What Does It Take to be Transformed?
Genesis 32:22-32
Gladys Dunn was new in town and decided to visit the church nearest to her new apartment. She enjoyed the pretty sanctuary and the singing by the congregation, but the sermon went on and on. Worse, it wasn't very interesting. Glancing around, she saw many in the congregation nodding off. Finally it was over. After the service, she turned to a still sleepy-looking gentleman next to her, extended her hand and said, "I'm Gladys Dunn.” He replied, "You and me both!”
Have you ever been asked this question: “If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?” Even though change isn’t something that gets embraced all to well (esp. at church), most of us are actually interested in change. More importantly, God is interested in change.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Rom. 12:2).
A life that is never transformed is a great tragedy…it’s a wasted life. The fact of the matter is that transformation is a necessary part of spiritual maturity, and we need transformation if we’re going to continue growing in our walk with the Lord.
Usually, the transformation that most people experience is short-lived. Maybe we will be different for a little while, but it doesn’t have a permanent effect. That’s because instead of working on our true motives…what’s on the inside, we try to change the exterior, our outside behavior. But any lasting change must begin on the inside, and that’s a work of God.
In our passage this morning, we’re going to take a look at the process God often uses in helping us to become the kind of people He wants for us to be. This is truly an encouraging message…a message that says that we don’t have to stay in the valley; that God will help us transform, to overcome that weakness in our life. The passage that I’m talking about involves a guy by the name of Jacob, and his situation recorded for us in Genesis 32 was a turning point for him.
If you know anything about Jacob you know that he was pretty much a shady character. In fact, even his name means “cheater” or “schemer” in Hebrew. But this life-changing experience transformed him into a new person, and his name was changed to Israel…the name which was eventually used to name an entire nation. After that experience, Jacob was never the same again. He was indeed a new creation.
Read Text
In this passage, we find Jacob all alone at night, wrestling with God until sunrise. You might be wondering, “What does a wrestling match that happened several thousand years ago have to do with transforming me today?” There are some important insights here that clearly define the four steps required for transformation. You just have to be willing to allow God to do it.
1. Crisis
The first step is crisis. Jacob had this extremely long wrestling match with God, and he was struggling to say the least. I mean, can you imagine what it would be like wrestling with God? Logan and I will wrestle around on the floor for fun every once in a while and so I imagine it would be kind of like that. Jacob was at a major disadvantage; God was just toying with him. And so by the time the sun came out, Jacob was wore out! It was a situation that was beyond his control.
So the lesson we see here is that when God wants to transform us, He gets our attention by putting us in a frustrating situation that is completely beyond our control. We can’t win and we just keep getting more and more tired in the struggle. Because of our hard-headedness, God often has to use unpleasant situations in order to get our attention. So if you’re experiencing a difficulty right now, God may be getting you ready for transformation.
The first step required for transformation is to become fed up with your current situation. You can’t change if you are enjoying your sin. I talk to people all the time who say they want to change but their actions tell me something different. Until you get uncomfortable and become miserable enough with your situation, you’re not going to be motivated to allow God do something in your life. Transformation won’t come until your fear of change is outweighed by the pain you’re experiencing.
2. Commitment (Vv. 25-26)
The second step in the process of transformation is commitment. God, in what I imagine was a condescending tone, asked to be let go. Again, it’s kind of like me wrestling Logan. Sometimes I’ll ask him to let me go, but I could easily get him to let me go if I wanted to be free. In the same way, God could’ve easily freed Himself but He chose not to.
Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me” (Gen. 32:26). He was persistent. He was in a situation that was uncomfortable for him; he didn’t like it one bit. It was frustrating for him and it was getting him down, but he was committed in the fact that he didn’t give up until God turned it around for his good.
Here’s the lesson we gain from this: After God gets our attention through a problem, He doesn’t always solve it immediately. Sometimes, He waits a little while to see whether or not we’re really serious about transformation.
You see, most people miss God’s blessings in their lives because they give up too soon; they become discouraged. When God allows a problem in their lives, instead of hanging in there and saying, “God, I’m not going to let go of this until You bless me, until You turn it around,” they give up and as a result, they miss God’s blessing.
Transformation is a process. No matter how badly we may want to experience change in our lives, we need to remember that we didn’t get into our backslidden condition overnight. Our attitudes, actions, habits, fears, and weaknesses took years to develop. And sometimes, God has to remove them one layer at a time. But whatever you do, don’t give up. There is hope, but you have to be committed in order to get God’s best for your life.
