Hidden Issues

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.800 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:07.760 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 0:00:08.080 --> 0:00:10.680 Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:12.840 Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:13.560 in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:16.440 Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.079 --> 0:00:22.520 I want to go back to Jacob. Jacob is going 0:00:22.600 --> 0:00:27.240 to be our Valentine's date. We're going to learn some 0:00:27.480 --> 0:00:34.040 lessons about life and love and loneliness from Jacob, and 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:42.440 we'll pick up in Genesis thirty two nineteen. I love you, 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:47.000 guys man Genesis thirty two nineteen. He also instructed the second, 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:50.760 the third, and all the others who followed the herds. 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:53.319 You are to say the same thing to Esau when 0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:55.680 you meet him, and be sure to say your servant. 0:00:55.760 --> 0:00:59.560 Jacob is coming behind us. Before he thought I will. 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:03.240 Passify him with these gifts. I'm sending on ahead with 0:01:03.400 --> 0:01:08.960 these gifts. I am sending on ahead. Later when I 0:01:09.040 --> 0:01:13.160 see him, perhaps he will receive me. So Jacob's gifts 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:17.760 went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:21.760 night in the camp. And that night Jacob got up 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:24.920 and took his two wives touch somebody say, don't get 0:01:24.920 --> 0:01:33.520 any ideas his two female servants and his eleven sons 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:38.399 and crossed the ford of the Jabakh and crossed the 0:01:38.480 --> 0:01:42.000 ford of the Jabak. And after he had sent them 0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:46.360 all across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:50.360 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:53.840 him till daybreak. I want to speak to you today 0:01:53.880 --> 0:01:59.559 on the subject hidden issues, hidden issues, and I pray 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:01.880 that the Spirit of God would help make application to 0:02:01.920 --> 0:02:02.919 the truth in this text. 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:04.160 Let's pray to that end. 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:07.040 Father, I lift up every need before you today and 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:13.880 ask that you administer do surgery, provide knowledge, wisdom, insight, conviction, Yes, God, 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:17.400 even comfort and encouragement to every heart, so that we 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:21.560 may leave this place very different and very assured that 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:23.760 you are with us and for us in all that 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:27.000 we do in Jesus' name. And everybody who loves Jesus 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:29.120 and who wants to hear a little sermon about Jacob 0:02:29.120 --> 0:02:32.040 shouted Amen. Hey, before you take your seat, if your 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:34.000 Mary turned to your spouse and say this count says 0:02:34.000 --> 0:02:43.760 our date got you a concert the feast on the 0:02:43.760 --> 0:02:45.840 word of God. What more could you want? 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:46.280 Amen? 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:50.400 Amen, thank you worship team. You guys been enjoying the 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:51.200 heroes and have an. 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:55.560 Album, Well, praise the Lord, I hope. 0:02:55.600 --> 0:03:01.560 So there's blood and sweat, tears joy in those songs. 0:03:01.560 --> 0:03:04.639 So listen to them and crank them up. Man, roll 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:08.280 up beside somebody and a red light. Turn it up, 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:16.360 law say this is my church. Well, it's the first 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:18.239 weekend of our next decade. 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:18.800 How about that? 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:26.960 Your response is not indicative of the gravity of this occasion. 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:30.359 It is the first weekend of our second decade as 0:03:30.400 --> 0:03:39.760 a church. Wow, And to celebrate, I want to talk 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:43.720 about your issues. Touch your neighbors say you have issues. Now, 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:51.560 they're not surprised by that. Depending on your proximity, you 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:56.760 could continue that conversation in great detail, depending on how. 0:03:56.640 --> 0:03:57.760 You see them. 0:03:58.000 --> 0:04:01.480 And it's an interesting season in a America because. 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:04.200 Well we're in a season where. 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:08.920 Almost every three days there are people on stages debating 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:17.200 about issues. Have you been watching the debates? No, Stacey, 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:20.039 don't watch them. I don't understan why you wouldn't watch them. 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:23.479 I mean they're fascinating. Where else are you? Where else 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:30.560 are you going to see grown people demonstrate that level 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:35.640 of selective hearing and answering I mean usually you only 0:04:35.680 --> 0:04:37.719 get this with like four year olds and five year olds. 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:41.200 To me, it's fascinating. I watch not because I'm. 