We Wrestle
ZI 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 word 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.
He would be humbled by all the kind words you’ve shared about his life. I’m truly thankful for all the help from those who stepped in with the service, and by my wife, Alicia who came over and moved chairs and set up the sanctuary. And for everyone who’s had a hand in preparing for this moment. Truly, ministry is about working together. I sense there’s a lot of compassion from all of you, coming together to serve the needs of others, and that is one of the greatest expressions of his life.
He was truly a man of compassion. He served everyone no matter who you were. From the widow to the married, to the young and the old, he lived a life of humility through servitude and compassion. Even in his death, there is a certificate in front of me that is proof of his willingness to give to all and any who needed help. There’s no doubt in my heart that he loved Jesus, and he loved his mother, and his brothers and his family.
I hope hearing these words encourages you. Because The love of Christ was always evident in his heart. I could see it and I am sure you all saw it as well. But I also know how hard it is at times to see and witness Christ in us for ourselves. Perhaps that is why Jesus makes an emphasis of us loving one another. But I dunno why it’s hard at times to realize that Christ’s compassion and love is oozing out of us because he is in us.
I don’t understand why we just don’t have a meter designed within us showing us how full we truly are of Jesus. But perhaps that the beauty of faith. I find comfort in Pauls words found in our Scripture today. Paul writes, We wrestle. We wrestle. It’s true… we wrestle. We wrestle with life everyday. The Bible is filled with people who wrestled… Job wrestled when he experienced immense suffering and wrestled with the questions of why he was facing such trials.
But yet, Job is recored as saying although you slay me, I trust in you. Paul was no stranger to wrestling. Paul struggled with a "thorn in the flesh," which was a source of suffering. But yet, as he wrestled he knew that the thorn wasn’t the issue but the fact that through this suffering if it brought God more glory, so be it! I am sure Paul would agree, that in the greatness of our troubles there may often be space for the greater display of the goodness of God.
Because he writes, although I am weak, Christ is strong. The fact is, We wrestle. We face trials and we wrestle in those trials. Think of what James writes. He says in chapter 1 verse 2, 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, How? I mean does that mean that when trials comes crashing down our first words to ourselves when we were asked by those who are our friends, “how’s life going, and we’re wrestling with some big trials and hardships?
How should we answer? “ well brother, it’s nothing but Pure joy!. Well sister, I’m just Considering it all joy!” But yet were wrestling in the weight our troubles? How many times we say things like, I am blessed and highly favored, but yet We’re being overwhelmed in our circumstances. I think of Davids song in the Psalm we read this afternoon. David said, Though we are overwhelmed by our sins…
David was overwhelmed. 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.” To be honest, he has often been that person for me in my suffering.
He’s been a prayerful comfort in my life, and a listening ear to my troubles. Many times he would just smile and I would know I’m not alone in my own personal struggles. But yet, life overwhelms us. As I wrestle with deep issues and filled with feelings that are overwhelming in my life, I’m learning that the words “I am overwhelmed” that have been habitually placed in my vocabulary can softly be replaced by a truer confession: “Heavenly Father, I am not allowing Your comforts, and presences to unburden my heavy soul.
You see, Feeling deeply overwhelmed in life is a signal, It’s first a single for the need 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. 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 his sudden passing.
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?
Although I walk through the Vally of the shadow of death…. The key word here is through. It’s a promise just as Jesus promised the disciples, Follow me, and let’s get into the boat and go to the other side. They had no clue that the dark valley of a dangerous storm would come upon them, and the waves would crash upon the very boats they were in. They simply had to walk by faith, following Jesus onto the boat, and yet we still read in Scripture, that although they wrestled in that storm, when we call upon the name of Jesus in our troubles, he calms not just the storm, but he also calmed his disciples, and guides them to the other side.
It’s the same with our valleys that tend to overwhelm us and that we wrestle with in this life. Can I just pause for a moment for you to hear this… our valley of darkness is never the end for us. The deep darkness of any valley is never our final resting place. It’s always a hallway leading elsewhere. David is surrounded by enemies, he’s surrounded by his darkness, he’s surrounded by uncertainty, he is overwhelmed and wrestling, but he knows that he will walk through it, because Jesus is always there, even in the moments we sense him not.
Emmanuel is there, being present with us in every moment of our lives. I am encouraged with that truth. Jesus comes for his beloved. Last night as we placed his ashes on the altar and after everyone had left, I sat alone on the front row wrestling with God. My heart wanted to know that he was with Jesus. I wanted to be reminded of the hope we have in knowing that we have a savior that cares and comes.
And so I prayed, and asked, and I believe that prayer was answered this morning. Before I left the church last night after praying, I turned all the lights off except for dimly lit cross, and I placed upon all the tv’s in the sanctuary a YouTube channel that plays non stop hymnals of praise with lyrics. My expectation was that through the darkness of night, this room, this sanctuary will be one of praise.
I woke the next morning to gaze out the back door of our home to a red sky, reminding me that new mercies are new each day. The blood is sufficient for all of our sins and the new day reminded me of the resurrection of Christ. Alicia came out into the living room later this morning and asked, Were all the lights on in the church? I said no, just the dim light of the cross and the tv’s playing hymns.
She looked confused, and then she said to me, that before she went to bed, the church was lit up so bright as if every light was on in the church. She had thought o come over to turn them off but the cross lights, but she decided to come to bed. I believe that was an answered prayer. There’s a verse in the hymn were about to sing that goes, And then I cried, "Dear Jesus, come and heal my broken spirit, And somehow Jesus came and brought to me the victory.
I believe the overwhelming light Alicia saw was Jesus reminding me that he had brought him to victory. I do not doubt my saviors promise that he wold return for us, because he has prepared a place for us. That’s a promise I cling to today. And I pray, if you’re struggling too, if your wrestling and overwhelmed… would you Just consider putting your faith in Jesus, and come to him with your burdens.
The good news is that there is, victory in Jesus! O God, you have ordered this wonderful world and know all things in earth and in heaven. Give us such faith that by day and by night, at all times and in all places, we may without fear commit ourselves and those dear to us to your never-failing love, in this life and in the life to come.
We commend your son in sure and certain hope of resurrection to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Let; us stand for the Benediction. May God give to you and all whom you love his comfort and his peace, his light and his joy, in this world and the next; and the blessing of God almighty, the father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon you, and remain with you this day and for ever.
Amen.*