Wrestling with God and Finding Courage

Oct 11, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Wrestling With God Through the Night

Jacob’s story teaches that faith isn’t passive—it’s a desperate grip on God even when life dislocates our plans. Like Jacob alone by the fire, we all face moments where God seems more like an opponent than a friend. True grit means clinging to Him in the dark, demanding blessing from the struggle rather than begging for escape. The wound in Jacob’s hip became a lifelong reminder: God’s presence is worth the fight. Spiritual growth happens not by avoiding conflict but by enduring it. [42:37]

So Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” (Genesis 32:24-26, ESV)

Reflection: What struggle in your life feels like an all-night wrestling match with God? How might this hardship be an invitation to hold on tighter, not let go?

Day 2: From Deceiver to Prevailer

God renamed Jacob “Israel”—not to erase his past but to redefine his future. For years, Jacob lived as a heel-grabbing schemer, but one night of grit transformed his identity. Sanctification isn’t about perfection; it’s the daily choice to live into the new name God gives us. Like Jacob, we carry the scars of our battles, but they become proof of God’s faithfulness rather than reminders of our failures. [55:26]

“What is your name?” the man asked. “Jacob,” he replied. “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” he said. “It will be Israel because you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.” (Genesis 32:27-28, ESV)

Reflection: What old identity (like “deceiver” or “quitter”) still haunts you? How does God’s new name for you—“overcomer,” “beloved”—demand courage to embrace today?

Day 3: Working Out the Wound

Sanctification is the gritty process of becoming who God says we are. Like Jacob limping into the dawn, we learn holiness through persistent obedience, not instant miracles. The pastor’s son refusing to play soccer mirrors our resistance to spiritual growth—we’d rather quit than sweat. God uses dislocated hips and uncomfortable conversations to shape us into people who prevail. [48:34]

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. (Philippians 2:12-13, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you been passively waiting for God to change you, rather than actively “working out” your faith through prayer, service, or hard conversations?

Day 4: Grit for the Cosmic Battle

Christian courage isn’t about winning culture wars—it’s contending with unseen darkness through Christ’s blood and our testimony. Like Istanbul’s 20 million spiritually hungry souls, our neighbors need believers who won’t quit after one awkward gospel conversation. Real revival starts when ordinary people refuse to let go of God’s promises, even when their “hip is out” and dawn feels distant. [01:01:09]

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12, ESV)

Reflection: What spiritual battle have you been avoiding out of fear? How can you “wrestle” this week through prayer or vulnerable testimony?

Day 5: Limping Toward Glory

Jacob’s limp became a badge of honor—proof he’d met God and lived. Our sanctification aches (failed relationships, chronic pain, unanswered prayers) are temporary training for an eternal weight of glory. Just as God transformed Jacob’s body and destiny, He promises to remake us completely. Middle-age eyes and breaking bodies won’t last, but grit refined in struggle will echo in eternity. [51:49]

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Philippians 3:20-21, ESV)

Reflection: What current “limp” (physical, emotional, or spiritual) most frustrates you? How might this weakness point others to Christ’s future restoration?

Sermon Summary

Jacob’s night at Peniel puts grit right in the middle of faith. Genesis 32 shows a man who has spent his whole life grabbing, deceiving, running, and trying to secure blessing on his own terms. Jacob, the heel clutcher, has stolen his brother’s birthright and blessing, fled from Esau’s anger, built a messy family, and now stands alone with the fear that Esau may still kill him.

God meets Jacob in that lonely, desperate place. The man wrestles Jacob until daybreak, and Jacob refuses to let go even when his hip is dislocated. Jacob recognizes that this is more than a fight with a stranger. God has shown up in the dark, and Jacob says, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The struggle does not mean God is absent. The struggle reveals that God is near, working on the deepest places of a person’s identity.

The lie that Christians should never struggle falls apart at Peniel. Salvation begins with justification, where God declares sinners righteous because of His grace through Jesus, not because of effort or a good résumé. Salvation continues through sanctification, where believers work out what God has declared over them and learn to live into their new identity. Salvation ends in glorification, when Christ transforms broken bodies and finally removes the sin nature.

God asks Jacob, “What is your name?” Jacob has to say it out loud: Jacob, deceiver, heel clutcher. God then gives him a new name: Israel, because he has struggled with God and men and prevailed. God does not choose Jacob because he is polished or put together. God names him Israel because he does not quit.

Christian grit means refusing to fade into the night when faith gets costly. The gospel advances through life on life, conversation after conversation, and ordinary believers who keep loving people and do not give up when conversations get hard. The battle is not against flesh and blood, but against cosmic darkness. Revelation answers that battle with the blood of the Lamb and the word of testimony. Christ has spared His people, and that mercy calls them to be bold, courageous, all in followers of Jesus.

