Although We Wrestle

I would like for you to turn your attention to the book of Ephesians and find with me chapter 6, and once you find chapter 6 would you be so kind, if your able, to stand with me in honor of God’s Word. I will be reading our verse today from the King James Version and find with me verse 12. Hear the words of the Lord.. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Now turn with me to the book of Psalms and find with me, Psalm 65. From Psalm 65, find verse 3. 3 Though we are overwhelmed by our sins, you forgive them all. Father, I thank You for Your wonderful presence. May Your Word be planted deep in our spirit. Strengthen us to meditate on Your Word and build our life upon the rock of Your truth. In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.

First, I want to apologize to anyone who may be new here today, because this isn’t a normal Sunday message. I had planned on preaching on the Shema in Deuteronomy this week—that was my plan. But sometimes the Lord presses something heavier on your heart, something you just can’t ignore. And this week, with everything happening in our nation and in our communities, I’ve felt the Lord asking me to pause, to set aside my plan, and to speak directly into the weight we’re all carrying. So if you’re visiting, please know—you’re walking in on a family moment. A moment where we’re not pretending life is easy or that faith is neat and tidy, but a moment where we’re opening God’s Word together and looking for His voice in the middle of our wrestling and overwhelmed life. And my prayer is that even in a heavy message, you’ll see the hope and presence of Jesus. So with that said, let’s restart with this thought… The love of Christ was always evident in the heart of those who love Him. That’s where everything begins. Christ’s love is alive in His people. Paul says in Romans 5:5, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” That means if you belong to Jesus, His love has already taken root in you. Even when you don’t feel it, even when you don’t see it, even when life is dark and overwhelming—His love has not left you. Sometimes it’s hard to recognize that love in ourselves. We doubt it. We second-guess. Maybe that’s why Jesus commanded us to love one another—because there are days we need our brothers and sisters in Christ to show us what we can’t see in the mirror. When a word of encouragement is spoken, when a prayer is lifted on your behalf, when someone sits with you in your pain—that’s Christ’s love in them spilling over into you. That’s His presence proving itself again and again. I’ll be honest with you—I wish I had a little meter inside me that showed how full I was of Jesus. Wouldn’t that be easier? A little gauge on your heart that tells you: “You’re running low—better spend some more time in prayer. You’re overflowing—keep pouring it out.” But that’s not how God designed it. Maybe that’s the beauty of faith. We don’t measure it by a meter. We learn it in the wrestling. We discover it when life overwhelms us. We find it when we keep turning back to Him, again and again.

And with that being said, let me just say something that might surprise you… I find comfort in Paul’s words found in our Scripture today. Paul writes, “We wrestle.” Its true.. At first, that doesn’t sound very comforting, does it? Who wants to wrestle? Who wants the struggle? But here’s why it comforts me—because it reminds me that wrestling is normal for the Christian life. It’s not a sign that something is wrong with you. It’s a sign that you belong to Christ in a world that’s still broken. Paul doesn’t say we stroll. He doesn’t say we coast. He says we wrestle. I think its Paul being honest with the readers because he’s naming what you and I already feel. We wrestle with questions. We wrestle with suffering. We wrestle with sin. We wrestle with things we can’t explain. Now, what do we want when we wrestle? Most of us want an explanation from God. Why this? Why now? Why us? Job asked those questions. His friends tried to answer. But when God finally speaks in Job 38–42, He doesn’t give Job an explanation—He gives him a revelation of Himself. And that changes everything. And that’s the shift we all need to see. When we cry out, “Why this? Why now? Why us? Why them? ”—God doesn’t always hand us an explanation. He hands us something greater: he says… here’s me.. he gives us Himself. Why? Because His power is greater than our suffering. What we learn in the book of Job is that through his suffering, God takes Job on a tour of creation: foundations of the earth, borders of the seas, storehouses of snow, paths of the lightning and he asks Job some pretty tough questions…in chapter 38, and verses 35… “Job, can you call the clouds to pour? Do the lightning bolts report to you?” In other words, I am God, and I am not small. Your life is not in the hands of chaos; it’s in the hands of the Creator. Remember last week… when we spoke on Genesis 1.. and we said the holy Spirit, before any words was spoken… was there. Brooding, hovering… over the nothingness and chaos, God was present. And we called that the inhale of God. Right now, we all are in that inhale. Before galaxies are spoken, theres presence. And all of our life… … I just believe… what God wants is for us to find him within all of our chaos… and focus on him… so that we can understand that in any moment that we wrestle with…he is there. To learn to rest in the inhale of God…. And… with anticipation….! Like, when we wrestle, we live so focused on Him, that we live in any moment with anticipation of… man.,.. I don’t understand… but I can’t wait to see how you bring glory to yourself through this… My heart is hurting.. I see others are hurting… but you’re will is so perfect, and you can see things I can not… so I will wait and trust in you…

