HERE WAS A TIME, I CONFESS, AS recently as September 11, 2001, when my heart wasn't overwhelmed with the thought that there are people God treasures all around us who do not know Jesus.1 Maybe some of you are still there. Thinking of the lost only so often, when children are murdered in school. Or when they're abducted in front of their house. Or when hurricanes ravage their homes.

But these times of trouble, which Matthew 24:8 says will spread in increasing frequency and severity in the end days throughout the world, need not be in vain. They can be Laodicea's wake-up call. They can be things that God uses to grow our faith, perseverance, and confidence in His promises, presence, and power. As crazy as it sounds, conflict all around us can lead to peace of mind and heart, if our hearts and minds are stayed on God.2

But some Christians think we'll be raptured away from these times,3 that we can learn in peace what God sees best to convey in conflict. But if gold could be refined without fire, someone would have figured out a way to do that by now. It cannot be done with precious metals. And it cannot be done with precious people, either. So times of trouble can also be gifts of grace.4

That's what Jacob discovered.

Genesis 25:19-34 describes the miraculous births of Jacob and his twin brother, Esau; and how Esau came to sell his birthright to Jacob for a pot of lentil stew. Jacob knew the birthright would be his in God's time (see verse 23), but he circumvented the process.

Someone Else's God
Genesis 27 fans the flames of Jacob's trouble. His father Isaac's health is failing fast. So he calls his oldest son, Esau, to give him the blessing before he dies. But we know the story: how Jacob, on instructions from his mother, Rebekah, connived to usurp Esau's blessing. From the moment Jacob deceived his father, his brother, and his own conscience, from the moment he sinned against God, he lost his peace of mind. Questioned by his father, Isaac, regarding his ability to find the meat so quickly, Jacob revealed the kind of relationship he had with God: "Because the Lord your God put it in my path!" he said (verse 20).*

Notice that in his time of trouble God is not his God. He is the Lord your God--his father's God. Jacob does not yet have his own personal relationship with God. And soon he is running for his life, away from his brother's anger (verse 41).

Jacob is depressed. There's no hope for tomorrow. And when night comes, Genesis 28:11 says, he takes a rock for a pillow and tries to fall asleep.

That night he had a wake-up call--the Lord appeared to him in a vision. Verse 16 says, "Jacob woke up and said, 'Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn't even aware of it.'" He finally realized, in the midst of his trouble, that the Lord had been with him. All this time--long after all the lies and deception, even in the middle of nowhere.

And so in verse 19 he calls the place Bethel, meaning "the house of God." Apparently, you can recognize God, be raised in His house, and even periodically talk to Him, without really having a relationship with Him.

Verse 20 says, "Then Jacob made this vow: 'If God will be with me and protect me on this journey and give me food and clothing, and if he will bring me back safely to my father, then I will make the Lord my God.'" Then, not now. If my father's God--not my God--brings me back safely.

While we may not realize the reality of our broken relationship with God, we can be sure that God in His mercy and grace does. Verse 13 says, "I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father, Isaac." God understands where Jacob is in their relationship, but accepts him anyway and continues working in his life! So as long as Jacob is growing and progressing and seeking, whatever the future holds and the great times of trouble it may bring, God is there watching over him. Never did He leave him or forsake him. And never will He leave or forsake us either.5 Even to the ends of the earth.

Which is exactly where, according to Genesis 29, Jacob ran off to. There he met Laban, a greater deceiver than he, who repeatedly tricked him. But Jacob did not forget about Bethel. In Genesis 31:5 he says, "But the God of my father has been with me," a statement he reports near the end of his stay with Laban (verse 42).

In spite of all the time that had elapsed and in spite of all the times of trouble he had encountered, his relationship with God had still not changed enough. God was still not his God. And many of us are the same way.

We grew up in Christian homes. Believed in God. Were taught to sing about Him. Even to pray to Him. But we don't know Him personally. Maybe because we have not encountered a trouble great enough for us to confess our desperate daily need of Him. And God, in His mercy and grace, knows that. Even if we do not. He is longing for all the days we invite Him to be Lord of our lives. Revelation 3:20 says, "Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends."

So first, we must ask and keep asking Jesus to come into our lives to be our God. Second, we must believe what the Bible says about Him and us: "But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12).

But believing is not enough. Jacob believed in God, and so do the devils.6 So finally, we must confess our need of Him. 1 John 1:9 says that "if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong."

Times of trouble, while inevitable in a sin-scarred world, can be gifts of grace if we repeat our ABCs each day--if we Ask Jesus to come into our lives, Believe His Word, and Confess our need of Him. For some reason, this is something Jacob and many of us usually learn last.

The Crisis Point
Genesis 32:6 describes the prelude to Jacob's greatest time of trouble as he returned home. "The messengers returned with the news that Esau was on his way to meet Jacob--with an army of four hundred men!" Confronted with this time of trouble, he finally begins searching for God personally. "O God of my grandfather Abraham and my father, Isaac," he prays, "O Lord, you told me to return to my land and to my relatives, and you promised to treat me kindly" (verse 9).

