Grappling with God...Continued from page 6

That night Mary called people and told them what the doctor said and asked people to pray that there would be enough arm and elbow so that Dave could continue in his work with children.

Mary spent the night in and following days in prayer for Dave. Then came time for the surgery. A couple of hours later the doctor comes out and pulls Mary into a side room. Mary thinks that the doctor is going to tell her that something has gone wrong because the only time the doctor pulls you aside is to tell you bad news.

The doctor said something totally different though. He said that when they went in their to perform the surgery they looked at Dave’s bones and it was like all of a sudden that he didn’t just have extra bone, but like a new elbow appeared, and all the doctors needed to do was connect it together. One of the nurses who was a part of the first surgery was also in this surgery and said, she knows that the arm wasn’t like that.

Do you know what God did when Mary grappled with God? He grew a whole new elbow back for Dave. The doctors put Dave in a cast for six weeks and said that after he was out of a cast he was going to need 100 days of physical therapy.

The day the cast came off the doctor asked Dave if he could move his arm. When Dave did the doctor said you don’t have go to physical therapy. Someone grappled with God, and Dave was healed!

You know what? Before this incident I used to see Jacob as someone who was a conniver, someone who cheated his brother out of his blessing, out of his birthright. I was left with an impression of him much like the man who left the impression of sitting in front of the television watching football with a beer and cigarette. But now the impression I have of Jacob is someone who grapples with God. I want to ask you a question this morning can the same be said about you? What impression do people have about you? Do they see you as a person who grapples with God, or do they see you in a different light all together?

Some of you men the greatest impression that you can leave for the people here in this church is that they watch you grapple with God. That you get on your face before him, and you wrestle with him until you get what you need. Here let me just give you one example why it is important that people see you men grapple with God. Did you know that 90 percent of all boys who grow up in church, by the time they are 20 have nothing to do with the church? That they don’t take their future wives and kids to church?

Did you know that there are some single mothers in our church who are trying to raise their children in a Godly fashion and that they bring their children here to church? And some of you men have been real good to these kids, you take them fishing, you take them hunting, you spend time with them. But if you want to really leave an impression with those kids, with that other 90 percent of boys, leave a real impression of someone who has grappled with God.

In your own families what your wife, your kids need to see is a man who spends more time before the Lord grappling with Him then they do seeing a husband and father watching football. These are lasting impressions that leave a deep lasting impact in the lives of many.

This morning I want to challenge you. Don’t leave an impression like the man on the recliner did. Leave an impression that you are a person who grapples with God. That you are someone who will not easily let go of God; that you are someone who won’t let go of God until you get what you need from him.