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:46.040 Specifically informed or patriotically inclined. I'll admit to you I 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:50.680 do consider myself engaged, But really I'm fascinated. I'm fascinated 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:55.000 by the ability of some candidates more than others. And 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:57.560 I won't name names, but there is one candidate that 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:02.520 trump's all the other ones. So just as the ability, 0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:06.440 whatever you think about him, you have to marvel at 0:05:06.520 --> 0:05:10.400 how he can take any question and and pivot. They 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:13.200 call it a pivot. That's not just for NBA. They 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:18.360 can pivot. It's like an all star uh, watching somebody 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:21.680 who is who is so adept at the art of 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:28.040 pivoting from whatever issue is raised to the platform that 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:31.000 he has established and and and they all do it, 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:35.760 but one candidate does it exceptionally well. This particular candidate, 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:42.039 who shall remain nameless, He enjoys uh. He enjoys conversations 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:47.320 about walls. And so if you ever watch him anything, 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:50.559 they ask him anything they ask him, he can put 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:53.720 He can take it to a wall in less than 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:56.840 a second, just real quick, and it all comes back 0:05:56.880 --> 0:05:58.960 to the wall. Touch somebody say, it's all about the 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:01.240 wall with this This guy is all about the wall. 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:02.560 So you ask him a question. 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:07.039 You know, mister candidate, what do you think about the 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:10.600 education issues in our country? Well, I think that the 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:14.360 children in our schools need to feel safe while they're 0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:16.960 being educated, and so I'm going to build a wall 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:19.800 so that they feel safe. It all comes back to 0:06:19.839 --> 0:06:23.040 the wall. Anything you ask him, what's your foreign policy, 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:26.440 I'm going to build a wall. What about women? Women 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:29.520 love walls? Just anything you ask him, it's quick. I 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:31.680 don't care what you believe about politics or even where 0:06:31.680 --> 0:06:32.560 your value system is. 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:33.359 That's not my point. 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:39.800 My point is some people can pivot from any issue 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:46.159 to their platform. None does it better than Jacob. But 0:06:46.200 --> 0:06:48.200 I want to keep him back there on the pulpit. 0:06:47.880 --> 0:06:48.360 For a minute. 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:51.360 I want to talk about how sometimes you can have 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:57.880 a real strong opinion and be really ignorant of the issues. 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:03.880 Because I asked a. 0:07:03.560 --> 0:07:05.960 Young staff member at our church the other day, if 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:07.520 you're voting today, who would you vote for. You don't 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:09.200 have to tell me if you don't want to, And 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:10.760 he told me real quick, we want to vote. 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:14.640 For I said why? Why? He said, uh, I like him. 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:23.120 I like him, I said, I didn't asked you who 0:07:23.200 --> 0:07:27.600 you wanted to have wings with. I said, who do 0:07:27.640 --> 0:07:30.360 you want to be the leader of the free world? 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:34.760 So why do you like him? He said, I. 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:40.200 Don't know, just something about his personality. And it baffled 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:46.000 me that a grown up could could could be so 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:51.400 narrow in their thinking that you would reduce your decision 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:53.440 about who you want to be the president of your 0:07:53.480 --> 0:08:00.800 country to a personality type. Don't even care where they 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:03.760 stand on the issues, don't even really want to understand 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:09.000 the issues, just I like them. Seems pretty crazy that 0:08:09.080 --> 0:08:13.720 you would put more weight on someone's personality than you 0:08:13.760 --> 0:08:17.040 would on their position on the issues. If this person 0:08:17.360 --> 0:08:19.840 is going to make decisions that will affect not only 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:25.000 you but your children, seems crazy to me. And it 0:08:25.080 --> 0:08:30.239 hit me on Valentine's Day that some of us inner 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:36.120 relationships on the same basis by which my staff member 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:41.000 said they would pick a president, is that you connect 0:08:41.000 --> 0:08:45.640 with people based on their personality and have no idea 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:56.280 about their issues. Tell your neighbor again, you have issues. 0:08:57.720 --> 0:09:00.559 You have issues, and look back at them and respont say, well, 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:02.240 you have a subscription, so. 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:10.240 Get off me. Issues, issues, And. 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:18.240 I see Jacob as someone who was greatly blessed by 0:09:18.320 --> 0:09:23.400 God even though he had the issues. 0:09:23.960 --> 0:09:24.920 Jacob had issues. 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:32.720 Jacob was born with issues. Jacob started a fight in 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:37.680 Rebecca's womb because of his egocentric issues. 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:41.680 Got to be first. He was born with. 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:44.360 A twin brother who was scheduled to come out ahead, 0:09:44.800 --> 0:09:46.640 but something within him wanted. 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:50.440 To disrupt the birth order. Issues. Everybody say issues. 