Crippled to Be Blessed

7/23/2019 Crippled to Be Blessed

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Crippled to be Blessed:

" And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him untilthe breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed notagainst him he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of

Jacob!s thigh was out of oint as he wrestled with him. And he said#et me go for the day breaketh. And he said $ will not let thee goe%cept thou bless me. And he said unto him &hat is thy name' Andhe said Jacob. And he said (hy name shall be called no more

Jacob but $srael: for as a prince hast thou power with )od and withmen and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him and said (ell me $pray thee thy name. And he said &herefore is it that thou dost ask after my name' And he blessed him there. And Jacob called thename of the place *eniel: for $ have seen )od face to face and mylife is preserved ". )enesis +,:,- +/ 0J1 .

(here are times in our lives when we get caught up in situationsfrom which deliverance seems impossible such as sickness2nancial problems relationship problems ob issues emotional andpsychological problems etc. (hings do not always turn out the waywe e%pect. (he people of the world advice us to do this and thatthey critici3e us for being weak foolish or useless because to theworld a Christian looks weak. &hen you are a Christian )odmakes you weak so that the only option you have is to make )od

your strength and wisdom in everyday life. (he way the people ofthe world deal with their problems is di4erent from a way abeliever in Christ deals with his5her problems. (he people of theworld depend on other people or their own self wisdom or theyappease their gods to overcome their problems but everythingcomes short. &hen we give our life to Jesus and follow 6is &ill in



our life )od lets some problems come in our life where we feelstuck. 7uring these times family and friends will either desert usor are incapable of helping us out of our problems. )od allowsproblems in our so that 6e can test us whether we still trust 6im in

our hardships and to make us learn to depend on )od. 8atan usesthe circumstances and people in our life to attack us. 6eoverwhelms us with fear and torments us. $t is during these timesthat we sometimes regret to have followed )od. &e look at thepeople of this world going about their life with ease and geto4ended at )od for putting us through hardships. But irrespectiveof our circumstances and our feelings we have to trust )od for 6eis our only 6elp. &hen things go wrong in a Christian9s life the

2rst thing we do is blame the #ord murmur against 6im andsometimes turn our backs on 6im instead of running to 6im forsafety. 8ome of us because of the hardness of our hearts often donot respond to )od even in adverse circumstances.

$f you are a true Christian )od will bring you to a place of utterhelplessness. Jacob wrestled with )od and )od crippled him; his2nal weapon was gone. $f all his plans and strength had failed atleast he could have run; but now he couldn9t even run. )od brought

Jacob to the place of utter absolute complete brokenness anddependence. (hen 6e blessed Jacob. or the 2rst time in his life

Jacob got a hold of the #ord. 6e said <=h )od $ need >ou. )od $will not let you go e%cept >ou bless me.? )od had been waiting tohear those words for so long and at that moment somethingwonderful took place. (he Angel of the #ord asked Jacob for hisname. )od knew it but 6e wanted Jacob to confess his name whichfurther meant <liar cheater crook fraud schemer and deceiver.?(hen )od gave him a new name $srael which means <a prince of)od.? 6e became a prince with )od because he 2nally came to theend of himself. >ou see )od wanted to bless Jacob not hurt him.)od crippled him that he might crown him. )od broke him that hemight bless him.

7o you know why many of us are not yet truly blessed' &e have not yet been truly broken. @en throw broken things away but )odnever uses anything until he 2rst breaks it. >ou9ll never show meanybody who has been or will be mightily used of )od who has not



been broken. (here is no blessedness without brokenness. (he restof his life Jacob had to use a crutch. (his wasn9t ust somethingthat could be 2%ed and put back. 6e had to have a sta4 to leanon. And Jacob learned to lean on )od. Jacob had 2nally learned tolean. 6e reali3ed that he was stronger leaning than he wasstanding on his own two feet.

&hat Jacob didn9t know and what we often don9t reali3e insituations like that is how )od goes about helping us. &hat wehave in mind is that )od would somehow remove our problem ormake our enemy go away. But )od doesn9t do it that way. )odanswered Jacob9s prayer for protection from sau by wrestling with

Jacob until 6e left him limping as he approached his brother. 6is

plan had been that if sau attacked one camp Jacob in the othercamp could escape. But now he couldn9t run from sau if he triedD6e was totally dependent on the #ord.(he way )od helps us is by breaking us of our inherent selfdependence so that we lean totally on 6im. $n that conte%t we canproperly receive 6is blessings. =ur problem like Jacob9s is that alltoo often we want to use )od and 6is blessings to further our ownends. All his life Jacob had been using )od and people to get whathe wanted for himself. But now )od brings Jacob to see that you

don9t use )od you submit to 6im. &hen we submit to )od 6eblesses us.

God must break us of our self-dependence so that He canbless us as we cling to Him in our brokenness.

Brokenness is the path to blessing. Before )od can use a mangreatly 6e must break him because we all have a built inpropensity to trust in ourselves.

=ften our greatest victories come out of the ashes of our greatestdefeats. As soon as Jacob was crippled he was able to hang on tothe #ord for dear life. 6e knew now that if )od didn9t bless him hehad no hope. 6e couldn9t trust in himself any longer because hewas crippled. 6e had to cling to the #ord and in clinging to the



#ord in his brokenness Jacob received the blessing he had beenscheming to get all his life.

