. 00:09:54.159 --> 00:10:00.080 This is 3,000 plus years ago, and people, like all people, lived very differently than we live today. 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:04.159 After they were on the other side, he sent over all of his possessions. 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:08.559 And this left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until dawn. 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:10.879 Now, this is like a very strange statement. 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:12.320 He's all by himself. 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:17.200 He sent his family way far off, and then it just says, A man came and wrestled with him. 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:24.080 Like some guy just shows up and starts to actually battle a little bit with Jacob. 00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:30.240 When the man saw that he couldn't win the match, he struck Jacob's hip and he knocked it out of joint at the socket. 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:32.320 And the man said, Let me go, for it is dawn. 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:35.759 But Jacob panted, I will not let you go unless you bless me. 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:36.720 What is your name? 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:37.360 The man asked. 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:38.559 He replied, Jacob. 00:10:38.799 --> 00:10:40.879 Your name will no longer be Jacob, the man told him. 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:45.519 It is now Israel, because you have struggled with both God and men and have won. 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:46.799 What is your name? 00:10:47.039 --> 00:10:47.600 Jacob asked. 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:48.320 Why do you ask? 00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:49.200 The man replied. 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:51.840 And then he blessed Jacob there. 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:59.360 Now, this person that Jacob is wrestling with is not just a normal person. 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:00.799 It's God. 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:03.360 God shows up in physical form. 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:08.879 This is actually something that he does a few times in Scripture, and obviously the most obvious one would be Jesus, right? 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:09.919 Showing up in physical form. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:17.519 Sometimes we ask the question man, if only I could see God, if only I could talk to God, if only I could tangibly experience God, then I would be okay. 00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:19.200 Well, lots of people have done that. 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:21.039 Jesus was here, he was that. 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:29.360 And this is kind of a story before Jesus of God showing up in physical form and interacting with Jacob, and he wrestles with them, and it's a very strange story. 00:11:29.679 --> 00:11:34.720 He has a physical wrestling match with Jacob. 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:37.919 And at the end of it, he ends up changing Jacob's name. 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:40.320 He gives Jacob an entirely new identity. 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:41.919 He gives him the name Israel. 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:46.960 This is literally the defining moment of Jacob's life, one of the very most defining moments of his life. 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:51.440 There's another time earlier on in his life where he has a dream, kind of a vision, and God shows him some things. 00:11:51.679 --> 00:11:56.000 That moment and this moment, they would be the defining moments of his life. 00:11:56.240 --> 00:11:58.399 Because from this moment on, he's not Jacob anymore. 00:11:58.480 --> 00:11:59.200 He's a new person. 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:01.120 He's Israel. 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:05.919 Israel means to wrestle with God, to struggle with God. 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:09.919 And I think that's so interesting because this becomes the namesake of God's people. 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:14.080 And this, by the way, is a name that still exists in our world today, Israel. 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:27.279 In the Old Testament, prior to Jesus coming and opening up God's kingdom to every single person through his sacrifice on the cross, the nation of Israel, these were the people that God chose to use to reveal himself to the whole world through. 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:31.840 And he chose to name them Israel, to wrestle with, to struggle with God. 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:38.559 He didn't choose to name them a word that meant to love God, to obey God, to follow God, to serve God. 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:40.320 Those would all make a lot of sense. 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:50.000 But he chose the namesake of his people to be to wrestle with God, to struggle with God. 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:52.559 What does this tell us about God? 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:54.960 What does this tell us about our relationship with God? 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:56.080 Well, it tells us a few things. 00:12:56.159 --> 00:12:58.879 It tells us, number one, that God wants us to engage with him. 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:04.720 God would rather you fight with him than you leave him alone. 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:06.399 I want you to think about that for a second. 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:14.799 God would rather you fight with him, struggle with him, wrestle with him, argue with him. 00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:22.639 He would rather you do that than you to ignore him or leave him alone, because at least if you're wrestling with him, you're engaged. 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:26.240 God wants us to have an engaged relationship. 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:29.360 He wants us to be people who can wrestle with him. 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:39.519 And frankly, if you look at Scripture, if you look at the whole story that we have of God and how he's interacted with people all throughout Scripture, the best ones, the ones that we tend to admire the most, they're usually wrestlers. 00:13:39.919 --> 00:13:42.320 We can look at a couple of classic examples. 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:44.320 We can look at Psalm 13. 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:48.000 The Psalms were mostly written by a man named David. 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:56.240 David was a king in ancient Israel, and he's a man who God used to do great things, but he also made a bunch of major mistakes. 00:13:56.320 --> 00:13:58.399 And David was definitely a wrestler. 00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:00.000 He wasn't afraid to wrestle with God. 00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:01.440 Psalm 13, it's very short. 