Facing God, Rev. Marcia Norfleet

0:04 I don't know about you all, but I'd rather have Jesus. You know, silver and gold is nice, but there's one who is priceless, who means more to me than anything in this whole world. The joy that they didn't give me, but the joy that he gave me. So I am blessed this morning by royal priesthood. I am blessed by the Lord this early morning, because you know, y'all know me.

0:48 I ain't no morning person. But I love the Lord. And he heard my cry. in wee hours of the morning. He heard me. And I'd like to thank our pastor in his Selah season, in our Selah season, and the ministerial staff and the leaders of this church of Diaconate and church council. And I see a lot of my seniors here because, you know, this is their service. Amen. But there is a special one here who loved me and knew me before you all ever knew my name and loves me unconditionally like the Lord loves me. And that is my mommy. She's here today.

1:49 So, yes, amen. And if y'all don't like this message... She will love it. Amen.

2:13 Praise the Lord. There is a word from the Lord, and I thank God for this opportunity, and I thank my pastor for this opportunity, but would you please stand and turn with me to Genesis. You all should know where Genesis is, because it says that it is the beginning, the first book of the Bible. So if you would turn with me to Genesis 32. starting at verse 22. And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok.

3:05 He, meaning Jacob, took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had. Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when he saw that he did not prevail against him, he touched the socket of his hip, and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go for the day breaks. But he said, I will not let you go unless you bless me. So he said to him, What is your name? He said, Jacob. And he said, Your name shall no longer be called Jacob. But Israel, for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed. Then Jacob asked, saying, Tell me your name, I pray. And he said, Why is it that you ask me about my name?

4:02 And he blessed him there. So Jacob called the name of this place, Peniel, for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. Just as he crossed over Penuel, the sun rose on him and he limped on his hip. Therefore, to this day, the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob's hip in the muscle that shrank. as you take your seats. I will be meditating and I pray that you will meditate with me on the topic of facing God. Lord, it is in your will for me to stand here.

4:58 So I pray, Lord, that you would hide me behind you. Hide your servant, hide your daughter, and let them see you only. And if they should see a little bit of her, may it be to your glory. It's in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen. Psalm 27, 7 and 8 says, Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice. Have mercy also upon me and answer me. When you said, Seek my face, my heart said to you, Your face, Lord, I will seek. Hmm.

5:55 Tis the season for fasting. It's that time of year when many will deprive themselves of certain foods, social media, TV, etc. Some do it because it's the Lenten season, celebrating and remembering the cross and the resurrection. It's tradition for them. They do it every year, looking forward to jump-starting their diet in order to be summer-fine I'mma findin' beach right in a few months.

6:24 I'm layin' off chocolate, no dairy for me, no carbs, all of this other stuff, it goes on and on and on. The Cheesecake Factory is advertising free dessert for the month of March. And pushin' ice cream flavors at various grocery stores. The devil, I swear, it's the devil. They don't, they know that we're fasting. When fasting, we're supposed to replace our sacrifice with more time with God. Our church-wide fast is called seek for a reason. Seeking God. We don't want people to forget the reason and proper way to fast. It's not out of tradition. It's not to curb your eating habits and get your body in shape for the summer, summer, summertime fine. It ain't about that.

7:18 It's about our relationship with God. Changes to your body is a benefit of the sacrifice, but not the reason to fast. See, we always want the benefit and see the results of our sacrifice. We want our ROI. We want our return on our investment, but we forget about the ultimate person who gave in the first place. We want our blessing, but not forget about the one who blesses. God wants a return on his investment. So what are you giving to this relationship?

7:56 Because you said I done made my vow to the Lord and I ain't turning back. I will go, I shall go to see what the end's going to be. You said it. You confessed with your mouth and believed in your heart the work of the cross and that Christ is Lord. You said that. So what are you doing to nurture this relationship? The fast is a time to nurture the relationship with God because of that vow you made a long time ago. This relationship needs nurturing because truth be told, it's on life support. And you can't do it with the addictions to certain things and people you have inserted in your life. Any and everything can be a distraction. Certain things you're tied to and people you can't or don't want to live without. and we can't do it participating in attention harlotry.