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:54.520 Come on, I'm a participatory preacher, say issues. We met 0:09:54.520 --> 0:09:56.880 a guy on our Valentine's Day. You gotta do it 0:09:56.880 --> 0:09:58.760 four days early, by the way, for all you rookies 0:09:58.760 --> 0:10:00.640 that are trying to go out on vallence on Time's Day, 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:07.439 you'll learn. And the guy seated at the table, I'm like, 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:09.280 oh my, George, I love it. He said, what's up 0:10:09.280 --> 0:10:12.920 with to touch your neighbor stuff? I said, what do 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:14.760 you mean? He said, you always touch your neighbor this 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:17.839 and touch your neighbor that. And so I told him, 0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:23.400 I said, motion creates emotion. So I can't have you 0:10:23.480 --> 0:10:26.440 fallen asleep in my sermon. So every once in a while, 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:28.280 I like you to turn to your neighbor and tell 0:10:28.320 --> 0:10:30.440 them you have issues. Do it again, tell them you 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:34.679 have issues. I noticed some of y'all are saying that 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:39.000 really emphatically, by the way, some of. 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:39.880 You are making a list. 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:46.120 It's true, though, when you get into a relationship with someone, 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:50.239 you often see their personality. 0:10:49.800 --> 0:10:51.520 Before you discover their issues. 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:57.960 And this is not necessarily a relationships sermon or marriage sermon. 0:10:58.000 --> 0:10:59.760 But I thought, in the spirit of the season, I 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:02.199 would just throw some little bit of advice in there. 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:05.599 Before you get engaged to somebody. 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:07.240 Take inventory of their issues. 0:11:08.320 --> 0:11:09.200 I don't mean you have. 0:11:09.120 --> 0:11:12.280 To know everything about them, but don't ignore their issues 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:14.679 because you like their personality. 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:16.360 You see what I'm saying. 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:25.440 And Jacob had had issues that ran so deep that 0:11:25.960 --> 0:11:28.280 when he couldn't be born first, he tried to find 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:30.160 a way to trick himself into the birth order. By 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:31.559 the way, for those of you who are new to 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:33.400 our church and you want to study this in greater detail, 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:35.040 you can check out a series that I did. I 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:37.640 did a whole series on Jacob called Death to Selfie. 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:39.840 The church loved it. It was a good time. 0:11:40.120 --> 0:11:42.280 We learned. It's actually on Netflix. 0:11:42.320 --> 0:11:43.720 You can go watch it on Netflix. 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:45.000 It's on there. 0:11:45.520 --> 0:11:48.480 So so instead of instead of binging on the House 0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:49.160 of cards. 0:11:49.480 --> 0:11:51.880 You can binge on the word of God. Amen. Put 0:11:51.920 --> 0:11:52.840 it on the Netflix. 0:11:58.200 --> 0:12:01.800 Jacob deceives his brother later in life, and he comes 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:02.520 out ahead. 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:02.760 In a sense. 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:04.800 And I won't review all the material, but I was 0:12:04.880 --> 0:12:07.760 going to a pastor's conference and I preached on Jacob 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:10.960 to our church for several weeks, and the Lord took 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:13.640 me back to this passage that I thought I had 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:14.079 worn out. 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:15.480 So when I was looking at. 0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:17.160 It, I was like, God, I got Jacob. I preached 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:19.199 in five weeks and the Spirit of God said, you 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:22.560 haven't even scratched the surface of Jacob because you talked 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:26.960 to the church about his relationship with God, but you 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:31.240 never got to his encounter with Esau. And that's what 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:34.760 I want to talk about today, is there comes a 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:37.800 time in your life where you've got to make peace 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:39.440 with Esau. 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:43.000 See Esau is the one. Let me teach you a 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:43.439 little bit. 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:47.840 Esau was the one that Jacob had struggled with but 0:12:47.920 --> 0:12:52.360 never prevailed against his whole life. Esau was the one 0:12:52.400 --> 0:12:55.680 that Jacob pretended to be to get what he thought 0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:59.480 he needed to have. Esau was the one that Jacob 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:04.080 even subconsciously and pre natally had problems with he was 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:08.600 predisposed to wrestle with Esau before he had a conscious thought, 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:12.200 and now he's ninety seven and he's preparing. 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:13.160 To meet with Esau. 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:16.040 If you have a Bible with pages, there's probably a 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:19.320 heading on chapter thirty two of Genesis that says Jacob 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:23.680 prepares to meet Esau because there comes a time that 0:13:23.800 --> 0:13:27.040 no matter how much God has blessed you, and no 0:13:27.120 --> 0:13:30.520 matter how much you've grown to accumulate stuff, or no 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:32.760 matter how good your body. 0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:35.000 Looks, or no matter how fit you are in. 