Introduction
The theme of this month has been Recovery. Recovery of our way back to God when we have wandered far. Recovery of hope in the midst of significant health battles. Recovery of faith as Sarah teaches us that when it seems there is no way, God makes a way. Recover your determination. Jacob’s story is a great place to spend some time talking about recovering our determination to follow God.
Genesis 32 - Jacob is appealing to God when he doesn’t have it in himself to keep going. Corrine Carvalho summarizes, “In Genesis, Jacob is repeatedly depicted as a schemer. He convinces his brother to sell him his right to inherit as the eldest son (25:29-34), and with the help of his mother, he tricks his father into giving him his brother’s blessing (27:1-40). He tricks Laban, his father-in-law, in order to receive the wages he had earned (30:37-43). These manipulations left him estranged from his family. As this story opens, Jacob has brought his large family back to this ancestral land, but he fears that his brother is seeking revenge. Jacob leaves his family to face his brother alone.”
Jacob has made a mess of his life. Wealthy, but having shredded his relationships to pieces. Fearful that Esau would hunt him down and kill him. Afraid that his father-in-law would kill him after he dealt deceptively with him. He had been deceived/deceived others- he earned his name. Jacob means deceiver. Today we notice four keys to determination.
1. Determine to Trust God’s Promise
Genesis 32:9 Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.’
This is Jacob’s admission that he’s run out of steam. His own plans and schemes have failed him. The first step in AA’s well-known approach is the admission that we need recovery in our lives: “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.”
Romans 7:18 “For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it.”
There is no road to recovery without this admission. You can substitute your struggle for the word alcohol if that is not your fight - but we all have a fight. Determination is not about our power, but a higher power - the
power of God who can keep every promise.
2. Determine to Trust God’s Rescue
Genesis 32:10-11 I am not worthy of all the faithful love you have shown your servant. With only my walking stick I crossed the Jordan, but now I have become two camps. Rescue me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children.
Jacob realizes that nothing he has done has panned out like he planned it. Now he is two camps - He is about to send all of his family and flocks to the other side of the river, and he is alone. He has been so full of himself. He is unworthy of God’s kindness.
Psalm 13:2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
We all have to come to the point of recognizing our unworthiness of all that God has done for us. Jacob acknowledges need of God’s rescue. All of us have made choices that resulted in messes that were hard on ourselves and others. Will God rescue us from these troubles?
It’s not hard to make a mess of things in our lives. Bad financial decisions, unhappy family decisions, numbing the pain with a variety of substances or actions; reactions to some of the problems in life we face. Ultimately we have to look up to God for hope and lean in.
Romans 12:1 “Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God—which is your reasonable service.”
3. Determine to Trust God’s Blessing
Genesis 32:24-30 So Jacob was left alone. Then a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he could not defeat Jacob, he struck the socket of his hip so the socket of Jacob’s hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” “I will not let you go,” Jacob replied, “unless you bless me.” The man asked him, “What is your name?” He answered, “Jacob.” “No longer will your name be Jacob,” the man told him, “but Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked, “Please tell me your name.” “Why do you ask my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, explaining, “Certainly I have seen God face to face and have survived.”
A mysterious story - wrestling with God! But this is what recovery is - it is seeking God’s blessing as we struggle. This story seems to me about redeeming Jacob - represented by giving him a new name. As the sixth step says, “We are entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.”
This story seems to me about redeeming Jacob - represented by giving him a new name. As the sixth step says, “We are entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.”
Romans 3:23-24 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
We are not just believing in ourselves but in a powerful God who is able even when we do not feel able.
4. Determine to Receive God's Healing.
God gave Jacob’s a new name, Israel, which means “He struggles with God.” He didn’t reject Jacob for struggling, and he won’t reject us for struggling. Jacob wasn’t perfect, but when he faced this last battle
of getting his life together, he found new life from God.
Luke 5:12-13 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came to him who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he bowed down with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” So he stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing. Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.
If you ever wonder if God will help you, hear Jesus: I Am Willing.
Conclusion
God is calling you to a new life today. Don’t ignore the blessing God wants to give you.
Are you wrestling with doubt? Addiction? Terrible habits? Thoughts? God wants to release us from the messy mistakes of our past through grace and forgiveness based on the blood of Jesus.
The last battle of recovery is the battle with God. When we have hurt everyone around us, ourselves, and our own decisions have caused a lot of pain we can’t resolve, it’s time to face the One who loves us relentlessly.
When we have repaired our relationship with God, we have the strength we need to overcome.
Nobody does that perfectly but we need His help to make it long-term in our lives.
Let’s leave today saying with Jacob, “I have seen God face to face!”
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The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous*
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable. (Romans 7:18)
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. (Philippians 2:13)
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. (Romans 12:1)
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. (Lamentations 3:40)
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. (James 6:16)
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. (James 4:10)
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. (1 John 1:9)
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. (Luke 6:31)
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. (Matthew 5:23-24)
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. (1 Corinthians 10:12)
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. (Colossians 3:16)
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. (Galatians 6:1)
*The Twelve Steps do not have Scriptures attached, those are added for further spiritual thought.
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Discussion Questions
LifeGroup Questions
1. Jacob’s life is not one we would admire. Why do you think God
chooses to use such a corrupt individual to ultimately bring about
such an influential nation? How does this give us hope in light of
our own mistakes, addictions, and messes?
2. What do you make of Jacob’s demand for a blessing from God
during this wrestling match? What does this teach us about
prayer?
3. What were you doing 20 years ago? In this text, Jacob was
deceiving his father-in-law and fleeing for his life. What would be
the advice about living life for God you would give yourself 20
years ago if you could go back in time?
4. The sermon today referred to wrestling with God as “the Last
battle of Recovery”. In what way is a relationship with God the
final piece of the puzzle for overcoming our struggles? In what
way is it true that we will always battle?
5. Jacob refuses to let go of his opponent until he receives a
blessing. What can we learn from Jacob's determination and
persistence in seeking God's blessing? How does this relate to
our own faith journeys?
6. Discuss how this story highlights God's faithfulness to His
promises, even when we may doubt or struggle. How does it
encourage us to trust in God's plans for our lives?
7. When Jacob and Esau meet (not in our text), there is no bitterness
in Esau. They embrace and weep to be back together. What are
the real keys to forgiveness when a family member's bad
decisions have caused a rift? What are the boundaries that might
need to be in place?
8. How does this story teach us to view those who are wrestling with
God / struggling in their walk with the Lord?
9. What else did you see in this text that you wanted to talk about?
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Resources
God’s Role in Recovery
https://www.goodencenter.org/gods-role-in-recovery/
Wrestling with God and Surrendering Our Weakness
https://roadtorecoveryandredemption.wordpress.com/2015/07/12/wrestling-with-god-surrendering-our-weaknesses/
Wrestling With God - Nathan Aaseng
http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=2111
Jacob Becomes Israel - Kevin Ruffcorn
http://asanefaith.com/jacob-becomes-israel/
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