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Gen. 32:24-28 - So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till 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." The man asked him, "What is your name?" "Jacob," he answered. Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome." NIV
There won't be any of your teammates coming to your rescue, nor would you want them to interfere. This is between you and your opponent. Jacob wrestled through the night until daybreak, alone.
Who is this man that Jacob is wrestling? I have my thoughts about Him and will allow you to have yours, but I can tell you this much He was powerful enough to dislocate Jacob's hip with a touch. In the 1972 Olympics, Dan Gable, was head butted. His trainer wrapped his head to temporarily stop the bleeding. He continues to wrestle, wins the match and then received seven stitches to close the gash. In the 1998 Freestyle Wrestling Championships, Cary Kolat, dislocated his shoulder during one of his early matches. He continued to wrestle and won a bronze medal. There are hundreds of wrestling stories like these. When you get hurt you keep on going.
Jacob was wrestling with God. Notice what the verse says, Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God…" He was struggling or wrestling with God.
The apostle Paul informs Christians that we likewise are wrestlers and he even names our enemies that we will be wrestling against in this life. One passage of scripture we never want to forget is 1 Corinthians 15:57-58 - "…but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord." NASU Think About These: When God measures a man, He puts the tape around his heart not his head. Who is more foolish: a child who is afraid of the dark or a man who is afraid of the light? Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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Prov. 24:16 - "For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again,..."
A study of Proverbs will reveal the way to overcome adversity is to get back up after you have had your encounter with adversity.
It may have been an illness, a medical set back such as a torn ACL, a rejection of your resume, failure to accomplish a set goal, a divorce or the death of a loved one. There are thousands of ways to get knocked down but if we intend on overcoming adversity we must get back up and re-enter the race. We must get back up on our own two feet and start again.
For some, it would be a conversation with someone that you respect, or watching a movie or reading about other people who overcame adversities. Are you one that is able to motivate yourself? Or are you the kind who will graciously allow others to help motivate you? It doesn't matter which method works for you. What matters is in order to overcome adversity you will get back up and move forward with another plan and a new head full of ideas.
Every time you get knocked down by life you get back up on your feet and start all over again.
What can I learn from this trial? I then write down the things that I can learn and allow these to help motivate me positively to keep moving forward to accomplish my goal. If you ask "Why" you may never be able to determine if the answers you come up with are true. If you're knocked down get back up and you'll be glad you did. If you meet some events that knock you down in life then plan on getting back up and re-engaging. This is the correct way to overcome adversity. Think About These: The difficulties of life you're going through now in 20 years will be the good ole days. Say what you will about trouble; it always gives us something to talk about. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Ps 30:5, 10-12 - "Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning…"
10 "Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me; O LORD, be my helper." 11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, 12 That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever. NASU
David says, "Weeping may last for the night, BUT a shout of joy comes in the morning…" David is writing this Psalm after he got in trouble with God for numbering the people. He knew he had done wrong, the plague had come upon him and his people were suffering because of his actions. He also knows that joy comes in the morning. We must train our minds to think all I have to do is make it until tomorrow because "joy" comes in the morning. We are all 24 hours or less away from a joyous occasion. When I find myself in tough situations I always tell myself, "I can endure anything for 24 hours. I will get a fresh start tomorrow." It is like a wrestler who needs to get out of bounds and get a fresh start. It is not exactly what you want to do, but sometimes it is what you have to do.
God had informed David that because of his sin (numbering the people, which is the equivalent to taking a census, by doing this David was showing his faith was in the number of people and not in God, this also shows David had an issue with pride) he would be punished. God was going to send a plague. He names three different plagues and allows David the opportunity to choose which plague he wanted to endure. David chose the plague of falling into God's hand because David knew God's mercies are great. You and I must absolutely positively know the mercies of God are great. He has His eyes on us and He will not give us more than we can bear. 2 Sam. 24:16 -When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who destroyed the people, "It is enough! Now relax your hand!" NASU David was correct when he desired to fall into the hand of the LORD for His mercies are great. In this passage, we see God putting a halt to the punishment that was being administered. You and I will do well to trust in the mercies of God. God will be our helper and turn our mourning into dancing. It will be God who puts a stop to the punishment that is upon us.
Let's prepare ourselves to sing praises to God and give Him thanks forever. God will be the One who brings our night of weeping to a close and opens our morning with joy. Think AboutThese: We learn some things from prosperity, but we learn many things from adversity. Your character is what you have remaining when you have lost everything you can lose. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Luke 10:40-41 - But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me." 41 But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things;…"
Here is what Jesus says about your life: Matt.10:39 - "He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it. Don't be afraid of Covid 19 or anything else. If it kills you it actually has set you free from this body and allows you to have a glorified body.
Sometimes the love of money or sex two more of the devil's old tools have distracted people from doing their jobs or launching their careers. There are all types of distractions that can come into a person's life.
Mary was listening to Jesus and Martha was preparing the meal. Let me say it another way, Mary was focused on what Jesus was saying and Martha was focused on the fact that her sister was not helping her prepare the meal. There it is friends the keyword: "FOCUS." Mary was focused on what Jesus was teaching. Mary wasn't the least bit interested in eating, leastways not physical food. She was focused on what Jesus was saying.
In other words, she was not focused on the right thing. You want to help that person focus on what is important and what they are doing to improve themselves.
Jesus gives Martha the solution to her problem when He tells her she needed to prioritize her life. Jesus says, "but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her."(v.42) Life is about PRIORITIES. If you don't prioritize you will only make your life harder. Martha hadn't chosen the one necessary thing. She chose to be distracted about something that would not really be that beneficial to her. Her priorities were incorrect. As Steven Covey said, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." That is all we have to do to overcome distractions "Keep the main thing the main thing." Think About This: What chance can a man have to control his destiny when he can't control himself? Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word John 11:11-14, 40-44 -He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep." The disciples then said to Him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. So Jesus then said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead…
Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. "I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me." When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." NASU
How do you and I need to view death? We need to see it exactly as Jesus viewed it. He saw death exactly like you and I view someone who is sleeping. Have you ever been asked by someone to go and wake someone who is sleeping? Your mother may have asked you to go and wake your brother, sister, father or grandfather to come and eat dinner. You said okay and went in and woke them from their sleep. You didn't hesitate to accept this responsibility because you knew you could do it. Well, the same way you and I walked into where they were sleeping to awake them from sleeping, Jesus is able to wake someone with the same ease when they have died. Stop and think about that for a moment. Jesus can raise the dead as easily as you can wake someone from their sleep. A person who is sleeping and a person who has died is the same to Jesus. He can wake them both up so they can carry on with life.
It doesn't have the power to defeat me because I know Jesus. Lazarus died and was dead four days. Jesus went to where they had put him in a tomb and told him to come out of there. Now not everyone believes in Jesus, but I do. There is no doubt in my mind as Jesus resurrected Lazarus He will resurrect me. In Revelation, we are told Jesus has the keys to death and Hades. When death takes us Jesus will come and unlock death's door and free us. If you believe in Jesus He will likewise bring you into Eternal Life. The apostle Paul stated it this way in Romans 8:11 - But if the Spirit of Him(God) who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Acts 2:38- Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. I repented of my sinful way of life 45 years ago. I was baptized (immersed) into Jesus Christ and God forgave me of my sins and placed within me the Holy Spirit. This same Spirit that resurrected Jesus will resurrect all of those who believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, according to Romans 8:11 and that is a promise from God. I am thankful the Holy Spirit lives in me. I hope He lives in you. Think About This: When we die we leave behind all we have and take with us all we are. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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