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:02.960 Just let me read this to you. 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:06.879 O Lord, how long will you forget me? 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:08.080 Forever? 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:11.519 How long will you look the other way? 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:16.240 How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:19.200 How long will my enemy have the upper hand? 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:21.840 Turn and answer me, O Lord my God. 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:24.960 Restore the light to my eyes, or I will die. 00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:28.080 Don't let my enemies gloat, saying, We have defeated him. 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:30.159 Don't let them rejoice at my downfall. 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:34.159 But then he says, This I trust in your unfailing love. 00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:37.039 I will rejoice because you've rescued me. 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:41.519 I will sing to the Lord because he has been so good to me. 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:43.519 What's going on here? 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:48.720 This is David writing out a wrestling match he's having with God of sorts. 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:50.399 He's struggling with God. 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:52.320 He is he's battling with God. 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:55.279 He's trying to come to terms, trying to grapple with what's going on in his life. 00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:56.720 He's going through a dark time. 00:14:56.799 --> 00:14:58.799 And he begins by accusing God. 00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:01.360 He's like, God, how long are you going to forget me? 00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:03.600 How long are you going to turn and look the other way? 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:05.360 Maybe you felt like that before. 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:11.759 Like God isn't watching, like God isn't protecting you, like God is allowing things to happen to you or happen around you that shouldn't be happening. 00:15:11.840 --> 00:15:12.960 And you're like, God, what are you doing? 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:14.559 Are you asleep at the wheel? 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:15.600 What's going on? 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:17.600 Why aren't you doing what you've promised to do? 00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:18.720 That's wrestling with God. 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:21.360 Sometimes we feel like maybe we don't have permission to do that. 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:22.240 We do. 00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:24.240 Because David does that. 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:31.679 And the result of his wrestling with God, the result of that inner struggle that he's having with the Lord, is that his perspective changes. 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:36.559 Just like Jacob got a new name, David gets a new perspective. 00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:40.000 And he says, My God is the God of unfailing love. 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:40.879 He's encouraged. 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:42.240 He's lifted up. 00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:49.440 But if he didn't go to the depths of his heart and his soul with God, he never would have reached those heights. 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:54.159 He wrestled with God and it changed him. 00:15:54.720 --> 00:15:59.440 There's an amazing story in 1 Samuel chapter 1 of a woman named Hannah. 00:15:59.679 --> 00:16:03.519 Hannah ends up being the mother of a man named Samuel, and Samuel is a prophet. 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:04.879 He's a great man. 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:08.639 Hannah, before Samuel was born, can't have kids. 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:11.200 And it's something that brings her a tremendous amount of shame. 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:15.200 And every year she goes to this temple and she wrestles with God there. 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:22.480 She cries out and she prays with anguish in her heart and her soul for what she desperately desires, which is to be a mother. 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:31.679 And it says, Once, when they were at Shiloh, that's where they would go to pray, Hannah went over to the tabernacle after supper to pray to the Lord. 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:38.799 Eli the priest was sitting at his customary place beside the entrance, and Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord. 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:45.200 And she made this vahu, Lord Almighty, if you will look down upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I'll give him back to you. 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:47.120 He'll be yours for his entire lifetime. 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:50.480 And as a sign that he's been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut. 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:52.639 She's bargaining with God, she's wrestling with God. 00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:56.639 She's trying to say, God, what do I have to do to have my heart's desire fulfilled? 00:16:56.799 --> 00:17:02.159 Maybe you feel like God hasn't fulfilled a promise that you feel like he's made to you. 00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:09.119 Maybe you feel like there's something missing in your life, and you look around and other people have it and you don't, and you're crying out in your heart, like, God, why? 00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:10.720 Why is this missing? 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:14.400 Sometimes maybe we feel like we can't even ask that question, but Hannah does. 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:15.359 She's wrestling with God. 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:17.119 She's asking him why. 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:21.839 As she was praying to the Lord, Eli watched her, seeing her lips moving, but hearing no sound. 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:22.880 He thought she'd been drinking. 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:28.640 She's praying and acting so intense that he thinks she's under the influence. 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:31.119 And so he says, Must you come here drunk? 00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:32.319 Throw away your wine. 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:34.400 And oh no, sir, she replied, I'm not drunk. 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:35.599 I'm just very sad. 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:37.599 And I was pouring out my heart to the Lord. 