Key Takeaways

1. Struggle does not mean God is absent Jacob’s darkest night becomes the place where God meets him face to face. The wound does not cancel the blessing, and the wrestling does not prove abandonment. God often does deep work in the places where control is gone and nothing feels easy. [43:27]
2. Justification begins a lifelong transformation Salvation is not fire insurance or a prayer that permits a person to coast. God declares His people righteous, then calls them to become who He has named them to be. Glorification gives hope that the fight against sin and frailty will not last forever. [47:43]
3. God renames those who hold fast Jacob’s old name carries the weight of his old life: deceiver and heel clutcher. God makes him say that name before giving him a new one, Israel. Grace does not pretend the old identity never existed, but grace refuses to let the old identity have the final word. [55:26]
4. Grit contends for the gospel Gospel courage is not anger, fear, or hiding from a dark world. Gospel courage keeps showing up with love, conviction, and a testimony about Jesus. The blood of the Lamb gives believers both the ground for victory and the strength to speak. [1:01:32]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[32:30] - Returning From Turkey
[33:44] - Why Christian Grit Matters
[35:10] - Jacob Wrestles at Peniel
[36:23] - Jacob’s Messy Story
[42:02] - Wrestling With God in the Dark
[44:37] - The Lie That Faith Should Be Easy
[46:01] - Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification
[53:20] - Hardship Builds Spiritual Strength
[55:00] - Jacob Receives a New Name
[57:41] - A Burden for Istanbul and the Lost
[1:01:09] - The Battle Against Cosmic Darkness
[1:02:12] - The Blessing of Contending
[1:03:50] - Choosing Courage for Christ

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Genesis 32:24-30
“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.' Then Jacob asked him, 'Please tell me your name.' But he said, 'Why is it that you ask my name?' And there he blessed him.” [35:10]

Ephesians 6:12
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” [01:01:09]

Revelation 12:11
“And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” [01:01:42]

Observation questions

What details in Genesis 32 show that Jacob is alone, afraid, and unable to control what will happen with Esau?
What does Jacob do after his hip is dislocated, and what does he ask the man to give him? [43:09]
What names are connected to Jacob in this passage, and what reason is given for his new name, Israel? [55:26]
According to Ephesians 6:12 and Revelation 12:11, who is the real enemy in the Christian battle, and what are believers given to overcome? [01:01:09]

Interpretation questions

Why might God ask Jacob, “What is your name?” when God already knows it? What does Jacob’s answer require him to face about his old identity? [55:26]
Jacob receives both a wound and a blessing in the same encounter. What does this suggest about the way God can work through painful seasons without abandoning His people? [43:27]
How does the difference between justification, sanctification, and glorification help explain why a person can truly belong to Christ while still struggling with sin, weakness, and hardship? [47:43]
Ephesians says the battle is not against flesh and blood. How should this truth change the way Christians view people who oppose, reject, or disagree with them?

Application questions

Is there an area of life where you are wrestling with God right now—perhaps through fear, conflict, disappointment, health concerns, or uncertainty? What would it look like to hold fast to God rather than pull away from Him? [43:37]
Jacob had to say his old name before receiving a new one. What old label, pattern, failure, or shame are you tempted to let define you? How does your identity in Christ speak a better word over that story? [55:26]
Where have you believed the lie that following Jesus should make life easy? How has that belief affected your response when hardship comes? [44:37]
Sanctification means living into what God has declared true of His people. What is one specific area where you need to keep growing instead of settling, quitting, or making excuses? [48:38]
Is there someone in your life who needs ongoing love and gospel conversation rather than a one-time attempt? What is one natural next step you could take to keep showing up for that person? [54:26]
When you feel pressure from a dark or hostile culture, do you tend more toward anger, fear, hiding, or courage? How could the blood of the Lamb and your personal testimony help you respond differently this week? [01:01:34]

Sermon Clips

37s

#NewIdentityInChrist

“God asked Jacob his name. God knows it, but God wants him to name himself. He says, what's your name, Jacob? Jacob is, it's Jacob. Deceiver. Heel clutcher. That's been his identity his whole life. And God says, I'm gonna change your name and your identity, and I'm gonna call you a new name, and that name is gonna be Israel, which sounds like wrestling with God. He said, I'm calling you that because you've wrestled with men and with God and you have what? You have prevailed, you have won.”

33s

#FaithThroughHardship

“And I know that, like, some of you guys going through really hard times, you're asking the Lord to take it away. Maybe the Lord's saying, you need to be in the middle of this because I need you to contend and I need you to work hard because I'm gonna make myself known through your hardship and the hard thing that you're going through right now. And so there's something that we need to be as Christians. We need to be the kind of people who are willing to enter into hardship and embrace struggle so that we can prevail.”

32s

#SalvationByGrace

“That's what salvation begins with. Not your effort, not anything you do, not your resume, not like how smart you are, not the fact that you can quote bible verses. It's simply because God is gracious and has declared you to be righteous. It's justification. And most of us get this and we stop right there. We think like, hey, if I pray a prayer, then I just need to go to heaven. I just bide my time, do whatever I want. I'm safe. I've got fire insurance. But salvation doesn't end there. This is actually really good news.”

34s

#SanctificationJourney

“Sanctification is like, you've been declared righteous, you have a new name, but you can't quit. You gotta keep pressing in to live out into the identity you've been called into because ultimately, the third piece of salvation is glorification, which is the moment that you close your eyes on this world and open them in the next. See see, we have a sin nature, which is what we're trying to to change. God has called us to be holy. He's named us holy, but we're still sinners.”