Just like 6e crippled Jacob 6e will cripple you in life so that theonly support you have is )od!s 6ands and not human hands. (hen6e will bless you. 6e will remove all the things in your life that youdepend on and 6e will bring you to the end of yourself so that youhave no one to depend on e%cept for )od.8o if you9re thinking <$9m not a terrible sinner. $n fact $9m abasically good person ? )od may have to let you go through someserious problems until you see your desperate need for Christ. 6ecame to save sinners not pretty good people. 8ometimes )od hasto let you hit the bottom where you see that you cannot doanything to save yourself. $t9s when )od cripples us and we see how

weak we really are that we cling to 6im until 6e blesses us.$f we come into the proper relationship with )od of clinging to 6imin our brokenness then we have power with 6im. &e prevail with6im who has prevailed over us. And since )od is over all if we canprevail with 6im then we prevail over all others. As Jacob wentlimping to face sau he was more powerful in )od9s strength andhis own weakness than he ever could have been in his ownscheming and strength.

8o above all else devote yourself to seeking )od9s blessing. &hen you9ve got that you9ve got everythingD &hen you prevail with )odthrough 6is prevailing over you 6e will take care of your problemsand enemies. (hen you9re not using )od to solve your problems;

you9re submitting to )od and clinging by faith to 6im. &eak inthemselves the $sraelites could lay hold of )od9s strength and noone could prevail against them.

7oes every limp in your life remind you of your weakness' 7oes itmake you conscious of the evil within you' 7oes it bring to bearupon your conscious mind that which baEes beats and blisters

your personal life')od opens heaven and blesses us when we lay our head down on acold hard rough unkind unsympathetic hostile stone.(he earlier we learn this great spiritual principle the better o4 weare in life.



&hen the )od of Jacob is our refuge 6e puts 6is hand on us toteach us great spiritual lessons to wound us cripple us in orderthat 6e might give us a deeper healing. 6e cripples to make usstronger.)od removed all of Jacob9s false securities that night and made himdepend upon 6im alone. (he <)od =f Jacob? became his refuge.

Jacob had contended with men and had prevailed. (hat had beenhis story all through and the e4ect of his successes upon hischaracter had been that of making him more self reliant and inthat measure forgetful that these very successes had resulted fromthe fact that all his life was arranged and ruled by )od. (hat wasthe lesson he had to learn in order that he might be delivered froma self su4iciency which must inevitably have ruined him. (hat

e%plains all the story of that night. )od crippled him to crown himrevealed his weakness to teach him the secret of strength defeatedhim that he might 2nd victory.

As we go through life we don!t like where we are and we see wherewe want to be and we make our plan by drawing a straight linebetween those two points BF( the straight line never happens. &ewant to get into the right school we want the right ob we wantthe right title we want marriage we want a family we want tohave more impact BF( it!s not happening. But maybe that!s not)od!s plan yet. )od is leading but sometimes the best way is notthe shortest or the Guickest way. >ou wanted to go the Guick andshort way and )od is leading you the long way. =ur world says theGuicker the better. ast food fast cars fast computers ne%t week faster computers. But )od is not in a hurry. (he Guickest way isn!talways the best way.

Are you in the middle of a big problem a crisis' Are you overcomewith fear' Ho matter what your pain your grief your loss yourdisappointment your need is Jesus is su4icient.

$f you are a Christian )od has a special interest a specialcommitment and a special love for youD (here will always betrouble. Hobody is e%empt. 0now that no trouble comes into your



life with out )od9s permission. $f )od has allowed it then 6e has agreater purpose I to glorify 6is name. &hen we are too weak todeliver ourselves )od delivers us and we become a testimony of)od9s favour and blessing over our lives. 8o don9t lose hope. A

Christian has hope even in the hardest of trials because we serve a)od who delivers and sets captives free. >our sorrow will turn to

oy and your darkness into light. But you need to wait on )od9stiming and submit yourself to )od. $n 6is time 6e will deliver you.

)od teaches us many spiritual lessons during times of adversity. Adversity changes us either for our best or worse. A person whotrusts )od during adversity will be transformed to be like Jesus.$t doesn!t mean we will be perfect. As long as we are in thisfallen world we will have short comings but adversity softens ourheart towards other people and cultivates in us compassionkindness love and patience for others. $t teaches us many preciouslessons. But when a person hardens his heart towards )od and getso4ended by )od during times of adversity he becomes even morehard hearted cruel mean and bitter towards other people. " orgodly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repentedof: but the sorrow of the world worketh death". , Corinthians :K/

0J1. &e may not be great strong wise people but )od is still )odD"Ho matter what )od is still )od and we can still trust 6im todeliver us.

)od delivers ust the right peopleD Are you one of 6is people'L 6ave you recogni3ed your total helplessness before )od andaccepted )od9s payment for your sins the Blood of the #ord

Jesus Christ.L 6ave you placed your faith in Christ alone for 8alvation andallowed 6im to give you a home in 6eaven and a changed lifenow' $f you have done these things you are one of )od9s peopleD JohnK:K, K+ John K/:, +/ 0J1 .

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Crippled to Be Blessed