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:46.959 Your physique, you cannot outrun your dysfunctional relationships forever. One 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:53.240 of the greatest blessings that God gives is peace. If 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:57.600 you want to pray for anything, pray for peace, because 0:13:57.640 --> 0:14:00.520 if all of your prayers center around provision, if you 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:03.760 have the provision but not the peace, you have the 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:08.160 external stuff without the internal infrastructure to even enjoy what 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:08.920 you pray for. 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:10.280 Pray for peace. 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:20.360 And the greatest blessing that God gives us often has 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:23.760 little to do with the resources he provides, but the 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:28.160 relationships that he restores. And so we're looking at an 0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:33.240 Old Testament picture in Genesis thirty two of Jacob, who 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:38.520 has been able to pivot his whole life pivot, So 0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:40.960 when he gets in trouble at home, he runs to 0:14:41.000 --> 0:14:45.120 his uncle Laban's house. When he accidentally marries Leah. After 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:48.400 serving God for Rachel seven years, he's able to pivot 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:49.080 and get Rachel. 0:14:49.120 --> 0:14:51.119 Anyhow, when Laban begins. 0:14:50.880 --> 0:14:52.360 To cheat him and the Bible says that his heart 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:55.360 turned against him, Jacob was able to have the business 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:58.200 savvy and the common sense to devise a system by 0:14:58.200 --> 0:14:58.560 which he. 0:14:58.480 --> 0:14:59.400 Could stay ahead. 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:04.440 But Esau. Esau is that enemy. 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:13.200 Esau is that that thing that he's been fighting against 0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:18.400 and fleeing from his whole life. By the time he 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:22.960 prepares to make peace with Esau, he's been hiding from 0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:25.760 him for twenty one years now. I want to ask 0:15:25.760 --> 0:15:32.400 a question, what are you hiding from? It is the 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:36.080 central question of my discourse today, and I believe it's 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:40.360 a penetrating question if you'll really answer it in your heart? 0:15:40.440 --> 0:15:43.120 What are you hiding from? 0:15:44.600 --> 0:15:48.480 Because no matter where Jacob turned or where Jacob went, 0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:53.960 what Jacob did, what he accomplished, there was always Esau. 0:15:55.640 --> 0:15:58.240 It's the battle that he was fighting when he was 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:01.240 nine months old. It was the battle he was fighting 0:16:01.240 --> 0:16:02.520 when he was ninety seven. 0:16:03.680 --> 0:16:04.600 What is your esau? 0:16:07.040 --> 0:16:11.840 What is the thing that, no matter how many herds 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:17.120 and cattle and goats and relationships you acquire, there is 0:16:17.240 --> 0:16:21.440 always an esau. It's your hidden issue. It is not 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:23.600 the thing that you mentioned to the people in your 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:26.320 e group. It is not the thing that you talk 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:29.200 about to people you just met. It is the thing 0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:33.800 beneath the thing beneath the thing. It is not your behavior, 0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:35.520 It is not your symptom. 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:37.040 It is your issue. 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:41.880 Church is ineffective when preachers only address behaviors, because until 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:45.440 you get to the issue that creates the behavior, the 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:47.760 behavior will manifest because the. 0:16:47.760 --> 0:16:58.760 Issue wasn't healed. What are you hiding from hiding from? 0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:03.400 Your heart may be in hiding because of your fear 0:17:03.440 --> 0:17:05.879 of rejection. Your heart may be in hiding because of 0:17:05.920 --> 0:17:10.920 your fear of failure. I understand why Jacob had issues. 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:13.359 It's pretty plain in the text. 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:15.920 Well. The Bible says that. 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:21.280 There was a lot of favoritism going on in Isaac's household. 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:24.280 In fact, I'll show you the scripture. 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:27.480 In Genesis twenty five twenty eight, it says that Isaac, 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:30.960 his father, who had a taste for wild game, loved 0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:32.840 esau but Rebecca loved Jacob. 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:33.600 There it is. 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:39.679 No wonder the guy spent his whole life in hiding 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:45.080 because from a very early age he discovered that he 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:46.000 didn't have. 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:49.400 What his father wanted. 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:53.600 He didn't have the skills to be acceptable in the 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:56.879 sight of the ones whose affirmation meant the most. And 0:17:56.920 --> 0:17:59.760 when that happens to you, you develop all kinds of 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:05.760 vices to hide behind. Psychologically, they call this abandonment issues, 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:08.199 and they say that when you have abandonment issues, it 0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:10.920 can happen through a divorce, It can happen through abuse, 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:13.560 It can happen through love with help. It can happen 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:16.000 through a circumstance that is so embedded that you can't 0:18:16.000 --> 0:18:18.200 even remember what it is. But when you have these 0:18:18.240 --> 0:18:21.760 abandonment issues, they tell us that you tend toward two extremes. 