That’s what Job does… and that’s how he answers God… Job confesses, “I know that You can do all things, and no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2) That’s a confession of power and purpose. God’s power is great, and His purpose is guaranteed. Now remember—Job is saying this without knowing everything we know as readers. He didn’t know about the conversation back in Job 1 and 2, when God allowed Satan to test him. He didn’t know the whole behind-the-scenes picture. And yet he still says, “No plan of Yours can be thwarted.” Even though he couldn’t see the reason, he trusted the God of purpose. And church, that’s the beauty for us—we do get to see the bigger picture. We see how Satan’s attacks could only end up serving God’s greater plan. That’s one of the loudest truths in this book: Satan’s attempts to harm God’s people only end up advancing God’s purposes. Think of the power in that statement. And what Paul says … In 2 Corinthians 12, he describes a thorn in the flesh, “a messenger of Satan.” He begged God to take it away. But instead of removing it, God spoke: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”What Satan meant to torment Paul only made Paul stronger in Christ. Think about Acts 7–8. When Stephen was stoned, persecution broke out. Satan must have been laughing—“I’ve got them now.” But what happened next? The church scattered, and everywhere they went they preached the gospel. Satan attacked, but God advanced His church. Think about the cross. Satan thought he’d won when Jesus was nailed to that tree—mocked, beaten, crucified. Darkness had its day. But three days later, the tomb was empty. What Satan meant to destroy became the very means of our salvation. Like… Take that, devil. You loser!!!! But here’s the truth: No one, can thwart the purpose of God. Not Satan, not suffering, not sin, not death itself. His plan stands. His purpose is guaranteed.So if God’s power is great, and His purpose is guaranteed, and His mercy is personal—what does that mean for us, right now, in our wrestling?

Well, that’s where we read these words… although we wrestle. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 that our battle is deeper than flesh and blood. People are not the enemy—darkness is. Which means our weapons can’t just be flesh and blood either. We don’t fight with anger. We don’t fight with arguments. We don’t fight with fists…. Listen, church… our fighting must be on our knees. That’s what we do and I know that is hard for all of us…. Because we are people of action. Right? We want to do something. And Paul says we do—he says in Ephesians 6:13–17 that we suit up. We put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit. We get to stand firm in the armor of God. That’s action. But notice what comes next. Verse 18. After you put on the armor, what do you do? What the first word in verse 18? Pray….. That’s the fight. And listen—this goes against so much of our cultural Christianity. We think the armor makes us warriors so we can charge out swinging. But I don’t believe that’s what Paul is saying here. The armor doesn’t make us strong so we can fight people—it makes us strong enough to fall to our knees and wrestle in prayer. That’s how we fight the darkness. That’s how we push back against the enemy. That’s how the church wins—not in our own strength, but in surrender to God in prayer. And my favorite part is this… verse 19. Paul says, “Pray also for me.” Now listen—what does he ask prayer for? For his suffering to stop? No. For his chains to be broken? No. He says, “Pray for me, that words may be given to me when I open my mouth, so that I will boldly proclaim the mystery of the gospel. His prayer was for others to pray for him, to be bold in the gospel…. Oh man church.. can you imagine a church that prays for one another? Not just, “Lord, keep them safe” or “Lord, make life easier,” but, “Lord, give them boldness. Lord, give them words. Lord, let them shine Christ in their homes, in their workplaces, in their neighborhoods.” Can you imagine a church where parents are praying boldness over their kids at school, where students are praying boldness for each other in their friend groups, where we’re praying boldness for one another in hospital rooms and at kitchen tables? That’s the kind of church that shakes a community. And I pray… that we, right here in Falcon, would be that kind of church. How amazing would it be if, in a town full of churches and denominations, people looked at us and said, “That’s the church that prays. That’s the church where bold prayers rise up. That’s the church that doesn’t just talk about Jesus—they call on Him with everything they’ve got.” Church, what if we were known, not for our programs, not for our building, not for our name—but for being a people of radical prayer? And prayer, not for prosperity, not for more blessings, but prayer that says: “Lord, restore what is broken for Your name’s sake.” Isn’t that the heart of Job? Lets go back to Job for a moment… When, You read the end of Job and you see restoration. His health restored, his family renewed, his possessions doubled. Some people look at that and say, “Well, that’s the point—trust God and you’ll get your stuff back.” But that’s not the point. That doesn’t erase Job’s pain. That doesn’t minimize ten graves in the ground. That doesn’t undo the scars. Restoration doesn’t mean the suffering never happened. Job’s story isn’t about getting even—it’s about God having the last word. And that’s what the Spirit is whispering to us today: suffering does not have the last word. Cancer doesn’t. Tragedy doesn’t. Violence doesn’t. School shootings don’t. Not even death itself has the last word. God has the last word. The cross doesn’t have the last word……resurrection does. And the beauty of the gospel is that for the people of God, suffering is never the end. God is the end. And He is always the last word. Which means our eternal response is not endless grief. Our eternal response is endless adoration. Forever, we will rejoice in Him. Forever, we will see Him face to face. Forever, every tear will be wiped away. The question is—do you know that for sure? Do you know that when this life is over, you will spend eternity with Him, free from sin, sorrow, sickness, pain, and suffering? The only way to know for sure is through the gospel—through trusting Christ who suffered in your place and rose again to give you life. But let’s be honest… until that day comes, we still feel the weight of life here. We still wrestle. We still get overwhelmed. That’s why I think of David’s song in Psalm 65 that we read earlier.

