DAY 31: WHY CAN’T I STOP STRIVING?

Good morning. Good lands, how are ya? You are all in. I love love how you're here. It's awesome. Day thirty-one. Why can't I stop striving? Striving. Striving with people, striving with circumstance or circumstances. Striving with yourself, striving before God. We should establish what that is. Striving is what happens when faith believes God's promise, but fear still grabs the steering wheel. Striving. You know, the greatest irony is this. You know, Jacob, tough household going on there. Jacob's striving for what God already intended to give. He already intended. But God uses the striving to expose the man Jacob still is before transforming him into the man Israel will become. Can you imagine? Look back. Hindsight 2020. Have you ever been there? Have you ever been there? Hindsight. What if you're what if you're not exhausted because life is hard? What if that's not the reason? I mean you would stand a reason, right? It would stand a reason. Well, I'm exhausted because life is hard. What if that's not? What if that's not the reason? What if that's not the reason? Be great if it was, right? It'd be so great if it was. Because easy to explain. Well, I'm exhausted because life is hard. I mean, it's just there's a lot going on. Or as people say today, well, it's just a lot. What if you're exhausted because you're trying to force what only God can give? And I get it. You're comparing. You're measuring. You're watching someone else receive what you wanted. Somebody else gets married. Someone else gets promoted. Someone else has the child. Someone else gets the answer. And suddenly. Amen. Suddenly their blessing feels like your rejection, and that's where Genesis 30 meets us. Not in a polished family portrait. Not in a sweet little Bible story. Genesis 30 walks right in, right straight into jealousy, insecurity, rivalry, bargaining, pain, and pressure. The question underneath the whole chapter is this, because there's so much underneath all this. What happens when people try to produce by pressure what only God can give by promise? In day 30, we looked at what Leah was experiencing, right? Lots of us, lots of us in the crowd. We said, Yeah. Maybe I'm a Leah. Yesterday's episode really resonated with you because you said, hey, I I've lived that or I'm living that now. But then there was there was this other group among you. Different story. You've lived a different story. You weren't that person. You were this one. Look, in day 30, which is free. True word, faith for life with Dr. Sean, YouTube channel, Rumble channel. It's free. Like subscribe, do all the stuff. Hit the little bell for all notifications. Look, in in day 30, we we looked at what life was for Leah, and it was heartbreaking. But today we look at Rachel. You say, oh Rachel, she was beautiful. Everybody loved her. Everybody wanted her. That we automatically ascribe to Rachel's life, well, you have everything. You got it easy. Where are you most tempted right now to strive instead of trust? I gave the description right at the beginning. I'm curious if we really want to talk real talk here. By the way, welcome back to Through the Bible in a year. Walking the story of God. I'm Dr. Sean. Here's my book. True Word Faith for Life in Dr. Sean. True Word It's just called True Word Faith for Life. Made it simple. Through the Bible in a year. This is an ambition. You're early in your early days. Some people are like, you're not the Hezekiah yet? If you're not the Hezekiah yet, you're never gonna get finished by by uh thank you, by the way, Miss Cowling, for the sound. You're not ever gonna get to to uh you know revelations in a year. You're never gonna do it. Sometimes people.

People, people, people, people.

So through the Bible in a year. Walking in the story of God.

Today we are tough ground. We're in tough ground.