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:39.119 Please don't think I'm a wicked woman. 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:41.039 I've been praying out of great anguish and sorrow. 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:42.559 In that case, Eli said, Cheer up. 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:45.279 May the Lord of Israel grant your request that you've asked for. 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:47.279 And God ends up doing that. 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:52.160 But it comes through a period of struggle, a period of wrestling. 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:54.799 Even Jesus wrestled with God. 00:17:55.680 --> 00:17:59.039 You can read about it late in Matthew, Matthew chapter 26. 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:00.480 Jesus is praying. 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:02.960 And he's about to get arrested and go to the cross. 00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:04.640 And what's he doing right before he gets arrested? 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:06.319 He wrestles with God. 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:09.839 He says, God, is there any other way? 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:15.039 Father, is there any way that this suffering that I'm about to go through, is there any way that it can be skipped? 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:16.480 There's got to be another way. 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:20.079 And then he ends up praying, God, not my will, but your will. 00:18:20.160 --> 00:18:25.440 But see that prayer that he had, that wrestling match that he had with God, that's what gave him the peace. 00:18:25.599 --> 00:18:27.519 To be able to say, I accept your will. 00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:29.759 If he hadn't wrestled with God, he may have not gotten there. 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:31.920 My point is that we've got to be wrestlers. 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:33.200 God is looking for wrestlers. 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:41.039 He would rather you engage with him, even if it means fighting with him, struggling with him, questioning him. 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:44.960 He would rather you do that than ignore him. 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:48.400 God is looking for wrestlers. 00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:58.559 And if we want to have our hearts changed, if we want to become the new people that he wants to create us into, he wants to recreate a new person out of all of us. 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:04.079 It's one of the sort of interesting half-truths of our culture, especially church culture in America. 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:08.400 It's very common to hear someone say, I know God loves me just the way I am, and he just wants me to be myself. 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:12.000 And the real answer is God absolutely loves you exactly the way you are. 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:15.279 You don't have to change a single thing about yourself for God to love you. 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:18.720 But don't believe for a second that he wants you to stay just the way you are. 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:20.400 God wants to transform you. 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:22.720 He wants to make you into a new person. 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:25.920 He literally wants to make us new creations. 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:30.559 But that's a that's a wrestling match type process. 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:32.799 That's not an instant change. 00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:40.319 It's something that happens as we engage with God and we engage with him in our joy and we engage with him in our frustration, our anxieties, and our sorrows. 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:44.400 We've got to be people who wrestle with God because God is looking for wrestlers. 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:56.160 And if you want to be shaped into the person he created you to be, if 2021 is going to be a year for you where you grow more into the person that God's created you to be, you're going to have to be willing to engage with God and to wrestle. 00:19:56.240 --> 00:20:00.400 But hear me when I say this, very few people are willing to do that. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:05.759 Because most people just hate tension. 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:08.400 And wrestling is all about tension. 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:12.640 Wrestling is constant tension. 00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:19.680 I mentioned earlier my wrestling experience, just being a guy and having brothers and a dad and kids. 00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:24.799 The only other wrestling experience I have is my roommate in college was a wrestler. 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:27.519 And he had actually wrestled in high school and was really good. 00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:34.720 And we used to kind of all goof around in the in the dorm in college and joke around and kind of fight a little bit, you know, guys being guys. 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:38.240 And one day he made the statement that no one can beat up a wrestler. 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:41.440 And that sort of was like a challenge to all the other guys around. 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:42.880 And we said, okay, let's go. 00:20:43.039 --> 00:20:48.319 And so we all kind of had this like we we all basically had a play fight as grown men. 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:49.119 Just don't judge me. 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:50.240 It's just it's a guy thing. 00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:55.680 And uh and I remember going against John, my roommate, and he got me into this like position. 00:20:55.759 --> 00:21:00.319 Like he twisted my arm behind my back and pinned me to the ground. 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:05.920 And I remember thinking to myself, I've never felt pain in every part of my body at the same time. 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:08.400 And my body couldn't even figure out how to get out of it. 00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:10.559 Like that's how much tension there was there, and I hated it. 00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:11.920 And so I tapped out. 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:12.720 That's what you do, right? 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:16.160 You submit, you tap out because you don't like the tension. 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:21.279 Most people live their lives trying to avoid all the tension. 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:26.000 We're people that tend to crave personal security and comfort. 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:31.200 Don't avoid tension with God. 00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:33.440 Don't do it. 