David said, “Though we are overwhelmed by our sins, You forgive them all.” Isn’t that what we need to hear today? Not that we won’t ever feel overwhelmed, but that in the middle of it, there is forgiveness. There is mercy. There is hope. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wrestled with life and felt overwhelmed. There’s another place in the book of Psalms that David tells of being overwhelmed…and it’s found in Psalm 94. David laments, “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” Psalm 94:19 (ESV) ”The word “consolation” means “a person or thing providing comfort to a person who has suffered.” I think… back at Paul in Ephesians… he had comfort in asking for others to pray for him, and I believe in knowing that they would pray for him. As I wrestle with deep issues and carry feelings that threaten to overwhelm me, I’m learning something. Instead of always saying, “I am overwhelmed,” or, I am wresting… with this.. our that… I began to replace those words with a truer confession: “Father, I haven’t been letting Your comfort and Your presence lift this weight off my soul.” You see, Feeling deeply overwhelmed in life is a signal, It’s first a single for the need for prayer. Anxiety, overwhelmed situations… hurt, all of those feelings.. are a red flag for prayer. But it’s also a signal signal that we have been trying to carry them alone, and for many of us, one of our problems in life is that we’ve been carrying them for far too long. I’m learning to let my overwhelmed heart be a path toward confessing my lack of dependence on God. When my heart is overwhelmed and Im wrestling with life troubles and I witness my tears brimming to the edge from any small bump in my life, I’ve come to learn to run to the Lord and confess I have been carrying my burdens alone, just as we’re instructed in 1 Peter 5:7: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (NIV).Pauls speaking of Jesus you know. Isn’t that what makes Christ even more breathtaking? David said, Though we are overwhelmed by our sins, you forgive them all. In Christ Jesus we find forgiveness of our sins. And forgive s them all,. Did you look at what did David wrote next? 3 Though we are overwhelmed by our sins, you forgive them all. "What joy for those you choose to bring near, those who live in your holy courts.” What we find in our overwhelmed life, and as we wrestle in this world, we’re simply asked to turn our gaze upon Jesus, and it is there, we can find the joy James spoke of. IN the most darkness of valleys, and in our loneliness and wresting and the overwhelming of life, we learn that.. Jesus becomes the antidote to our isolation and struggles in this life. And Jesus desires to be near us. Emmanuel is more than a Christmas name that we celebrate, but a very present name in any troubles we face, even in the troubles we face today with the sudden passing of a dear friend. The name of Emmanual is a promise of nearness. As Jesus tells his disciples, “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” God is with us always. There’s no expiration date on His presence in our lives. David would remind us in Psalm 23, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” ~Psalm 23:4

Have you ever taken time to think about the words to this verse? As I worship team comes up… I want you to think about these words. Although I walk through the Vally of the shadow of death…. The key word is through. That’s a promise. Just like when Jesus told His disciples, “Follow me, let’s get in the boat and go to the other side.” They didn’t know a storm was coming. They didn’t know the waves would crash over their heads. But Jesus had already promised the destination. And even when they wrestled in fear, He calmed the storm, He calmed their hearts, and He got them through to the other side.