36s

#ChristianityIsntEasy

“Many of us believe that Christianity should be easy. That when we give our life to Jesus, it's like pressing the easy button and we'll never struggle again. And we have to be careful with this lie because if we believe it, we will doubt that God is real when struggle enters into our life, and it will. Every single person, you, the person sitting next to you, every single person you know, at some point will go through a season where things will get hard and you will wrestle with God and you will struggle against other people and there will be hard times.”

29s

#WrestlingWithGod

“Every single person in this room at some point will wrestle with God. You'll have a moment where you feel like you're all alone. You may be going through incredible conflict at home. You may be going through incredible season of stress. You may be going through a season where your health is failing you. You will come to a place where you wrestle with God in the dark and you don't know if he is for you or if he's against you.”

43s

#FaithInTheStruggle

“And it's normal for us to go through moments like these. And yet we find things revealed in these moments of wrestling. And probably the first thing that you need to hear today is that every single one of us wrestle with God because we believed a great lie. You know what the lie is? The great lie is that Christians should never struggle. Christians should never struggle. I think many of us have believed this lie with all of our heart that Christianity should be easy. That's false, by the way.”

44s

#NeverGiveUp

“We believe the lie that Christians should be easy, we think that it should be easy for us to lead people to know Jesus. And so a lot of times we give up when things get hard, we share the gospel and somebody rejects it. Or we go like, hey, listen, I tried once to talk to them about Jesus, but then football came on, so it just kinda just moved to something else. But here's the thing is that contending and being the kind of person who has grit means continuing to have hard conversations even when we're tired of the conversation. Why? Because people come to Jesus over time through people that love them and care about them and don't give up on them. I'm so glad people didn't give up on me.”

37s

#CourageousFaith

“So today, I don't know where you're at. You may be wrestling with God in the night. I would beg you to hold fast and ask him to bless you. You might be in a moment of decision right now. What kind of person are you going to be? Are you gonna be someone who has grit and presses in or are you gonna be somebody who fades into the night? I beg you to choose today to be a person who's courageous for Christ. That you would be known by your convictions, by your passion for God.”

41s

#AllInForJesus

“That it would not leave you or forsake you. That you'd be a person who's courageous with all of your heart. That you long to see Jesus lifted high, that that would be the desire of your heart. And the way you get there is simply by saying, I'm all in to following Jesus. That's what it means to follow Jesus. And I think that some of us have been there but we've forgotten. I think some of us are too scared to actually press in because you know it's gonna cost us. But friend, I'm just telling you, you're gonna get so much more when you choose Jesus.”

33s

#HopeInChrist

“Jacob experiences God's blessing, but he knows less about God than you and I do. He doesn't know about Jesus yet. He doesn't know the name of God. He goes, what's your name? He's like, why do you ask? You should know who I am. But he doesn't understand that Jesus would come and live a perfect life and give himself for us so that we could find salvation, so we could be justified, sanctified, and eventually glorified. And y'all, that is our hope in life and death.”

30s

#StrengthThroughHardship

“But we live these lies. We believe that Christianity should be easy. We think that Christians should have easy lives. I think a lot of us have embraced health and wealth theology where we think like, hey, listen, all I gotta do is pray and God's gonna give me everything. He's gonna give me all the money and a perfect life and a perfect marriage. But sometimes, God brings hardship into our life. Because he wants to make us strong.”

47s

#ChristianGrit

“You know, when he calls him Israel, he doesn't just call the man a new name. He names the entire people group, the entire nation of Israel. And you have to ask yourself the question, why do you pick this guy? The broken, cheating, shady Jacob. Why do you pick this guy instead of Abraham? Why do you pick this guy instead of David? Why do you pick this guy instead of Joseph? Well, it's because he has grit. And I think we need to reclaim this idea of Christian grit. Being like Jacob, being mentally and spiritually tough if we want to be the kind of people that saturate Spartanburg, The Carolinas, and the world with the gospel.”

52s

#SaltAndLight

“And I think that there's there's a reality that if we, the body of Christ, do not take our calling seriously to be salt and light, so too will we go. We also will fade away into a place that is godless and it only takes a generation for that to happen. And the way that we overcome not by being angry and it's not by hiding, but simply by pressing in and calling on the name of Jesus, and being bold, courageous followers of Jesus who press in and share the gospel and live it out, and continue to call our friends and neighbors to know the living God.”

59s

#GospelInAction

“If we wanna be the kind of men and women who change the world, we have to embrace this idea of struggle and fighting and pressing in and not giving up because Jesus is worth it. And because the stakes are high. And I just wanna tell you, one of the things that's been so impressive to me is that what we do here on Sunday morning really matters. And what you do, having conversations with your friends about Jesus really matters. It's not in the huge pieces of legislation or in global conflict that you see true transformation. life on life, conversation after conversation, worship service after worship service, contending for the faith that real change happens because all change happens on a small scale rather than a large scale.”

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