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catcher.” He came out of the womb grabbing Esau’s
heel. Esau was born first and out comes Jacob,
right behind him grabbing that heel. Esau wasn’t
supposed to be born first in Jacob’s mind—they wrestled
in the womb: “And by God, I’ll make it hard for him to
get out!” That was his life story until he ran his
string out, and returning to face the music in that
famous night when he wrestled all night with the angel
he was finally reduced to a cripple, as the angel
touched his thigh and he could not fight back anymore.
All he could do is hang on. And then the angel
changed his nature, changed his name from Jacob,
‘heel-catcher,’ to ‘Israel.’ Is-ra-el: ‘a prince
that has power with God,’ but literally it translates
El, or ‘God-governed.’ Governed by God—a new
power was in control. That’s what’s being said
here.
Whatever darkness you’re facing, the first reaction is
to solve the problem ourself—to start striking matches,
kindling the flame, building a fire to drive the
darkness out—using nothing but our own God-given talent
and moving ahead of God to solve the problem our way.
I’ve been preaching this for the last many weeks.
You commit your way to the Lord, you rest and wait
patiently—you rest and wait patiently. What is
promised here is certain. I don’t care how
dedicated you are to God, how good you are, how hard
you’re trying to do what’s right, part of the journey is
gonna include darkness—situation that moves in and
clouds out the eyesight. And if you start flailing
away, building your own fires, your own fleshly
instruments of deliverance, your own talent as the only
solution, if you start going every direction at once,
cross the road to the grocery store before you know what
God wants ordered, then you’re gonna “walk in the light
of your own fire.” You’re gonna get light that you
produce and no more. And “ye shall lie down in
sorrow.” I don’t know how to say it plainer.
I don’t want to preach the whole message on this. |
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There has to be built-in to the Christian life—to those
that have come to believe in the invisible presence of
God with us at all times—there has to be built-in that
limp of Jacob or that pause. Or as I’ve said it
for 20 years, shove the matchboxes a little bit out of
reach until it takes a little more effort to start
lighting your own fire. I’m speaking figurative
language. Christianity is not a life that we
direct with God as a handy bellhop on the rare occasions
when we can’t do it ourselves. Christianity is a
way, it’s a walk, it’s a journey; it’s a lifestyle that
recognizes and commits to an invisible presence.
He’s always there. You didn’t have to make the
commitment to create his presence. But whereas the
world, the flesh, and the devil will crowd in on us,
possess us, take control of us, God’s Spirit’s a gentle
spirit. He doesn’t presume. He isn’t going
to help those that don’t invite Him. He really is
not a great admirer of the self-reliant, and if you
wanna strike your own matches, solve your own problems,
build your own fire, light your own darkness, He’ll let
you. And that’s what a lot of you been doing, and
that’s what Gene Scott does most of the time but I’m
getting smarter.
Shove the matchbox out of reach! Jacob walked with
a limp the rest of his life to remind him he was
God-governed. Let God call the shots instead of
creating a mess for God to undo. That’s not the
way out of darkness. Darkness comes. What
not to do? Hey, listen to God, He doesn’t speak,
then go ahead and light a match. But stop making
our floundering effort, our spinning of the wheels, our
frantic tension, our nervousness, our felt need to
deliver ourselves the first act. I ain’t gonna
waste any more time on it. If you haven’t got it
by now, good-bye!
What do you do then if you don’t do that? Well,
you pause long enough, before you start lighting your
own fire in the midst of |
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