0:18:22.080 --> 0:18:28.159 One is attachment and the other is avoidance. So you 0:18:28.280 --> 0:18:32.679 attach this is Jacob grabbing the heel of Esau, or 0:18:32.720 --> 0:18:35.720 you avoid this is Jacob running from that same brother 0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:41.440 that he was trying to attach himself to. One thing 0:18:41.480 --> 0:18:43.480 I love about God's Word is that it doesn't just 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:50.080 address my spirituality, it addresses my psychology. In Jacob, I 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:55.680 see an illustrated sermon about the psyche of someone who 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:59.040 is running toward and chasing something that they can never get, 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:01.320 are running from. 0:19:01.080 --> 0:19:03.200 Something that they don't want to face. 0:19:04.960 --> 0:19:09.199 And I believe every person in our church can relate 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:17.160 to Jacob hiding from an esau in your life, hiding 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:23.960 and hoping, hoping that no one sees you for who 0:19:24.000 --> 0:19:29.720 you really are, so you invent methods. 0:19:29.440 --> 0:19:34.399 By which to be impressive. That's what Jacob did. He 0:19:34.440 --> 0:19:35.000 makes a plan. 0:19:35.119 --> 0:19:38.000 He makes a plan, He makes a plan to hide 0:19:38.040 --> 0:19:42.240 his issues. He gets his messengers. And you got to understand, 0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:44.800 in the last twenty one years, Jacob was not struggling. 0:19:45.000 --> 0:19:50.160 Jacob was prospering. Jacob was succeeding. Jacob was accumulating. Jacob 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:53.240 was working his way up. And by this time Jacob 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:55.240 is very rich jam He's got a lot of kids, 0:19:55.440 --> 0:19:56.960 so he's on. 0:19:56.640 --> 0:19:59.280 The external level, doing pretty well for himself. 0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:01.119 So what he does, and I think we all do this, 0:20:01.560 --> 0:20:05.680 is he tries to use what he's accumulated to hide 0:20:05.760 --> 0:20:06.399 who he is. 0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:12.600 You know, it's the right amount of quiet. Today. I 0:20:12.600 --> 0:20:13.960 can tell I'm on that nerve. 0:20:14.800 --> 0:20:17.200 I'm up in your stuff, touch your neighbors, say come 0:20:17.200 --> 0:20:17.760 out of hiding. 0:20:17.800 --> 0:20:19.480 Come out of hiding, Come out of hiding. 0:20:19.760 --> 0:20:22.360 Yeah, Because Jacob gets a strategy, he gets a plan. 0:20:22.520 --> 0:20:24.120 He calls his messengers. He's got a lot of people 0:20:24.119 --> 0:20:26.240 working for him. He got a lot of representatives, and 0:20:26.280 --> 0:20:28.359 he calls his representatives and he says, here's what I 0:20:28.359 --> 0:20:31.200 want you to do. Line up the goats, and line 0:20:31.280 --> 0:20:34.240 up the rams, and line up the camels, and line 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:34.760 up the. 0:20:34.640 --> 0:20:36.600 Cows, and line up the bulls. 0:20:38.160 --> 0:20:42.320 Get some donkeys, male donkeys, female donkeys. Put the servants 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:47.040 out there, and he arranges what's around him to hide 0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:56.560 what's within him. Maybe Esau will accept me if I 0:20:56.600 --> 0:21:00.720 send him a goat. Maybe Esau will accept me if 0:21:00.720 --> 0:21:01.360 I send. 0:21:01.160 --> 0:21:01.880 Them a donkey. 0:21:02.400 --> 0:21:05.200 Maybe people will like me if I make them laugh. 0:21:06.280 --> 0:21:09.120 So ha, I'm the life of the party. 0:21:15.160 --> 0:21:18.560 When I get alone. What I had out in front 0:21:18.560 --> 0:21:22.119 of me can't help me for the battle I have 0:21:22.200 --> 0:21:32.600 to fight within me. We all have herds that we 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:37.000 hide behind. It is those things. It is those inauthentic 0:21:37.080 --> 0:21:41.160 personality traits that you project, fearing that who you are 0:21:41.200 --> 0:21:44.520 is not enough. How could it be enough? Isaac never 0:21:44.600 --> 0:21:47.800 loved me, How could it be enough? Nobody has asked 0:21:47.800 --> 0:21:50.040 me to marry them. Yet, how could it be enough? 0:21:50.119 --> 0:21:52.920 I'm the last person invited. How could it be enough? 0:21:52.920 --> 0:21:55.600 I sound stupid when I talk. How could it be enough? 0:21:55.640 --> 0:21:57.800 I don't know what other people know. How could it 0:21:57.800 --> 0:22:01.600 be enough? I wasn't raised Right now, I'm hiding behind 0:22:01.600 --> 0:22:03.760 my herds. And it can be money. Some people hide 0:22:03.760 --> 0:22:06.920 behind money. It can be labels. Some people hide behind labels. 0:22:07.119 --> 0:22:09.679 It can be brands. Some people can hide behind brands. 0:22:09.840 --> 0:22:14.919 It can be language. Some of you talk in a 0:22:14.920 --> 0:22:22.560 way that is not even indigenous to your personality, and 0:22:22.640 --> 0:22:25.400 I'm listening to you trying to figure out who you're mimicking. 0:22:27.480 --> 0:22:28.960 I put something in my book. I'm a preaching on 0:22:28.960 --> 0:22:30.520 my book in two weeks. You got COM's gonna be graun. 0:22:30.520 --> 0:22:31.080 I'm appreciate it. 0:22:32.680 --> 0:22:34.960 My mom asked me one time when she heard my 0:22:35.000 --> 0:22:38.800 band play, and she listened to the concert, and we 0:22:38.840 --> 0:22:41.400 did all kinds of cover songs from Darius Rutcker from 0:22:41.400 --> 0:22:44.240 Hoody and the Blowfish, and Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam 0:22:44.280 --> 0:22:47.720 and Kirk Cobaine from Nirvana and all these great bands, 0:22:47.760 --> 0:22:49.720 the kind of music that you just can't get anymore 0:22:49.840 --> 0:22:53.920 out there in the cold streets of today's modern society. 0:22:54.080 --> 0:22:55.919 But she said, she. 0:22:55.920 --> 0:22:57.480 Say sound good tonight because I was the least singer. 0:22:57.560 --> 0:22:59.879 She said, I got a question, when are we going 0:22:59.920 --> 0:23:06.879 to hear you sing? She said tonight. I heard an 0:23:06.960 --> 0:23:13.560 imitation hooting. I heard somebody trying to sound like pearl Jam. 0:23:13.760 --> 0:23:15.560 But it's kind of hard to sound like pearl Jam 0:23:15.600 --> 0:23:16.760 when you just hit puberty. 0:23:16.960 --> 0:23:18.640 But see what I was doing was. 0:23:20.119 --> 0:23:24.800 I was trying to project what I thought would impress. 0:23:26.640 --> 0:23:32.200 And you cannot be blessed while you're projecting to be impressive. 