Genesis is gritty and tough. Remember, I said what some of the commenters said. Good morning. Good morning. Some of the commenters said, you know, why why are you all the time making the pictures with um dirty faces and dirty clothes? I didn't run around with dirty faces and dirty clothes all the time. These people have pride. Jacob didn't look like that. Isaac didn't look like that. Why do you got Rachel and Leech Lee all dirty? Dirty suit of clothes, though. They didn't even wear no tattered clothes like that. Oh, come on. Language, culture, and context of the ancient Near East. That's why I teach the way I do. Anyone that's listened for more than five minutes to my teaching prior to this series, you'll know. I go in deep on the ancient Near Eastern language culture and context. We do a lot of Hebrew, a lot of uh Aramaic, and a lot of Koine Greek. We do some of that here, but not as deep. This episode is brought to you by my book. By the way, Genesis 30, 1 to 24. We feel like we're going a big jump this morning. We're not skipping over anything. It's intense. True Word Faithful Life. You can find it at the store. TrueWordFaithful Life dot com. You can use it as a resource. Resource for growing up. Yeah, you're a star. He says, You're a used car salmon. You're a use car salesman. You're devoid of intellect. But remember, I was just using that example. He couldn't know. He couldn't know. Jimmy's living in the darkness, man. That's alright, buddy. You know, maybe if you just listened, if you just listened. You're running, you're running, you're striving. That's exactly what this is about. You're striving. Trying to find the light. You don't know you're looking for the light, but that's what you're looking for. Because you're living in a bunch of hurt. You're living in a bunch of hurt. I wish you would just listen and give it a chance. Nobody's selling anything. No one will miss me. He says, when you pass away, no one will miss you. Well, you're right about that. You're right about that. Christ be with you. Amen. Thank you. Thank you, Penny. Anyway. Jimmy, I wish you I wish you would not even reject the path you're on, just maybe take some deep breaths. And listen. You don't have to look at my ugly mug. Just maybe, if you're not driving, close your eyes. And just listen. Well then Jimmy says, I don't listen to nonsense. Well, then why did you plug in? You're just scanning for stuff you disagree with, and then you you don't have, you don't have any life purpose of your own. No good that you're giving to society. So you yeah, hijack. Man, I wonder. I wonder what your life would be like if you lived with hope. Rather than hopelessness. If you lived in light rather than darkness. Everybody, let's let's pray for Jimmy. Heavenly Father. In a forum like this, you know, social media, we just never know who's going to come through the door because we leave the door open. For all who may come, come as you are. We pray that Jimmy would experience you. That he would experience you, that he would know who you are, that he would realize that every breath he takes, maybe I am a waste of oxygen, but that you ordain every breath he takes, every beat of his heart, and within all of us, you have crafted a heart that one day will stop beating. And I pray that Jimmy will, before that happens, place his faith in you. Turn his life around from hopelessness to true hope and true light. Amen. Amen. So I said today's message is messy. That's the point. That's the point. Sometimes I say today's messy because it's messy, and then I, you know, it's not the point, but it's the point. Today's passage is messy, and that is the point. The Bible doesn't hide the wounds inside a covenant family. It doesn't pretend people God uses are calm, balanced, emotionally healthy, spiritually impressive. Leastwise, not every day. Who lives at the pinnacle every day? Who lives pumped up, driven? You know, every gear is hitting just right, you know. I don't know if you've ever driven a shift car, a manual transmission, but that's why I grew up driving. I don't know if you ever did, but sometimes, and I don't know if any of you have ever driven race cars. I have. The gears gotta hit. It's gotta hit. That gear has gotta hit just perfectly. Synchronization of the gears has to be perfect. The clutch has to be perfect. God, the people that God, look, hear this, feel this. Hear it here, but feel it here. Let it let it come into you. The people God uses. There, there is this there is this thought that God only uses the calm, balanced, emotionally healthy, and spiritually impressive people. I'm sorry to tell you that's not true. Rachel is wounded, Leah is wounded, Jacob is caught in the middle of a household full of pressure. Yeah, through all of it, through all of it, God is building the future of Israel, yes. Yeah, absolutely. Our future. Genesis 30 opens with Rachel. She's heartbroken too. Leah was heartbroken until she realized she made that connection. Holy