I Am With You In the Fight | I AM... The God Who Gets Close | Menlo Church Live Stream

Mar 01, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: The Exhaustion of Running on Our Own Strength

We often try to manage our lives by adding more capacity, like upgrading a computer's memory, to handle an ever-increasing number of burdens and responsibilities. This approach of constant addition without subtraction leads to a point of breaking, for we are not machines designed to run endless background processes. The relentless pursuit of optimization and sheer willpower eventually fails us, leaving us spiritually and emotionally drained. In this exhaustion, we may find ourselves praying for the strength to maintain an unsustainable pace, rather than seeking a different way forward. [28:49]

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV)

Reflection: What is one "background process" in your life—a responsibility, a worry, or a pursuit—that you have been trying to manage through your own strength? What might it look like to invite God into that exhaustion instead of praying for the capacity to carry it alone?

Day 2: God Meets Us in the Dirt of Our Struggles

God does not always send a solution from a distance; sometimes, He meets us personally in the midst of our most difficult and messy circumstances. He engages with us intimately, not as a detached observer, but as one who is willing to enter into the grapple of our lives. This divine encounter often happens when we have run out of options and our usual resources for retreat have been completely exhausted. In that place of isolation and desperation, we find we have nowhere left to run but toward Him. [35:14]

The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.
Genesis 32:22-24 (ESV)

Reflection: Where in your life are you feeling isolated or out of options, and what would it mean for you to believe that God is willing to meet you in that very place, not to judge you, but to engage with you?

Day 3: The Invitation to Honest Vulnerability

A genuine encounter with God strips away our ability to pretend and forces us into a place of raw honesty. We can no longer rely on the masks or layers we use to present a polished version of ourselves to the world and to God. In this vulnerable space, we are invited to bring our true selves—our grief, our exhaustion, and our unanswered questions. This is not a sign of weak faith, but the necessary starting point for an authentic relationship with God that relies on His strength, not our own. [36:33]

For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7b (ESV)

Reflection: What is one mask you feel you are still wearing before God or others? What is a fear or a struggle you have been hesitant to bring into the light of His presence?

Day 4: The Purposeful Limp That Keeps Us Close

An encounter with God does not always leave us feeling invincible; sometimes it leaves us with a limp. This mark is not a punishment, but a merciful gift that prevents us from running back into old patterns of self-reliance and avoidance. The limp is a permanent reminder of our dependence on God, ensuring we move forward at His pace rather than our own. It dismantles the illusion that we can succeed without surrender and keeps us close to the One who is our true source of strength. [40:32]

The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.
Genesis 32:31 (ESV)

Reflection: Can you identify a 'limp' in your life—a past failure, a closed door, or a current limitation—that you have resented? How might God be inviting you to see it as a gift that keeps you dependent on Him?

Day 5: A New Identity Forged in surrender

When we finally stop running and confess who we truly are, God does not reject us. Instead, He offers us a new name and a new identity rooted in His grace and purpose. This change is not based on our performance, but on His transformative power at work within us. We leave our old labels—deceiver, hustler, failure—behind and are given a new story as His beloved child. This is the heart of the gospel: we are not defined by our past, but by our position in Christ. [47:23]

And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
Genesis 32:27-28 (ESV)

Reflection: What old name or identity—based on your past actions or others' opinions—are you still carrying? What would it look like today to accept the new name God offers you as His beloved?

Sermon Summary

Menlo Church frames Lent around the I Am series and an invitation to prepare for Easter through honest spiritual work. The congregation receives a practical call to prayer for global suffering, especially for persecuted Christians in Iran, and a reminder that algorithms and news feeds cannot shoulder the soul’s responsibility to grieve or intercede. A Silicon Valley metaphor surfaces: life functions like limited RAM, and the natural impulse to add capacity or optimize often becomes a way to avoid the hard work God intends. The biblical narrative of Jacob at the Jabbok becomes the central illustration: a lifelong manipulator finally trapped, wrestled into honesty, and stripped of masks. Wrestling with God, not running from conflict, forces transparency and confronts the false identities cultivated by self-reliance.

Three benefits of refusing to retreat appear vividly. First, honest wrestling exposes real selves; intimacy in struggle removes performance and demands confession. Second, genuine encounters with God can leave scars or a limp—not as punishment but as a merciful limitation that prevents further flight and reorients identity and vocation. Third, an encounter that includes confession and cost also brings renaming: the exhausted deceiver becomes Israel, a new identity formed in perseverance and dependence. Baptism functions as the communal declaration of that renaming, an embodied symbol of leaving the old self buried and surfacing into a life marked by belonging, forgiveness, and new purpose.

The narrative culminates in the theological claim that while Jacob continued to fail, God’s redemptive work reached its fullest expression in Christ, who wrestled and won on behalf of humanity through the cross and resurrection. That victory supplies both present reorientation and future hope. The invitation remains practical: honesty before God, willingness to accept costly transformation, and public steps—like baptism—serve as tangible responses. The call closes with a corporate prayer and an open invitation for those ready to stop running, yield to God’s wrestling, and enter a renewed identity in Christ.