I’ve been praying about this all week. Thinking about how precious life is while watching and reading all the headlines.. … And how life can be gone in an instant. Because of hate, or misunderstanding, or violence, or sickness, or simply the fragility of our days. One moment we’re planning tomorrow, and the next moment tomorrow is gone. That reality is sobering, but it’s also why Psalm 23 means so much. Because even though life is fragile, God’s presence is not. When David said, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me,” he was reminding us that the safest place in all of life isn’t outside the valley—it’s beside the Shepherd. Think about it.. every time in this life, we get to the other side of the valley, its never how we got there, it was about the one were with and who we arrived with. So many times in my life I get into this valley and I try to arrive myself. I try to arrive ahead of God. I know short cuts, I know a better way, I know how to get…… there…. Wait…. Where’s my Shepard. The greatest advice I was given by a man I admire… a pastor who mentored me… his greatest advice to me as a young minister was this… Matthew, don’t get ahead of God, Don’t get behind God… but walk with him. Walk with him… because he’s a present God. He’s not a god that we have to only yearn and hope to see one day in the future, and he’s not a god we need to go back into our past to find him… He’s a God the walks with us. His name is Emmanuel… God with us. And as I thought about this, and all of the headlines this week and the tradegies, and hate and division… Sometimes the valley we walk down are the not the valley we would choose…….. Life is so precious. So fleeting.. but a vape in the wind. And I wish every time, in our valleys, in our wrestling and being overwhelmed by life, we can get to the other side unharmed. But sometimes life is taken. What if we walk this path expecting to make it through untouched and led by the Lord, But sometimes we don’t leave untouched. What if death comes for us? What if something that doesn’t play fair comes? What if hearts break? Sometimes the hope-for deliverance doesn’t arrive. What then? Does the Shepard still lead us through such valleys where death awaits us. I believe… he does. …..And I believe by faith, He leads us in the valley, & through. You see, when we face challenges that go against our desires, when the road bends where we never would have chosen, faith doesn’t deny the pain—it clings to the king. The Shepherd doesn’t promise us detours around the valley, He promises to walk with us through the valley.

How do I know this? Well, there’s a story in the book of Acts that reminds us. It’s the story of Stephen. Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit… that means on this side of life he was being led by the Holy Spirit. Through a valley. And he begins to preach—and before long, he’s being stoned to death. Turn with me, real quick if you was to… But listen to Acts 7:55: “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” Who was there? Even in death?…… the shepherd was there… . He was present. And… did you notice this….. sometimes we comb over it when we read it… He wasn’t sitting… what was he doing…….He was standing. The King of Glory—who the Scriptures tell us ascended into heaven and sat at the right hand of God—here, He stands. The only time we see this in Scripture. Why? Because one of His sheep was walking through the valley of the shadow of death, and the Shepherd stood to welcome him home. Church, don’t miss this: the same Shepherd who walks with you in your valleys here will be the same Shepherd who stands to welcome you there. The destination isn’t calm waters or peaceful fields. The destination isn’t avoiding valleys. The destination is Christ. Every valley you come through will teach you—it wasn’t about the valley, it wasn’t about how you got there—it was about who you were with. That’s why David could say with confidence, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Church, here’s the hope that anchors us today: we wrestle, yes. We feel overwhelmed, yes. But in every valley, in every storm, in every unanswered “why,” the Shepherd is with us. And when that final valley comes—the shadow of death itself—He will not only walk us through, He will stand to welcome us home. So let me ask you—do you know this Shepherd? Are you walking with Him, or are you still trying to carry the weight on your own? Because the cross is where the valley road begins. The empty tomb is what makes the other side certain. And His presence is what makes the journey bearable today. If you’ve been wrestling, come and wrestle with Him here at the altar. If you’ve been overwhelmed, bring your burdens and cast them on the One who cares for you. And if you’ve never trusted Him as your Shepherd, today is the day to follow His voice. Because presence matters most. And in the presence of Jesus, we find forgiveness, comfort, and victory. Victory in Jesus. And because He lives, we can face tomorrow, no matter how heavy today feels. Church, don’t forget the promise of Psalm 23: “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” That’s the Shepherd’s promise. That’s why we can sing with confidence: Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. So, lets stand together, and as we sing, would you come? Would you kneel, would you stand in His presence, and let Him meet you here?*