moly, look what the Lord has given me. And through her, not only Israel came, but the Lord Jesus Christ, Yeshua Hamashiach. But Rachel, Genesis 30 opens with Rachel and she sees she has borne Jacob no children. The Bible says she envies her sister. She envies her. It's understandable. She envies her sister. Isn't that crazy? Because here I thought Leah envied her sister. Well, she did. She did. She envied her massively. But Rachel also envied Leah. Look, envy doesn't look. Envy doesn't simply notice what someone else has. Envy turns someone else's blessing or blessings into an accusation against God. Envy kind of goes like this in your ear. Why not her and why not me? Why her and why not me? Why him and not me? Why their family and not mine? Why their open door and not mine? That's what comparison does. Comparison is the thief of joy. It makes someone else's life the scoreboard for your soul. Once that happens, peace, shalom, starts leaking out of you. You can't rejoice. When you feel like that, you can't rejoice. You can't rest. You can't receive. You can't only measure. You can only measure. You can't rejoice. Rejoice, rest, receive. It's one of my formulas. It's also one of God's. Wonder where I got it. You can only measure. When your shalom, your peace is leaking out of you. That's all you have left. I want to address this right quick. You know, I've had the privilege of having a unique life. Stuff books are written about. I don't say that's a brag. It's just true. It's just true. But look, I've protected people who are billionaires many times over. And not just on the periphery, like up close. Names you would know. And some names you would know. You'd be surprised who's worth billions and billions of dollars and moves policy, you know. I've been to all the big forums where, you know, the billionaires are there and you know, everybody assumes they've got it made. You think I'd be happy if I had all that. Having been up close, many of them, maybe even most of them, are not as happy as you would think. Now I have been up, I've been with some billionaires that were super happy. Joyful people. Believers, not perfect, but believers. I want you to think about the place where you live. No, I'm not upset. I'm not a billionaire. I'd be a mess with billions of dollars. But I used to protect those people. Really powerful people. And I have to say, I've seen it both. I've seen it both ways. I've seen, you know, opulence, luxury, all that. I say the assumption is that they'd just be so happy. Maybe actors. Maybe they're celebrities, you know, somehow, music people. I think about Hannah from Uh American Idol. She won. She was a stunning upset. She won American Idol. She was voted America's, and I like her. Don't get me wrong. Isn't it interesting? People say, well, we need revival. Yeah. Some of my dear friends are, like, for instance, there's a revival that that Pastor Russell Wright is leading. Another one, a great one. And uh my buddy Joe is pivotal in all that and doing all the tech stuff and all the, you know, the advertising and all. And it's amazing that they pull this off. It's incredible. And I I believe that we are in revival. I do. I believe it. But I have to say, I have to say, there's a whole lot of people out there that are Rachels. And there's an ache in their heart. Let's say, suffice it to say, I want you to think about who you know. That might be a Rachel. And you thought all this time, oh, they're happy. They have everything. They don't need anything. I need. I have lack. They don't have lack. They don't have something, they just buy it. Envy. You can't rejoice, can't rest, can't receive. You can only measure. Rachel says to Jacob, give me children, or I shall die. It's not some sort of calm sentence. That is cold, hard desperation talking. That's identity wrapped around an outcome. If then, and we call it the if-then proposition. Hey, Mary, um, I do. Uh why don't you send me a um send me a message through truewordfaithforlife.com slash contact, or just go to true wordfaithforlife.com and go up to contact and um send me a message. I'd love to chat with you about that. I have a lot to say about it, but not here. This is a different story for another time. But that could be a chat that we have. So here we go. There's some there's some hard talk coming. If then propositions lead to have you ever, if I could just get this job, I will be happy. If I just had more money, I would be secure. If I just got this cosmetic surgery, I would feel better. I'd have more confidence. If I just got this house, or if I just got this friend, or this. Can be whatever. That's you. You you know the thing. I can just get this boat, I could just get this car. If I could just get this spouse, if I could just, I don't know, whatever the thing is, if then, then I will be happy. Happen then, too. There's a lot more to it there, just from the standpoint that the ancient New Eastern world, barrenness, yeah, that's when you can't