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:38.400 Not for a second, because the tension is actually what leads to transformation. 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:44.000 Without the tension, you won't experience the transformation. 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:47.759 Do not avoid tension with God. 00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:54.799 Here's actually something that a lot of people do, and I've seen it happen so many times over the last 20 plus years of being a Jesus follower. 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:57.119 I've seen it happen even in people that I've considered friends. 00:21:57.440 --> 00:22:05.359 When people have a lot of tension with God, And they begin that wrestling process way too early, way too early. 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:16.799 Instead of going through that with God and letting God use that tension to shape them, they end up creating a God of their own making that they don't have to wrestle with anymore. 00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:21.759 They end up just altering their view of God and saying, okay, well, I don't see God that way anymore. 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:22.799 Now I see God this way. 00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:37.599 And they create this sort of version of God that never disagrees with them, that his views line completely and totally up with their views of the world, with their views of themselves, and they've created a God that they don't have to wrestle with. 00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:42.079 They've eliminated the tension from their relationship with God. 00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:47.119 And it feels great, but it has no ability to transform you. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:51.359 Don't create a God of your own making that agrees with you on everything. 00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:55.440 That God will never be able to change you because that God isn't real. 00:22:55.839 --> 00:22:59.920 No, the real God, there's gonna be times that you disagree with him. 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:03.440 The real God, there's gonna be times that you don't understand what he's doing. 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:10.640 The real God, there's gonna be times where you have no idea why he's going about things the way that he is, but he's God and we're not. 00:23:11.440 --> 00:23:27.839 And if we'll be willing to be people who hold on to him in those moments, who don't let go, who don't quickly tap out the moment we feel tension and settle for some version of God that isn't real, but man, it's nice because I don't ever have to disagree with that God. 00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:35.759 If we'll hold on to that God that we sometimes disagree with, sometimes we don't understand, we'll be transformed. 00:23:37.440 --> 00:23:39.599 Just like Jacob was transformed in Israel. 00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:40.400 And yeah, you know what? 00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:41.920 He had a little bit of a limp. 00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:45.039 I mean, maybe he should have submitted to God just a little bit sooner. 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:48.400 I don't know, but the point is, Jacob held on to God. 00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:51.519 I heard a pastor say this years ago about Jacob. 00:23:51.599 --> 00:23:52.720 I've said this before. 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:56.240 If you read his story, he's not a very admirable person. 00:23:57.039 --> 00:24:01.200 He's a terrible son, he's a terrible brother, he's a pretty terrible dad. 00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:09.519 And sometimes it's hard to look at Jacob and go, why in the world did God choose that guy to be his namesake for his people in the Old Testament? 00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:09.759 Why? 00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:12.480 There's so many better candidates. 00:24:13.519 --> 00:24:23.680 And I heard this pastor say the one thing about Jacob was that he would have rather died holding on to God than have lived letting go of God. 00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:29.359 The moment the pastor said that, I was like, ooh, wow, okay, that was that's big. 00:24:29.680 --> 00:24:38.720 He would rather have died holding on to God, wrestling with God, grappling with God, than have let go and lived the rest of his life going, man, what if? 00:24:41.359 --> 00:24:44.960 Your expectations determine your experience in life. 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:54.880 And if the experience you desire is one with no tension, no discomfort, don't wrestle with God. 00:24:55.200 --> 00:25:00.559 Make up a God of your own making and worship that God, but just know that that God will never transform you. 00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:06.000 That God will never be able to do the things in your life that the real God can do. 00:25:06.079 --> 00:25:07.119 Because that God isn't real. 00:25:07.200 --> 00:25:08.400 You made that God up. 00:25:09.839 --> 00:25:27.440 But if you expect and desire to be transformed, to be made new, to become the person you were meant to be, if you can look at yourself like I'm looking at myself right now, not literally like this is a figurative looking at myself and going, there's things that need to change, there's ways I need to grow, there's things I need to be so much better at. 00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:35.119 The way that happens is not just me trying harder and doing more, it's letting God change me. 00:25:35.359 --> 00:25:40.400 And that's going to happen by engaging with God, that's gonna happen by wrestling with God. 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:44.400 The tension is what creates the transformation. 00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:48.319 In fact, we sang a song earlier, New Wine. 00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:54.079 In the crushing and in the pressing, God's making new wine. 00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:57.359 God wants to do new things in your life. 00:25:57.519 --> 00:25:59.599 He wants to take you places you haven't been before. 00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:06.400 He wants to take you into a place and a depth with him that you haven't been before, but that's only gonna happen if you're if you're willing to wrestle with him. 00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:13.440 So no matter how much tension, no matter how much struggle, hold on. 00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:16.960 Expect to wrestle with God this year. 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:18.720 And when that wrestling happens, you won't be caught off guard. 00:26:18.799 --> 00:26:20.640 You're like, oh, I thought this was gonna happen. 00:26:20.799 --> 00:26:24.880 And hold on and wrestle and struggle and do not give up and do not tap out. 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:33.759 Live your life holding tightly to God, and you will experience everything that He has planned for you. 00:26:34.319 --> 00:26:37.519 And he has good things planned for your life.