Notice how he now adds himself into the picture: "O Lord, you told me to return." It's not about his parents anymore. And for the first time in his life, the roles have been reversed. Jacob is seeking God, instead of the other way around. He wants to know all about God. But especially about His promises, His presence, and His power. Why? Because there's now a crisis in his life--a great time of trouble. And after 20 years of rationalizing his deceit and excusing his lack of trust in God, he finally begins to see that his actions have serious consequences. His wives, his children, and all he owns will die because of his sin. And an overwhelming sense of unworthiness and conviction for his sin washes over him. In verse 10 he cries to God, "I am not worthy of all the faithfulness and unfailing love you have shown to me, your servant."

Desperation
Out of desperation more than anything else, he finally decides to spend some time alone with God.7 As he slumps to his knees in the darkness pleading for God to intervene, suddenly a hand grabs his shoulder from behind. With his adrenaline pumping and his mind racing, he starts wrestling this man while the overwhelming conviction of his sin is resting upon his heart.

Whom was he wrestling against? The Bible in five different versions says it was "a man." But how could any "man" wrestle all night? Not even Hulk Hogan could do that!

So let's look at it from another perspective. Jacob is in a crisis. A great time of trouble. He is facing an enemy he cannot defeat. So he finally comes to God--better late than never--and is personally searching for Him for the very first time in his life.

God immediately answers his prayer. Emmanuel doesn't have to come near, because He is already there! Jacob is used to haggling and deceiving. Which is what "Jacob" means. But for the first time in his life he is facing Someone who does not haggle. Who will not bargain. The Lord is saying, "Give Me all. I want all of you or none of you." And Jacob is wrestling with that high cost of discipleship.8 He is thinking, O Lord, I will give You my sins and my deceptions. But You gave me these children and blessings. Do You expect me to give those to You too? What about the wealth? You want me to give up those things, too?

And the Lord says, "I want to be Lord of your life and your relationships and your finances. Give me all."

But no, Lord, Jacob is thinking, these are mine.

And every time we come to the Lord in prayer, He responds to us the same way. "Let Me be above all." Which makes us feel like Jacob wrestling against God. We pray for gifts of God's grace minus any times of trouble. We want to be refined without fire. We desperately need His presence, but are willing to live without His promises and power. So we fight against God just as Jacob did. Sometimes all night. Sometimes all our lives. Rationalizing our sins. Making up excuses for our lack of trust. Deceiving ourselves. But in the midst of our greatest times of trouble, like Jacob, we can hear the Lord encouraging us, "Give Me your whole heart."

Here's the Point
This was the time of Jacob's trouble.9 But it became a gift of God's grace.10 Jacob is wrestling and struggling, and then out of mercy11 just as the day is breaking, "the man" simply touches his hip and dislocates it. And Jacob falls to the ground. Humanly helpless. Trusting entirely in God's promises, presence, and power.12

Times of trouble can be gifts of God's grace because they bring us to the desperation point in our lives more effectively and efficiently than all the other times combined.13 Which is, according to 1 Peter 1:7, one reason that He allows us to go through times of trouble. "These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold--and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold."

When the man touched the hip of Jacob, Jacob was broken, and fell. And what happens physically shows us what happens internally. Jacob's heart was broken before God. Just when he thought he had lost, he finally had won.14 "Then, in the distance, Jacob saw Esau coming with his four hundred men."15 And when they finally neared, a miraculous thing occurred. Jacob bowed low, and then "Esau ran to meet him and embraced him affectionately and kissed him. Both of them were in tears."16 After making peace with Esau, Jacob told his brother, "God has been gracious to me."17

Jacob's greatest times of trouble taught him to trust God only. Like Jacob, we must be willing to become humanly helpless, trusting entirely in God's promises, presence, and power. Early that morning Jacob died. And a new person was born--Israel.18 The old character was gone. Perfect already? Far from it.19 But this new man was willing to be refined by the fire, willing to rely upon his God.

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*Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are from the New Living Translation.

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1 See Luke 19:10.
2 See Isaiah 26:3.
3 As five number one best sellers and 60 million copies of the Left Behind series of novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins reveal.
4 I'd like to thank my friend Edward Marton for sharing his thoughts with me on this idea.
5 Isa. 41:10; 43:1, 2; Matt. 28:20.
6 James 2:19, NIV.
7 Gen. 32:24.
8 Luke 9:57-62.
9 Jer. 30:5-7.
10 Heb. 11:9, NIV.
11 Matt. 24:22, NIV.
12 Gen. 32:30, 31.
13 Rom. 5:3-5, NIV.
14 Matt. 24:13, NIV.
15 Gen. 33:1.
16 Verse 4.
17 Verse 11, NIV.
18 Gen. 32:28.
19 Phil. 1:6.

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Michael S. Fortune is the pastor of the Wooster and Canton churches in Ohio. He used to be one of those lost persons God treasures inside the church.