have a baby, barrenness carried enormous social weight. Children were tied to household survival, inheritance. Right? It was a big deal. Legacy, honor, security, and the future of the family line. So Rachel isn't merely sad. I'm just sad, I'm just so sad. No. Serious business. She feels exposed. The people in the community. Why hasn't Rachel had a baby? Leah's popping out all these babies like it's a pez. She's a Pez dispenser, but Rachel can't have any. She's exposed, she feels ashamed for some reason. You know, I get it. She feels threatened. She feels like her future is slipping away. But underneath the ancient world is a is a very modern world. Without this, well, I'm not enough. Without the child, I'm not enough. Without the spouse, I'm not enough. Well, without the job title, I'm not enough. Without the breakthrough, I'm not enough. Anytime one outcome becomes the condition of your worth, trouble. Jacob answers her. Am I in the place of God who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb? Jacob is not wrong. Life comes from God. Jacob cannot open the womb. He can't do it. He he I'm sure he prayed for it. But he can't. Jacob can't command promise. Jacob can't take God's place. And you can say something true in a way that wounds. True. And Jacob did that there. Look, Jacob gives Rachel theology without tenderness. And that's sometimes what people want to do. That's sometimes what people want to do. Maybe they don't want to do it, they just do it. They don't see it coming. And maybe I've done it. I just haven't realized it. I don't know. I hope not. Nothing, nothing bothers me more than when I hurt somebody. I didn't intend it, but I hurt them. Or maybe I explained something without the tenderness. Jacob gives her accuracy without compassion, you know? I was a pre-brain injury, a weird brain. I still have a weird brain, but and I'm so weird, don't get it twisted. But pre-crash, I had an instant. My mental acumen was my men, my mental acuity was it was fast and it was wide. Never searched for a word. And you know, at this intense vocabulary. But prior to that happening, I I didn't explain with any sense of emotion. Somebody asked me a question. There was an emotion in it. It's not that I was trying to be hurtful, it's just, well, let me explain this to you. Okay, so here we go. Here we go. Nicole says, hmm, Jacob's two wives have him in the middle of the very same tension between Jacob and Esau. Isn't that something? I might talk about that in a minute. So Rachel's desperate, but Jacob is angry. He's like, Man, why am I why I'm not trying to hear all this? I got all this mess going on. I'm not trying to hear all this. I'm not trying to hear all this. I it's I've got a lot. You know, life is challenging. I got my own stuff. I thought you were awesome. I thought you were gonna fix all the hurt in my heart. I thought you were gonna fill the hole. I waited. I waited all this time, seven years, fourteen years. I've been through some stuff and now here you are. You know, yeah, okay, I want to have a child with you too, because you're awesome. Well, it was love of first sight for me. Man, I saw you and I was like, hmm, all right. I see a future there for me. Look, that still happens. Pressure fills the room. Maybe somebody in the room is desperate, maybe somebody in the room is angry. Pressure fills the room, and that still happens today. People quote truth at each other while ignoring pain. That happens a lot. You see the people that go from chat, you know, YouTube channel to YouTube channel, they look for things they don't agree with. They look for someone with whom they can fight. And I don't tolerate any of that here. Sometimes you'll see, we prayed for some, but if you're here to disrupt, wrong place. It's a place of learning. This is a serious place of learning. Yeah, we have fun, but it's a serious place of learning. We're grown folk here. Although we have someone in seventh grade who is a homeschool student. Well, I'm sorry. Two people who are homeschool students. Welcome. I'm glad to have you. I know you're not allowed to come into chat. Mom had a discussion with me. She asked me. Yeah. It's interesting. Welcome, Robbie. Welcome. Molotov juice box. That's an interesting, that's an interesting handle. It's that's interesting. Good morning, Dragonfly. Dragonfly Three Wings. Robbie. And then Molotov juice box. I don't know. That's an interesting one. I know there's a story behind that one. If you know what a Molotov cocktail is, is you know you fill a bottle full of an accelerant, you put a rag in it, you light it, you throw it, and when it breaks, poof. Yeah, no worries. No worries, Molotov. Alright, we're back in gear. So that still happens today, right? You've all seen it. We're not living in a vacuum. People still, they throw truth at each other. They throw truth at each other. They're like rocks of truth and they ignore the other person's pain. Look, you don't, it's not any of our job to be a salve on everybody's hurt. It's not up to us to fix everybody's habit or hang up. It's not. Look, people quote truth at each other while ignoring pain, and they win the sentence and they lose the person. That used to be me. That used to be me. But biblical truth isn't a weapon for impatient hearts. Truth has to be carried with love, or we may be right and still be wrong in spirit. Then Rachel reaches for a familiar pattern. She gives her servant Bilah, Bila, to Jacob. She gives her servant Bilah to Jacob. We've seen this before. We've read this story. Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham. Different generation, but same strategy. When waiting feels unbearable, people start manufacturing outcomes. Oh, God didn't do it? Well, I'm gonna fix it. When trust gets thin, old patterns come back. Instead of surrendering, we control. Instead of waiting, we arrange. We do it. Let's be honest. Come on. Instead of trusting, promise, we create pressure. By the way, don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit the little bell for all notifications. True Word Faith for Life with Dr. Sean, YouTube channel. Love to have you there. Welcome to everybody listening from wherever you're listening. If you're listening on podcasts, we're on all of them. All every single one. We're on them all. Wherever you get your podcast, that's where we are. Your audio podcast. Usually about two hours. Hour, two hours after we're there. We have to process them and do all this stuff, and and then we put them there. Not for nothing. I'm a one-man band up in here, up in here. Mr. Raymond. Um you want to know what Romans 7? Is it Romans 7? It's it's already gone. The the I can't see it. You wanted Romans something wrong. Romans 7. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was told to read Romans 7. You don't have a Bible. I can help you get a Bible. Go to True Word Faith for Life. True WordFaith for Life.com slash contact or click on the little banner on the right. Leave a two-minute voicemail. I pay for it for you. It's free to you. Everything's free there, except if you buy my book. Anyway. And I'll I'll get that to you. I'll show you how to get that. Show you how to get a free online Bible, too. So instead of trusting promise, we create pressure. We create pressure. We don't trust it. Look, it's it's easier. If we're being honest, it's easier. It seems easier. Just trust. Just lean back. We used to do this trust thing. You know, if we're on a navy vessel or whatever kind of vessel, doesn't matter if it's navy or not. And and you're you're you're steaming at 30 knots into the wind so that you know the jets can get uh whatever whatever aircraft can get enough lift. Well, you know, it's the most dangerous place. I think it's one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, being on a deck uh of a of an aircraft carrier. And I can tell you that you're leaning, you know, you're leaning into it. And sometimes you're leaning hard, the the ship is listing a little bit to one side, and you're leaning into it, and it looks funny. On submarines, when they dive or when they climb, you know, they're inside leaning like this, or they're lean back. It's crazy. It's wild to see. That's where Genesis sounds painfully current. I don't know, maybe maybe you can identify with this. Maybe you can't. I'll ask it anyway. What about you? Can you force conversations? I know it. I do it. Habit. I love people. Sometimes I push too hard. I don't have that. I don't have that thing that says I'm the break. I have my son. Says dad. Take it easy on me. I'll come to you. I'll come to you. Sometimes I have to be told that. But we force conversations. Maybe you do too. We push doors open. We push them. We overmanage people. We chase numbers. Social media, that's you know, they all live by the thing. I guess I'm social media. Numbers. We look at the numbers. We compare timelines. We make emotional decisions because we're tired of waiting. Well, and then we call it wisdom. But sometimes it isn't wisdom. Sometimes it's fear with a plan. Bilah bears Dan. Then Bilah bears Naftali. I want you to hear this next verse. And Rachel says, with mighty wrestlings, I have wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed. There it is. This is no longer about children. This is about winning. This is about rivalry. This is a wounded woman turning her sister into some sort of opponent. Rivalry makes people into threats. Turns family into competition. Makes blessing feel like a contest. But hear this clearly. Comparison is the thief of joy, and comparison lies. It tells you God has only one blessing left. He's got one blessing left. Today's the day, and somebody else got it. That gummet, somebody else got there first. That's not the father. That's fear. Well, then Leah sees that she stopped bearing children. She bore plenty of children. But then when that stopped, that was her thing, you know? Yeah, he doesn't love me like he loves you. But