Mount Zion Baptist Church

What are you Wrestling with, with God?

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Sermon Date: March 24, 2019

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Summary

Pastor Boyd preached a message out of Genesis 32:22-32 titled What are you Wrestling with, with God?

 

Background

• What are you wrestling with?  Prayer,  Your marriage,  Bible study, Tithing,  Your health, Family issues, Your job,  Unforgiving spirit, Pride, Lustful desires, addiction, etc.  Whatever your are wrestling with, God can deliver you from it (Matt 11:28).

  
Main Points

• Jacob had struggled all his life

  • Struggled to be the firstborn

  • Struggled with his birthright

  • Struggled with his brother Esau

  • Struggled with his father in stealing the blessings from his brother

  • Struggled with his uncle​

• The fact that the match lasted until day is significant:

  • Darkness symbolizes Jacob's situation and his fearfulness. God instructed Jacob to return home where he knew Esau was angry and wanted to kill him. 

  • Sometimes God will send you back to the mess you caused. 

  • Jacob could not return home the same way he left. He needed to have an encounter with God first.

  • If Jacob perceived he was in a battle with God, he would have never wrestled with that man. God, 'the man,' initiated contact with Jacob.​

• A man wrestled with Jacob:

  • Jacob tries to find out the identity of this angel with whom he wrestled. 

  • Jacob did not give up the fight until God blessed him.​

• Jacob held on until he got his blessing:

  • God gives Jacob a new name because he is different after the encounter. 

  • You cannot be in the presence of God and not change.​