8:53 Perpetuated by social media searching for our next like love emoji fix. Why didn't they like my picture? Who was that in the picture with them? Let me log on to see how many lights, loves, and flames are on my post. We're attention whores. Did it hit you? Every five seconds is another selfie. Check out my outfit, my new shoes. I went out last night. Guess who I met at the grocery store? Barack and Michelle were in the freezer section asking me how I like the Cheesecake Factory ice creams.

9:48 We're seeking approval from society and an audience that do not have the power to bless us. Our approval rating... Our approval rating should come from the Lord. The Lord said, seek my face. And we said, Lord, your face I will seek, not our own. We are seeking the Lord in this season. Many of us want direction, answers, and worried about decisions to be made. Our next steps in our careers, discernment on what and who should stay in our lives. We're seeking God in this time of fasting. seeking to hear his voice seeking peace guidance and clarity seeking the blessing he promised previously and a blessing of a promise to come we're seeking advice from the Lord seeking God's presence because where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty and some of us need saving where God's presence is there is fullness of joy, fullness and joy. There are no voids. There are no holes. He is complete.

11:01 we're facing, we're seeking, we're seeking God's face for the face of God. For the face of God will have all the answers. We're seeking, S-E-E-K, searching for evidence of the eternal King. But what happens when you find him? What happens when you come face to face with the person and blessing you seek? I imagine this is where we find Jacob in our text this morning, seeking the face of God, wanting peace, safety, and direction.

11:59 We all know Jacob. He's the son of Isaac, the grandson of Abraham. We know him to have 12 sons, which became the 12 tribes of Israel. But we also know him to be a trickster, the one who tricked his father and twin brother Esau out of a birthright blessing, belonging to Esau. He fled here from his family, found shelter with his mother's side of the family, got married to two sisters, loving one and not the other, had children by four different women, was cheated and lied to by his uncle, but eventually out-tricked him, fell out with the wife's family, and fled again. You know, the usual dysfunctional family stuff. But God told him to leave and go back to his family.

12:49 And now here he is, and at this juncture, unsure and worried about seeing his brother again. So he sent messengers in peace to Esau to let him know he was coming home. the messengers returned informing Jacob that Esau was coming to meet him with 400 folks and 400 sounds threatening like an army ready to attack when he heard the news he prayed to God humbling himself and reminding God of his promise to him and he prayed for protection deliver me I pray from the hand of my brother from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children. For you said, I will surely treat you well and make your decisions as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

13:52 And because he thought he was going to be attacked, he divided his camp into two. The first camp was the livestock and servants, his family being the second and the most precious. He and his family crossed over Jabbok, a river that pours out into the Jordan. Hence the name Jabbok, meaning emptying or pouring out. The text says that he sent his family ahead of him, sending all that he had. Sending his possessions ahead of him could seemingly be construed as a gift to his brother, and maybe that was the plan to attempt to appease and smooth over the betrayal and heartache he caused.

14:39 Jacob poured out all he had. His family, livestock servants, etc., sending them ahead of him. He even poured out his arrogance, becoming humble in the moment, but stayed behind. He sacrificed all that he had for his safety. And the decision was fear-based.

15:05 Fear set in. And fear will do it to you, won't it? You start praying when you ain't prayed in a minute. making promises to God if you get me out of this thing Lord I promise ain't coming I ain't coming back this way I swear fear will take you to places in your mind you didn't know was possible he thought karma was about to be repaid all of the things he had done all of the manipulation the stealing the backbiting the lying the cheating and all of it was coming and it was about to go down because payback is a And nobody wants to see her coming.

15:52 He thought sure his chickens were about to come to roost. Nervous, shaking in his sandals. So in this place, just across the river that empties, Jacob emptied all that he had, which left him alone and vulnerable. A text says a man wrestled with him until the day break. Who was a man? did he come from? Some say it was Jacob wrestling with himself, symbolic of an internal struggle. Jacob struggling with his past, trying to not bear the guilt of it, but also wanting to hold on to it. Wanting the new blessing, but remaining the old person.

16:49 Come on. You going to walk with me? Some say Jacob was wrestling with an angel, a representative and messenger from the Lord. The majority agree, however, with the text in that Jacob wrestled with God. Jacob struggled with God. Here we have in theological terms a theophany, a revelation of God in human form. God showed up out of nowhere in human form. God showed up in human form. God showed up in human form and dwelt among him. God waited until Jacob was by himself to show himself. Sometimes the Lord has to get you by yourself. And that way you can wrestle, you can argue, you can fight, you can cry, you can yell, you can scream, you can plead with God, all the stuff you can't do in a crowd.