3. Confession (v. 27)
The third step in the process of transformation is confession. Why did you think God asked Jacob what his name was? I think that by having Jacob state his name, God was getting Jacob to acknowledge his character. Remember earlier, I pointed out that Jacob’s name means “cheater” or “schemer.”
This caused Jacob to remember the pain he had caused through his scheming ways against his brother Esau. So when God asked, “What are you really like? What’s your character?” Jacob’s reply was, “I’m a cheater. I’m a schemer.” Even though Jacob may have been a cheater and a schemer, at least he was able to be honest about it.
This is an important part of God’s process for transformation, because we will never change until we’re honest about our faults, our sins, our weaknesses, and our mistakes. If most people were honest they’d say, “You know what God? I don’t want to change. I just wish you would take your rules and go somewhere.” Now that may seem a little harsh, but it’s the truth. And it’s better than denial. God already knows exactly how you feel, and He’s not going to help you with your problem if you can’t admit that you have a problem. What’s so bad about saying, “God, I’ve messed up. I have a problem, and I’m not afraid to admit it.”?
Instead, what we usually do is make excuses for our problems. We’ve become experts at blaming other people, saying things like “It’s not my fault, it’s just the way I was raised.” Or we might say, “If everyone were just a little more like me then we wouldn’t be in this mess.” Why do we think and act this way? Because it’s difficult to admit fault in ourselves, and it can be scary to ask for help. But once we do, God will give us all His resources and power to help us transform.
This is where the process of transformation really starts to show; this is the point when we can really start to become the kind of people that God is calling us to be. Better to learn now, than to learn later. Because God is going to teach us one way or the other…the easy way, or the hard way. We can save ourselves a lot of heartache by confessing early on in the restoration process.
4. Cooperation (v. 30)
The fourth step in the transformation process is cooperation. God began changing Jacob as soon as he admitted who he was and finally began to cooperate with God’s plan. Jacob had come face to face with God.
Eventually, every one of us are going to come face to face with God. And if we decide to trust Him, God will transform us. God was saying to Jacob, “Now we can get down to business. I just want you to trust Me, and I will transform you. I will bless you.”
God didn’t say, “Jacob, try real hard and do everything you can do to become perfect.” That doesn’t work, and God knows it. We can’t make permanent changes in our lives through our own efforts. That only works on outside. You can make yourself appear to have it all together on the outside but it’s your internal motivation that makes transformation permanent. And that’s a work that only God can do.
Only God knows how to bring out the best in your life, and He knows how to do it better than you. If you let Him, He will use whatever it takes to accomplish this goal, because He doesn’t want you to waste this life that He’s given you. If you want God’s best for your life then take that situation that’s making you miserable right now and surrender it to God. Say, “God, I’m giving this to You because I can’t do anything with it.” Then confess the things that you need to confess, and cooperate with God.
Read v. 31
We read earlier that while they had been wrestling, Jacob’s hip had been dislocated causing him to walk with a limp for the rest of his life. This is important, because that thigh muscle is one of the most powerful muscles in the human body. When God had to get Jacob’s attention, He touched him at a point of strength. So when you start thinking, “I’m really good at this, or I’m really strong in that area” be careful, because that might be the very thing that God has to touch in order to get your attention.
Because of Jacob’s reputation as a cheater and a schemer, he stayed in a lot of trouble. But every time he got himself into a mess, he ran away from it. Well, God came up with a solution. He said, “I know how to take care of that…I’ll put a limp in his walk.” Never again could Jacob run away from a difficult situation. For the rest of his life, he would have to stand and face his problems…but not in his own strength, in God’s strength.
Do you want God to transform your life? He will, but let me warn you…He’s going to do it in His own way, and usually that involves crisis, commitment, confession, and cooperation. But when God does the changing in your life, it’s a permanent transformation. No longer will you have to worry about things like willpower and sticking with it because you will surrender that stuff to God, trusting Him to handle those things for you.
Maybe you’ve been limiting God in your life by making excuses or blaming other people. I know…it’s hard to take off your mask and say, “God, I have a weakness. I have a problem.” But until you do, your situation will remain the same as it is now.
So here’s what I want you to walk away with this morning: underneath all those things about yourself that you may not like, God sees an Israel. He sees your true worth. He sees who you can become. He sees your potential, and he wants to transform you from a Jacob to an Israel.
Let God make the transformation in your life today!