guess what I can do? With almost no effort at all, I can get pregnant. And I can have babies. Boy babies. Hey, like me now. Rachel. But now Leah enters the same striving. She gives her servant Zilpah to Jacob. Look, Jacob's getting women thrown out. Rachel strives from barrenness. And Leah strives from insecurity because as soon as the wound quiets down, that all big worth that she was feeling has gone away. Rachel feels empty. Leah feels unloved. And Rachel wants what Leah has, and Leah wants what Rachel has, and nobody is at peace. Nobody has shalom. That is the cruelty of comparison. It convinces everyone they're missing the one thing that would finally make them whole. FOMO. Fear of missing out. Zilpa bears God. God, G-A-D. Then Asher. The names speak of fortune and happiness. But the wound remains. Everyone's producing. Nobody's resting. Everyone is gaining. No one is healed. That may be the most modern sentence in the whole theal here. In this whole chapter. You can be productive and not. You could look, you can be super productive. Productive bubbles all around you. He did this, he did this, he did this, he did this, she did that, she did this, he accomplished that. You can be productive and still not be whole. If all that stuff, still not be whole. You can be achieving and still be anxious. Look, I'm I'm gonna say this because I know this to be true. There are people in the audience. Whatever you're distracted with, I I want you to, I want you to, if you can. I want you to clear your mind. Clear your heart right now. There's people out there listening who have lost a child. Some lost them as little ones. And others lost them as grown children whom they loved. Doesn't matter. Circumstance. They're still gone. Life goes on around you, and you're like, ow. I'm so grief. I'm so crushed by grief. That I just don't even know. I don't know how I'm gonna get through the day.

There are people who have tuned in.

Live or on playback. Video or on audio. Your whole world has come crashing down. Some of you haven't lost a child, you've lost a business, you've lost a job. Maybe you've lost a friend. Maybe you're in the throes of a messy, terrible divorce. Maybe your children are locked into the throes of addiction. Things are not easy. You can be building and still be broken. Everything on the outside seems to be great. Maybe you're waiting on that one thing. If this, then look, this isn't some sort of motive motivational preacher deal. We can look at what they are going through.

Brutal. Brutal.

You can be productive and you're going on with life. You're trying to. There's some listening now. You can't barely get your next breath. You're like, man, I can't breathe. I don't want to breathe. Keep breathing. Something sacred hangs in the balance of every moment. Don't give up. Don't quit. There's a lot of anxiety in the world today. Tremendous anxiety. Well, then comes the strange mandrakes scene. Reuben finds mandrakes in the field. And in the ancient, in the ancient world, mandrakes were associated with fertility and desire. Rachel wants them. Man, give me all you can get. Leah answers with pain. Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also? Dang it. I want you to think about this. Rachel wants this these mandates because you know the legend is fertility. Desire, make him want you, and bring about fertility, bring about children. Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? This is Leah speaking. Thank you for coming, Adair 5097. Welcome. Good to have you. Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also? Oh, there was a it was maybe a little bit of wealth there, a little bit of power. Hey, I found some mandrakes. Guess what they do? That sentence opens up the whole, it the whole house. The whole house. It's a messed up, jacked-up home. It's a messed up, jacked up community of family. Leah feels robbed of affection. She wanted Jake for the fact. That's why I just want you to love me. And the sons that she was giving him. She felt love. Because he was interested in that every time she popped out a baby. Oh, Leah. I'm concerned about Leah. I want her to be safe in the delivery and blah, blah, blah. Women regularly died during delivery. Regularly. But now Leah feels robbed of affection. Rachel feels robbed of children. No one is any less wounded. Both women are wounded. You can learn a lot there. Both women are grasping. Both women are trying to secure life through control. So Rachel negotiates. Jacob will lie with Leah in exchange for the mandrakes. Now intimacy becomes a transaction. Sorry, but it's true. If the Bible wasn't true, it wouldn't be this messy. It wouldn't. I've talked about it before. It wouldn't be this messy. Come on. Come on now. It'd be a lot cleaner, a lot more sanitized. But now intimacy becomes a transaction, and that's what striving does. It turns people into leverage. Turns relationships into negotiations. Turns the home into a marketplace of unmet needs. And