Key Takeaways

1. Honest wrestling reveals true selves Struggling with God and circumstance strips away masks and performances. Intimacy in conflict exposes motives, fears, and the spiritual patterns that momentum alone conceals. Confession in the wake of wrestling becomes the soil where repentance and real reorientation grow. [35:38]
2. A limp can be a mercy A lasting limitation often prevents further flight and forces a change of direction. Rather than seeing scars solely as defeat, consider them corrective boundaries that keep a life within God’s shaping presence. The limp reorients identity from self-sufficiency toward dependence and calling. [40:03]
3. God renames the repentant struggler Honest admission of failure does not provoke shame from God but invites new identity. The act of confessing “I am Jacob” opens space for God to give “Israel”—a name rooted in wrestling and perseverance. New names reframe purpose and anchor future obedience. [46:19]
4. Baptism makes faith public Baptism externalizes an inner turning: it marks death to an old pattern and rising into a new life in Christ. The public act resists private performance and signals reliance on God’s ongoing transformation rather than on personal willpower alone. It also embeds the baptized within a community that remembers and accompanies the ongoing work of grace. [49:36]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[20:45] - Lent Series & Devotional Guide
[21:33] - Baptism Invitation Explained
[22:18] - Practical Baptism Logistics
[23:08] - Prayer for Iran and Context
[24:46] - Corporate Prayer for Region
[29:41] - Introducing Jacob at the Jabbok
[33:37] - Reading Jacob’s Wrestling Passage
[40:03] - The Limp as Blessing
[45:56] - Name Change and New Identity
[49:25] - Christ’s Work and Resurrection
[50:55] - Invitation: Yield and Pray

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
Genesis 32:22-28 (ESV)
The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

Observation questions

What was Jacob’s physical and emotional state when he was left alone at the Jabbok river? [32:31]
What specific question did the man ask Jacob, and what was Jacob’s honest response? [46:19]
What was the immediate physical consequence of the wrestling match for Jacob? [40:32]
What new name was Jacob given, and what does it mean? [47:23]

Interpretation questions

Why would a loving God choose to wrestle with Jacob instead of simply speaking to him or giving him a directive? [34:42]
The limp Jacob received is called a "limp of blessing." In what ways can a permanent limitation or a past failure actually function as a mercy that prevents further running? [40:03]
Jacob’s new name, Israel, means “wrestles with God.” How does this new identity reframe his past struggles and failures into something purposeful? [47:23]
How does the act of baptism serve as a public declaration of leaving an old identity behind and embracing a new one? [49:36]

Application questions

What are the "masks" or layers you tend to wear to present a polished version of yourself to others, and what would it look like to be truly honest before God about who you are right now? [35:38]
Is there a "limp" in your life—a closed door, a failure, or a limitation—that you've been retreating from? What might it look like to stop seeing it as a loss and instead see it as a mercy that keeps you dependent on God? [43:51]
If God were to ask you, "What is your name?" in a moment of complete honesty, what name would you give yourself based on your patterns and struggles? What new name do you believe God wants to give you in its place? [46:19]
The solution to feeling overwhelmed is often to try and "add more RAM" through willpower or optimization. Where in your life are you currently praying for God to give you strength to maintain an unsustainable pace, instead of yielding to Him? [28:49]
What does it look like practically to "wrestle" with God in prayer about a specific circumstance rather than numbing out or retreating from it? [29:14]
Has there been a prompting to make a public step of faith, like baptism, that you have been hesitant to take? What is holding you back from making that personal faith public? [21:33]

Sermon Clips

43s

“This is the beauty of the gospel, the good news of Jesus, that when you finally stop running, when your ram crashes, when your system is on overload, when you finally confess who you really are, God doesn't remove you from his plan. He renames you. He gives you a new identity right in the middle of it. Jacob wrestled with God in the dark and walked away with a limp. And I'd love to tell you that after this interaction, Jacob's a changed man, and he's, just night and day better the rest of his life, but he still fails. He still falls short. He's still being shaped by God day by day. Jacob was like us, imperfectly pursuing God and needing him just as much today as yesterday.”

36s

“To get the true blessing this time, Jacob has to tell the truth. He has to confess his true nature. When god asks, what is your name? Jacob finally stops pretending. He tells the truth. He says, I'm Jacob. I'm the deceiver. I'm the grasper. I'm the runner. I'm the one that's been doing this year after year after year of my life. And look at how God responds. He doesn't shame him. He doesn't say, I know you're a mess, dude. He says, your name shall no longer be called Jacob but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”

27s

“See, when the load gets too heavy, our cultural instinct in that moment is to pray a prayer like this. Even if you're not a person of faith, I bet you've prayed a prayer like this. God, please give me the strength to keep up the unsustainable and unchecked level of commitment in my life. I mean, we don't say it with those words. We say different words. They're nicer, but that's what we're praying. But the questions that we're gonna be forced to consider today is what if God isn't adding capacity in your life on purpose?”

39s

“But looking back, you know, football wasn't really the problem of what was going on. Football, it didn't pull me away from God. What I was letting it turn me into did. See, I had sensed a call from God when I was younger about a pull toward orienting my life around him in a specific direction for my life. But football, it gave me a different script to follow. Identity through dominance, value through performance, approval through applause. Now none of that is inherently evil. The sport wasn't sinful, but I could feel myself becoming someone God hadn't called me to be. More ego, more image, more edge, less Jesus.”

30s

“So as we get started, I wanna kind of think about a little bit of the unique facets of our region. We are kinda, like, hardwired into the way we think about life through the way we think about technology. It's kind of everywhere. When somebody tells you in Silicon Valley that they work in health care, in my mind, I'm like, yeah. But, like, technology health care. Right? Like, technology is the first part of every answer, a little bit in people's mind. And in computing, there's this thing called RAM, which provides for your active workspace.”

33s

“And then in the midst of that, we try to upgrade our personal RAM, our internal capacity. We try to think about how we hack or optimize. For some of you, you have optimized sleep to an unbelievable level. Others of you, I heard, are eating or, like, drinking mushrooms in your coffee, which is wild. Right? We become completely obsessed with sheer willpower to keep our background processes running while not always paying attention to how many are still running. But that approach is breaking us because we're not machines.”

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