17:49 Because in a crowd you hear other voices. You hear other opinions. You hear a collective of noise, but specifically words from those closest to you who seemingly want what's best for you but don't know what's best for you. They can't give you what you need. Only God can give you what you seek. But Jacob doesn't know it's God. We have the privilege to read the entire chapter he was living it. However, for all he knew, this man came out of nowhere and he was defending himself. Did the man attack him or did Jacob attack the man out of fear, regardless of who hit who first? The struggle ensued until dawn. did the man wrestle or fight back or was he just holding him the text is not clear but my imagination grips to the reality that this is God the the all-powerful one the one that will hold you in the midst of your struggle even if your struggle is with him he'll hold you while you fight him while you deny him while you push him away because there is intimacy even in the wrestling at the first time.

19:10 There's intimacy in the wrestling. Intimacy. There is touching involved. There's intertwining of limbs. You're so close to the other that you can feel the other's breath. You can feel their heartbeat. God wants intimacy with us, which nurtures our relationship with him. There is intimacy in this wrestling. Hmm. And when God saw that Jacob did not calm himself, but continued to strive even when he said, let me go, because day is coming, and Jacob said, I'm not letting you go until you bless me. Jacob did what he had done in the past. He did what he had always done. He forced his blessing.

20:09 Just like he held on to the foot of his brother in the womb when being birthed, we see Jacob holding on to this man, using the same tactics of force, manipulation to get the blessing and the outcome he desired. He tried to force it. He tried to steal it. Like he stole the birthright from his brother. And when Jacob would not settle himself and kept fighting, he was hit in the hip, causing it to go out of socket. I can't imagine the pain.

20:55 I can't imagine the pain of this wrestling. And when facing God, you are vulnerable. You are exposed. And he knows your weakness. And God knows our weaknesses, but does not use all of his power to take us out. I believe that that is called mercy. That is called grace. He had the power to subdue, but instead he just held him. even when he was being disrespected. What do you do when you come face to face with the Lord?

21:41 What you going to find there? The text said that the man asked him his name. That's even more intimacy. I'm trying to get to know you. He said, Jacob, as if God didn't know the name of his child. And he said, your name shall no longer be called Jacob. But Israel, for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed. Prevailed here does not necessarily mean when. It means endure.

22:15 You have endured this wrestling. You have endured this struggle. You have endured the temptations of life. You have endured this time and came out on the other side. Jacob gave him his name, but how you see yourself is not necessarily how God sees you. He gave him his name called Jacob, but God saw him as Israel.

22:51 He sees you. as Israel but you still see yourself as Jacob he sees you as great and you see yourself still at the trickster Why is it that we are blinded by the greatness? of what the Lord has for us. can't see it can't imagine he changed Jacob's name to mean strength and striving you have struggled with God in humans there is nothing that you cannot do he blessed him with a new name a new outlook a new purpose Jacob came face to face with God and I didn't know it.

23:47 How did he miss him? His life was spared because it is said that you cannot see the face of God and live. His saving grace that it was still dark. Jacob encountered God and missed God in the process.

24:13 Didn't recognize him maybe because Jacob didn't know God intimately. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, or the face of God, for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. Church, will you believe what's in front of you?

24:41 Will you believe during this time of fasting, during this time of seeking, during this time of deprivation, and you're seeking the Lord's face? Will you believe what's in front of you? Will you recognize the blessing in front of you? Will you know your answer when you see it? because so many of us miss it because it doesn't come in a package that we want it to come in. You may not get it in the manner in which you seek, and there may be some pain associated with it. Are you ready to seek the Lord and find the Lord while he can be found? Permanent damage that will change your walk may occur and have you to remember from whence you've come? Are you ready to have that permanent damage there, that scar?

25:38 Because when you seek the Lord, there is wrestling. And we wrestle. with ourselves, because he's just holding us. We can go kicking and screaming the whole time. I don't want it. I don't want it this way. That's not what I asked for. when you're seeking will you know him when you find him will you know him my prayer for you during this time is that you will know God intimately that you will seek his face and find it that you will have such an encounter with the Lord that it will change your walk.

26:37 That it will change your walk even if you're limping, it will change it. And you will remember that day that you met the Lord and he met you. Know this church that there is wrestling even in the seeking.