there is nothing easy about that. Maybe you're living in that right now. Maybe that's where you are. I don't know your life. When the heart is starving, it will start bargaining for crumbs. When the heart is starving, it'll start bargaining for crumbs. Leah conceives again. Again. She bears Issachar. Then Zebulun. Then Dinah is mentioned. Oh, here we go. There's a strange mercy of the chapter. Seemed like she can she's so fertile. Justin, thank you for listening. Says striving was the only way I knew. I prided myself in sheer willpower. And ability to withstand and endure hardship. We're all taught this is a first hue. Press on, pull yourself up by your bootstraps. I feel you. Thank you. True story. So then Dinah's mentioned, and and uh some people say Dinah, and some people pronounce it Dinah. Dino Dino is actually correct. But we call deny. Look, we we change things. The vernacular changes over time, the etymology of words. So then Dinah or Dinah is mentioned, and there's a strange mercy in this. God is still working, even here, even in rivalry, even in bargaining, even in a household where people are competing, they're aching, they're comparing, and they're forcing outcomes. These people lived in close proximity with each other every day. They needed each other to survive. God is building the tribes of Israel. Through all of this, the tribes of Israel are being built. That doesn't mean God approves of every action in the chapter. He doesn't. He doesn't. It means it means God's faithfulness is greater than human chaos. If it look, if God could only work through peaceful homes, pure motives, wise decisions, and emotionally stable people, the story of redemption would have ended a long time ago. The Bible wouldn't be, you know, this thick, it would be like a pamphlet. But God is merciful. He works through broken people without calling brokenness good. He works through broken people. Can anybody testify? But he doesn't, he doesn't always call brokenness good. In fact, he never does. He carries his promise forward without pretending sin is harmless. It's not permission to keep striving, that's mercy calling us out of it. All right, let's land this plane. Then the Bible says. Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. This is the turning point. This is the turning point. Have you been there? It's not when Rachel controlled enough, it's not when Rachel competed enough. It's not when Rachel negotiated enough. It's not when Rachel got the mandrakes, when God acted. When God acted, God remembered, God listened, God opened. What Rachel could not force, God gave. What manipulation couldn't secure, mercy released. What rivalry could not produce, promise provided. Rachel bears Joseph. And she says, God has taken away my reproach. God has taken away my reproach. That's how she she viewed her barrenness. Maybe it was, I can't say it was or it wasn't. But it wasn't Jacob. It wasn't Bila. Wasn't the Mandrakes. It wasn't rivalry. It was God. That's the word somebody needs to hear today. God. Not your pressure, not your panic, not your comparison, not your not your control.

God.

So what does Genesis thirty say to us? Envy distorts what we see. Comparison steals peace. Pressure cannot produce promise. Control cannot replace God's timing. Repeated patterns reveal places where trust is weak. God can still work in messy families, folks. He can. You may be thinking that your family is so jacked up, God can't possibly work in your life. No. God still works in messy families. In fact, he's a specialist. You see, what God gives can't be forced. It can only be received. It's a hard lesson for us. In this postmodern Western world, that is a hard lesson for us. It's challenging. So challenging. To say, hey, I'm just gonna rest in it, just waiting on God. Can only be received. Some of you are so tired. You're not because look, you're tired, but not because God is absent, but because you're so you're striving. You're striving, your you're you are, oh, you have been striving so hard. God is still there. You're trying to force a door. You're trying to force a door. You're pushing, pushing, and pushing. And you look down at the door. You're pushing against the opening of the door. It'll never open that way. You're trying to make a person change, maybe. You're trying to prove you're not behind. No, I'm I'm productive. You're trying to produce peace through control. But Genesis 30 tells the it tells the whole truth. That road doesn't lead to rest, it leads to more pressure. Pressure is a cruel master. Keeps demanding what only grace can give. And this points us straight to Yeshua. Yeshua doesn't live by rivalry. He doesn't grasp, he doesn't manipulate, he doesn't compete for identity. He receives from the Father. He walks in the Father's timing. He does what he sees the Father doing. That's the life he invites us into, not frantic striving, not anxious comparison, not spiritualized control, trust, obedience, surrender, timing, peace. That's