0:23:33.240 --> 0:23:37.240 You can't be really blessed that way. 0:23:37.320 --> 0:23:38.120 Jacob had a plan. 0:23:38.200 --> 0:23:41.439 He said, I got issues with ESAU, but if I 0:23:41.520 --> 0:23:44.159 send my gifts. This is why I preached it at 0:23:44.160 --> 0:23:46.960 a pastor's conference. I told the pastors that I was 0:23:47.000 --> 0:23:50.280 preaching to in California, I said, your gift can only 0:23:50.280 --> 0:23:55.040 get you so far, because if you're good with a microphone, 0:23:55.080 --> 0:23:57.880 you can hide behind a microphone and suck as a husband, 0:24:00.520 --> 0:24:03.080 hide behind a microphone and be absent as a father, 0:24:04.240 --> 0:24:07.760 hide behind a microphone and inwardly not have a real 0:24:07.800 --> 0:24:10.440 connection with God, and be preaching stuff that God showed 0:24:10.480 --> 0:24:14.919 you thirteen years ago. Because you've mastered the technique. And 0:24:14.960 --> 0:24:17.640 I ministered that to the pastors, and it was real 0:24:17.760 --> 0:24:24.160 tense in the room, because anytime God peels back your persona, 0:24:24.320 --> 0:24:27.919 anytime you can't do what you do and you have 0:24:28.000 --> 0:24:32.639 to come to terms with who you are, puts you 0:24:32.680 --> 0:24:33.560 in an awkward position. 0:24:35.560 --> 0:24:41.200 But that's the place where God blesses you the most. 0:24:44.400 --> 0:24:48.840 Not while Jacob was lining up the cattle, not while 0:24:48.920 --> 0:24:51.600 Jacob was configuring the cows. 0:24:53.760 --> 0:24:55.240 But the Bible says, I got to show it to 0:24:55.280 --> 0:24:56.320 you again. It's so beautiful. 0:24:56.320 --> 0:24:58.359 I love the way that the scripture weaves together the 0:24:58.440 --> 0:25:00.680 historical narrative and brings it into a alignment with my 0:25:00.800 --> 0:25:03.080 current psychological condition to show me that there is a 0:25:03.080 --> 0:25:04.640 way forward, no matter what I've been through. 0:25:05.200 --> 0:25:06.800 It said. 0:25:07.640 --> 0:25:10.399 That Jacob thought, look at verse twenty. 0:25:10.680 --> 0:25:13.480 Jacob thought, I will pacify. 0:25:13.000 --> 0:25:14.960 Him with these gifts. 0:25:17.960 --> 0:25:21.359 I will pacify my problem with my persona. 0:25:24.400 --> 0:25:27.240 I'm not going to make peace with it. I'm just 0:25:27.280 --> 0:25:31.480 going to pacify it so I develop ways to get through. 0:25:31.560 --> 0:25:35.120 You know, I'm real sarcastic. And the reason I'm sarcastic 0:25:35.400 --> 0:25:38.160 is because if I'm sarcastic, I don't have to be sincere. 0:25:39.280 --> 0:25:43.200 So I hide behind sarcasm and people think that I'm cocky, 0:25:43.480 --> 0:25:45.720 but what they really don't know that what they see 0:25:45.800 --> 0:25:49.199 is overconfidence is really just a little girl scared to 0:25:49.320 --> 0:25:55.840 death because I'm hiding behind my herds. People think I'm arrogant, 0:25:55.840 --> 0:25:58.000 but what they really don't know is the reason I'm 0:25:58.040 --> 0:26:01.280 coming across so strong is because I'm scared to death 0:26:01.400 --> 0:26:03.280 that they're gonna find out that I'm a froug and 0:26:03.320 --> 0:26:06.919 I don't know what I need to know. So I'm 0:26:07.080 --> 0:26:12.639 hiding behind my herds. And this he saw this, this issue, 0:26:12.680 --> 0:26:17.800 everybody say issue. It remains hidden behind my herds. And 0:26:17.840 --> 0:26:25.959 what I hide, God cannot heal. I cannot make peace 0:26:26.040 --> 0:26:32.760 with what I am content to pacify. So I'm I'm 0:26:32.800 --> 0:26:36.160 sending out my I'm sending out my best I'm sending 0:26:36.200 --> 0:26:38.880 out my stuff. I'm sending out all my stuff. And 0:26:38.960 --> 0:26:41.679 maybe then they'll like me, and maybe then they'll love me. 0:26:41.880 --> 0:26:42.840 And maybe then if I. 0:26:42.880 --> 0:26:44.840 Buy them stuff, May I buy them stuff? 0:26:44.920 --> 0:26:47.120 Maybe that's what I'll do. Maybe I'll sleep with him. 0:26:47.200 --> 0:26:49.400 If I sleep with him, then maybe I can keep him. 0:26:49.480 --> 0:26:51.520 If I give him my body, maybe then he'll give 0:26:51.560 --> 0:26:54.639 me my heart. I'm a hive behind my herds. But 0:26:54.720 --> 0:26:57.560 the only problem with this approach to life. Is what 0:26:57.640 --> 0:26:59.320 you get them with is what you have to keep 0:26:59.359 --> 0:27:01.639 them with. So if you get them with the fake you, 0:27:02.040 --> 0:27:03.560 what are they going to do when they see the 0:27:03.600 --> 0:27:12.280 real you? Man, help me breach the sermon. It's it's 0:27:12.320 --> 0:27:20.480 those hidden issues. Yeah, I'm encouraged because the Bible says 0:27:22.040 --> 0:27:28.080 that when Jacob sent his gift ahead, he remained alone 0:27:28.760 --> 0:27:35.560 in the camp. And to every lonely person today, I 0:27:35.600 --> 0:27:41.320 want to encourage you to know that the places of 0:27:41.359 --> 0:27:46.880 your greatest isolation will often become the places of your 0:27:46.880 --> 0:27:52.320 greatest revelation. Jacob had seen God in the form of 0:27:52.359 --> 0:27:55.879 an angel when he was with people, but he only 0:27:55.960 --> 0:28:01.200 saw God's face when he was all alone, separated from 0:28:01.240 --> 0:28:01.760 his stuff. 0:28:03.240 --> 0:28:07.440 He sent his gift a head, but he himself spent the. 0:28:07.440 --> 0:28:12.359 Night in the camp, and God dealt with him, and 0:28:12.400 --> 0:28:15.560 God pushed him around a little bit, and God run 0:28:15.600 --> 0:28:19.679 him to his breaking point, so much so that the 0:28:19.720 --> 0:28:23.960 Bible says, when he got done and he left that camp, 0:28:24.000 --> 0:28:24.760 he was limping. 0:28:26.320 --> 0:28:28.400 He was limping, but he was blessed. 0:28:29.160 --> 0:28:34.000 His hip was dislocated, but his identity was now securely 0:28:34.080 --> 0:28:37.920 in place because he found out who he was. God 0:28:37.960 --> 0:28:40.960 said today through the preaching of his word. He was 0:28:41.040 --> 0:28:45.160 going to restore unto you and awareness of your identity, 0:28:45.520 --> 0:28:49.720 because you've gotten so enmeshed and entangled with your stuff 0:28:49.960 --> 0:28:53.560 and your skills that you lost your sense of substance. 0:28:53.880 --> 0:28:56.920 But today is today that the hand of God is 0:28:56.920 --> 0:28:59.600 applaud you heavy to show you who you are. 0:29:06.840 --> 0:29:07.360 Wow. 0:29:07.640 --> 0:29:11.480 So he crossed the ford. Look at verse twenty two. 0:29:11.760 --> 0:29:16.280 He crossed the ford of the Jabbak. Say what. 0:29:18.600 --> 0:29:19.280 The who now. 0:29:21.040 --> 0:29:21.600 The Jabbab? 0:29:24.280 --> 0:29:32.120 Jacob crossed the Jabbak. 0:29:34.240 --> 0:29:35.120 Let me try it like this. 0:29:36.920 --> 0:29:41.560 All his life he thought he was fighting against Esau. 0:29:43.040 --> 0:29:46.120 For twenty one years. He thought he was running from Esau. 0:29:48.720 --> 0:29:53.600 But God showed up to show him that the only 0:29:54.800 --> 0:30:00.600 real enemy that he was ever fighting against. I've learned 0:30:00.600 --> 0:30:03.160 this because I want to digress for a minute, that 0:30:03.680 --> 0:30:06.959 the real enemy is not the issue. 0:30:07.000 --> 0:30:09.040 I see. 0:30:09.840 --> 0:30:15.120 Your life will change, your marriage will change, your relationships 0:30:15.120 --> 0:30:17.640 will change when you stop trying. 0:30:17.360 --> 0:30:18.560 To fix Esau. 0:30:24.360 --> 0:30:30.440 Jacob crossed the Jabbakh. Do you think those two sounds 0:30:30.480 --> 0:30:34.080 similar on accident? Do you think that there's a sense 0:30:34.120 --> 0:30:37.320 of poetic justice in the mind of God that he 0:30:37.360 --> 0:30:39.920 wants to show us that all the time you were 0:30:40.000 --> 0:30:43.760 running from Esau. All the time, you were running from issues, 0:30:44.040 --> 0:30:47.400 all the time, you were running from relationships, all the time, 0:30:47.440 --> 0:30:48.680 you were running from fears. 0:30:48.960 --> 0:30:51.520 The only issue is you. 0:30:52.000 --> 0:30:55.560 And if you can get right with you, you can get. 0:30:55.480 --> 0:30:58.480 Right with God. And if you can get right with. 0:30:58.360 --> 0:31:01.720 God, God can make your right with a Saul. That's 0:31:01.760 --> 0:31:06.680 three people. Tell them, get over yourself. That's the real enemy. 0:31:06.960 --> 0:31:10.600 It's the enemy in me. It's such bac I gotta cross. 0:31:10.880 --> 0:31:14.440 It's my pride I gotta get over. It's my regret I've. 0:31:14.280 --> 0:31:15.040 Gotta get over. 0:31:15.480 --> 0:31:16.440 It's my scars. 0:31:16.520 --> 0:31:17.440 I gotta get over. 0:31:17.880 --> 0:31:20.440 It's not your issue that's holding me back. 0:31:20.760 --> 0:31:22.680 It's me, God, it's me. 0:31:23.400 --> 0:31:23.840 It's me. 0:31:24.520 --> 0:31:28.560 I won't let him vol to you. 0:31:27.400 --> 0:31:27.840 Bless me. 0:31:32.680 --> 0:31:38.240 The practical implications of this revelation are staggering. If the 0:31:38.360 --> 0:31:42.680 only thing you really have to cross over is your 0:31:42.720 --> 0:31:47.080 own misconceptions of what it means to be accepted by God, 0:31:48.240 --> 0:31:53.400 you're gonna be all good, Single, You're gonna be all good, Mary, 0:31:53.720 --> 0:31:56.400 You're gonna be all good. Touch them again, say get 0:31:56.440 --> 0:32:00.880 over yourself. Get over yourself. That's my message today. Get 0:32:00.920 --> 0:32:04.360 over yourself, Jacob. If you can get over your conniving 0:32:04.640 --> 0:32:06.680 scheming dysfunctional ways. 0:32:06.920 --> 0:32:08.720 God will fix your relationships. 0:32:08.720 --> 0:32:10.440 On the other hand, if you don't get over yourself, 0:32:10.480 --> 0:32:13.200 you're gonna carry your issues into your next relationship. And 0:32:13.240 --> 0:32:15.080 your issues are only going to increase when they are 0:32:15.160 --> 0:32:17.720 multiplied by the human interaction that is required for you 0:32:17.760 --> 0:32:19.760 to connect with another person. When you have not even 0:32:19.840 --> 0:32:23.880 learned to correctly connect with yourself, that's free. 0:32:27.920 --> 0:32:30.760 The issue is you. 0:32:30.920 --> 0:32:36.720 I am not responsible for fixing Esau because when I 0:32:36.800 --> 0:32:42.400 do battle with the enemy in me, the insecurity in me, 0:32:43.880 --> 0:32:51.440 it starts with an eye. People issue starts with I. 0:32:51.440 --> 0:32:54.200 I'll try to get an Apple endorsement here. You need 0:32:54.240 --> 0:33:00.520 to start sending more I messages not you need and 0:33:00.560 --> 0:33:02.440 you need to and if you would just and if 0:33:02.440 --> 0:33:04.120 they would just, and they don't want you to, and 0:33:04.160 --> 0:33:05.760 I don't want they don't want. No no no, no, 0:33:05.760 --> 0:33:10.720 no no no. I will bless the Lord at all times. 0:33:11.000 --> 0:33:15.200 I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. 0:33:15.600 --> 0:33:19.480 I am the hand and not the tale. I am 0:33:19.520 --> 0:33:23.960 a child of God. I will not fear full the darkness, 0:33:24.200 --> 0:33:27.760 beset me full the enemy and raise around me. I 0:33:28.200 --> 0:33:35.920 I I I. How can I make peace with Esaul? 0:33:35.960 --> 0:33:43.160 If I can't even make peace with me. And God 0:33:43.240 --> 0:33:49.680 is so good because if you will devote yourself to 0:33:49.760 --> 0:33:55.200 the issues within your he'll handle the issues around you. 0:33:56.280 --> 0:34:01.959 You do it, but I'm approven. You got nine minutes. 0:34:02.800 --> 0:34:04.880 I can prove it in nine minutes. When Jacob finally 0:34:04.880 --> 0:34:07.440 met Esau after he left the Jabbak, touch somebody say 0:34:07.600 --> 0:34:10.320 it's you. It's us us us us us u, s usu. 0:34:10.640 --> 0:34:12.520 It's you. You got to wrestle with. It's you you 0:34:12.600 --> 0:34:15.280 got to contend with. Is you you're misinterpreting people? 0:34:15.440 --> 0:34:15.719 Is you? 0:34:15.719 --> 0:34:17.920 You're blowing things out of proportion? And even if it's not, 0:34:18.000 --> 0:34:19.960 what can you do? If it's them? I can only 0:34:20.040 --> 0:34:25.719 do me. So Jacob crossed the Jabbab. He was preparing 0:34:25.760 --> 0:34:29.520 to meet Esau, but Esau wasn't even his enemy anymore. 0:34:30.400 --> 0:34:32.360 Can I show you? Can I show you? 0:34:33.320 --> 0:34:34.960 Because I didn't get to this in depth of selfie, 0:34:35.000 --> 0:34:35.799 I'm the one to get to him. 0:34:35.800 --> 0:34:36.440 Wait a year and a half. 0:34:36.480 --> 0:34:39.480 So you let's just that night when Jacob got ready 0:34:39.480 --> 0:34:42.480 to set out, it says in verse what is it? 0:34:42.520 --> 0:34:44.719 I think it's actually later than that guy's is verse 0:34:45.320 --> 0:34:48.399 thirty three, Verse one. Jacob looked up and there was Esau. 0:34:48.480 --> 0:34:49.120 There was Esau. 0:34:49.320 --> 0:34:51.440 This is the god, this is the thing, this wing, 0:34:51.600 --> 0:34:52.839 this is it, this warming womb. 0:34:52.920 --> 0:34:53.680 Here comes Esau. 0:34:54.360 --> 0:34:56.000 He thinks Esau is going to kill him because when 0:34:56.000 --> 0:34:57.920 he saw him twenty one years ago, the last thing 0:34:57.960 --> 0:35:00.400 that was echoing was Esau said, our ca him if 0:35:00.400 --> 0:35:01.400 I ever get my hands on him. 0:35:01.480 --> 0:35:03.520 And Jacob was fast. So Jacob got out of there. 0:35:03.600 --> 0:35:05.600 And now Jacob's got to come back. Because you can 0:35:05.760 --> 0:35:11.640 only run for so long, you can only. 0:35:11.360 --> 0:35:12.640 Hide for so long. 0:35:14.160 --> 0:35:18.200 He's eventually gonna catch up with you. Eventually, I have 0:35:18.239 --> 0:35:19.880 to deal with the real issue. You can only pivot 0:35:19.960 --> 0:35:27.120 so much fighting against people. That's gonna wear you out. 0:35:27.320 --> 0:35:30.680 Jacob's ninety seven. He can't run anymore. Now I got 0:35:30.719 --> 0:35:35.640 a bad hit. So he's limping up. The Esau in 0:35:35.719 --> 0:35:40.479 a compromised position, in a vulnerable state. And here's Esau 0:35:40.920 --> 0:35:45.000 with four hundred men, Esau, the skilled hunter. Esau still 0:35:45.040 --> 0:35:47.600 steady with a bow, even though his hands have arthriders. Esau, 0:35:47.719 --> 0:35:50.080 I'm filling in some details for the imaginem at the time. 0:35:51.520 --> 0:35:54.759 So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the 0:35:54.760 --> 0:35:58.800 two female servants, and he put the female servants in 0:35:58.840 --> 0:36:02.759 their children in front, her children next, and Rachel and 0:36:02.800 --> 0:36:04.600 Joseph in the rear, because that's the ones he loved 0:36:04.640 --> 0:36:12.000 the most. But he himself, that's my phrase, He himself 0:36:13.120 --> 0:36:20.120 went on ahead and bowed down. He himself before he 0:36:20.160 --> 0:36:24.640 had sent his stuff out ahead, but now he sent himself. 0:36:26.600 --> 0:36:32.200 Before he had surrounded himself with the appearance of success. 0:36:33.000 --> 0:36:34.280 But now he steps. 0:36:33.920 --> 0:36:36.600 Out from behind all of that and bows down. 0:36:36.920 --> 0:36:41.120 And it is in that weakened state that a limping 0:36:41.239 --> 0:36:46.719 Jacob meets his enemy of ninety seven years, and as 0:36:46.760 --> 0:36:50.080 he lays prostrate, all of the pain that he's caused 0:36:50.160 --> 0:36:54.480 now accumulating in this moment. The Bible says that when 0:36:54.560 --> 0:36:56.839 he went out ahead of his stuff, when he came 0:36:56.880 --> 0:36:59.800 out from behind his persona, when he came out behind 0:36:59.800 --> 0:37:02.480 the appearance of having it all together, when he came 0:37:02.480 --> 0:37:05.479 out behind his need to look cool and look right 0:37:06.080 --> 0:37:09.440 and sound right, when he came out from behind. It 0:37:09.520 --> 0:37:12.560 is when you come out from behind that God can 0:37:12.600 --> 0:37:13.080 bless you. 0:37:14.600 --> 0:37:17.799 It is when you stop hiding that He can heal you. 0:37:19.520 --> 0:37:20.840 What are you hiding from? 0:37:21.200 --> 0:37:22.520 What are you hiding behind? 0:37:23.719 --> 0:37:27.480 And do you want to be healed bad enough to 0:37:27.600 --> 0:37:32.520 step out in front of it? And say it's me God, 0:37:34.520 --> 0:37:41.040 it's me Esaul, and present yourself in a position of vulnerability. 0:37:42.239 --> 0:37:45.799 I haven't been the husband I aughto have, Bet, I 0:37:45.880 --> 0:37:49.040 haven't been the friend I aughto have. Bet. You want 0:37:49.120 --> 0:37:54.239 right relationships, it's going to require the right posture, And 0:37:54.320 --> 0:37:57.080 the right posture is for not for you to try 0:37:57.120 --> 0:38:00.800 to make yourself appear impressive. If you really want to 0:38:00.840 --> 0:38:04.440 connect with people and stop pivoting from issue. 0:38:03.960 --> 0:38:08.319 To issue, you gotta deal with what's with them. 0:38:09.600 --> 0:38:15.719 Come out from behind your herds and stand before he 0:38:15.800 --> 0:38:22.400 saw and face your fears, and face your failures, and 0:38:22.400 --> 0:38:28.440 face your frustration. And when he saw Jacob on the ground, 0:38:30.480 --> 0:38:33.560 he took out his buck knife and. 0:38:33.520 --> 0:38:34.560 Put it in there. 0:38:34.560 --> 0:38:36.840 Wouldn't that be crazy if that happened next and Jacob 0:38:36.880 --> 0:38:40.719 died right there? Wouldn't that be crazy? In that just 0:38:40.760 --> 0:38:43.279 what you expect is going to happen. If you ever 0:38:43.320 --> 0:38:46.080 get real and come out from behind what you're hiding behind. 0:38:46.320 --> 0:38:48.799 Come on, be honest, you are scared to death that 0:38:48.920 --> 0:38:51.319 if you ever show the real you, if you ever 0:38:51.400 --> 0:38:54.600 get out from behind all the religious talks, Because one 0:38:54.640 --> 0:38:56.920 of the things that people hide behind more than anything 0:38:56.920 --> 0:39:06.240 else is their religious pretension. Spiritual sounding and seeming stuff. 0:39:06.480 --> 0:39:08.400 But he comes out from behind that and watch what 0:39:08.560 --> 0:39:10.440 he saw. The This is like the father in the 0:39:10.440 --> 0:39:14.200 prodigal son's story. This is how God treats every every son, 0:39:14.239 --> 0:39:17.319 every daughter that comes running home with no excuses, but 0:39:17.480 --> 0:39:18.240 just an admission. 0:39:18.280 --> 0:39:18.800 I have said. 0:39:19.120 --> 0:39:27.120 He saw, ran to meet Jacob and embraced him. 0:39:27.160 --> 0:39:32.319 The thing that he had been hiding from for two 0:39:32.480 --> 0:39:35.360 decades was handled. 0:39:36.360 --> 0:39:41.319 The whole time. I came with an announcement. 0:39:42.480 --> 0:39:48.440 What you're hiding from has already been handled. The same, 0:39:49.239 --> 0:39:55.680 the guilt, the disgrace, the disappointment, the uncertainty. I need 0:39:55.719 --> 0:39:57.840 you to turn to your neighbor and tell him in 0:39:57.880 --> 0:40:00.960 your best Olivia Hope voice, it is handled. 0:40:01.239 --> 0:40:04.960 It's handled, it's handled, it's handled. On top five people, 0:40:05.160 --> 0:40:11.920 it's handled, it's handled, it's handled, it's handled. 0:40:13.440 --> 0:40:14.200 Well, that's the. 0:40:14.239 --> 0:40:18.360 Gospel that he already took my sin. He already took 0:40:18.480 --> 0:40:19.000 my sin. 0:40:19.520 --> 0:40:20.200 He already. 0:40:20.280 --> 0:40:24.520 Now it's to the cross, my sin on the bliss of. 0:40:24.680 --> 0:40:26.000 This glorious song. 0:40:26.480 --> 0:40:28.960 My sin not it, but but. 0:40:29.200 --> 0:40:32.719 No, it is now to the cross. 0:40:33.840 --> 0:40:37.400 It's handled, it's handled. 0:40:39.640 --> 0:40:46.359 It's handle, it's handled, and you don't have to flee it. 0:40:47.239 --> 0:40:47.799 Anymore. 0:40:48.840 --> 0:40:52.839 You don't have to fight it anymore. All you have 0:40:52.920 --> 0:40:57.879 to do is face it. Face it. 0:41:00.239 --> 0:41:04.799 I'm not running from relationship to relationship to relationship, from 0:41:04.960 --> 0:41:10.640 job to job to job, from church to church to church. 0:41:19.440 --> 0:41:22.600 With my hidden issues unhealed. 0:41:26.560 --> 0:41:31.480 He blessed him when he came out of hiding and 0:41:31.560 --> 0:41:36.839 opened his heart. Now, if you will open your heart, 0:41:38.080 --> 0:41:39.440 God can handle your issues. 0:41:42.280 --> 0:41:43.439 The only thing that. 0:41:43.360 --> 0:41:46.760 Has kept God from doing a maturing work in your life, Jacob, 0:41:47.920 --> 0:41:51.920 is that you've been so busy collecting herds and the 0:41:52.040 --> 0:42:00.399 appearance of blessing that you've never made yourself vulnerable. When 0:42:00.440 --> 0:42:04.080 you make yourself vulnerable, when you lift your hands to 0:42:04.120 --> 0:42:13.920 God and you're not ashamed to say, honey, oh he 0:42:14.080 --> 0:42:19.799 need Thank you for joining us special thanks to those 0:42:19.840 --> 0:42:22.840 of you who give generously to this ministry. Is because 0:42:22.840 --> 0:42:25.799 of you that this ministry is possible. You can click 0:42:25.840 --> 0:42:28.800 the link in the description to give now, or visit 0:42:28.840 --> 0:42:33.000 Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information, and if 0:42:33.040 --> 0:42:35.520 you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:42:35.800 --> 0:42:37.120 You can share it with your friends. 0:42:37.400 --> 0:42:39.680 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:42:39.719 --> 0:42:41.839 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:42:41.880 --> 0:42:42.719 Elevation Church. 0:42:42.800 --> 0:42:49.400 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.