not weakness, that's discipleship. The world says, force it, force it, push harder. Fear says, hurry, hurry, hurry. I'm not going to make it much longer. You gotta hurry, God. Comparison says, you're behind. You're behind. You look, look, look where you're running. You're running behind. You don't have what your brothers or your sisters have. You're behind that provision. Mamiki, that provision you're talking about. It's easy, I understand. Trusting for provision for such a long time, it's Yehovah Rangira. It's hard. Comparison says you're behind. Yeshua says, follow me. Follow me. Look, and when you follow him, and when you follow him, well, you look, you learn your life's not a scoreboard. It's a stewardship. This is a life given to you, and we have to steward it. Now, I have for you today a challenge and a choice. And here's the question Where are you comparing your life to someone else's? Come on now. There's no point in us going through all of this. All of this. Only to lie to ourselves a moment longer. Where are you comparing your life to someone else's? Where are you trying to produce what only God can give? We're trying so hard to make it happen, but only God can give it. This one might hurt a little bit. Where are you turning relationships into transactions? Where are you calling control wisdom because waiting just feels too powerful, too painful? You just you say, look, I gotta do something. I gotta do something. I can't, I can't sit around here. I gotta be wise about this. I can't just wait. I have to take action. I'm an action person. Well, here's your choice. You can keep striving. Sure you can. Or you can surrender. You can keep competing, or you can trust God's timing. You can keep forcing outcomes, or you can receive what God provides. Hey, you can keep saying, why them and not me? You can. Certainly a strategy. It's a bad one. It's gonna end up in terrible pain, but you can. Why them, not me? Comparison, the great thief of joy. Or you can say, Father, teach me to trust you with my story. That's the decision. Teach me to trust you with your story, with my story, with your story. That's the decision today, not someday, today. Today, stop measuring God's faithfulness by someone else's timeline. Their blessings aren't for you. Just like their pains are not for you, nor are yours for them. God's dealing with you. Stop measuring God's faithfulness by someone else's timeline. Stop treating delay like abandonment. Stop turning pain into pressure. Bring the wound to the Father. Let him quiet your striving. Let him expose the envy. Let him heal the comparison. Let him teach you how to rest while you wait. Tough lesson. Simple words, tough lesson. Look, and maybe this is where salvation becomes personal for you today. Because sin doesn't always show up in obvious rebellion. Sometimes sin shows up as control. Sometimes it shows up as envy. Sometimes it shows up as bitterness because someone else received what you wanted. And sometimes. Sometimes it shows up as the exhausted belief that you have to save yourself, prove yourself, produce for yourself, and force life open with your own hands. But Yeshua came to rescue striving people. He came for the jealous, the tired, the controlling, the wounded, and the ashamed. Have you been there? Is that you now? Are you a striving person? Oh, are you a jealous person? Are you tired? Are you controlling? Are you wounded? Are you ashamed? Are you restless? Look, he came to bring us back to the Father. He came to make us new. You don't have to keep living as though everything depends on you. You can come home. Prayer isn't asking for an easy journey. It's asking for a strong back. Pray this prayer with me. If you've never placed your faith in Christ, now one more day. Don't wait one more day. Let today be the day. Father, I know I've sinned. Pray it with me. Talk to him. He's listening. Father, I know I've sinned. I believe Jesus died for me, Yeshua. I believe he was buried and rose again today. I turn from my sin, my hurts, my habits, and my hang-ups. And I place my trust in him as my Lord and my King. Please forgive me, make me new, and fill me with your Spirit. From this day forward, I want to follow you in Jesus' name. Amen. Look, if you prayed that prayer, if you prayed that prayer today, whether live or on playback, I want to hear, I want to hear from you. I want, but but I want you to hear me clearly here. The world's going to tell you you're alone. The world's going to tell you, well, you're a nutjob. Well, what are you looking for crutches for? Why are you looking to the sky, Daddy? And some some of that may come from your own family, your own friends. Okay. This will not be an easy journey, but it will be a beautiful one. I want you to reach out to me through TruewordfaithforLife.com slash contact. I will personally help you. I'll help you with your next steps. I'll help you find a Bible if you don't have one. I'll help you walk in the way. Look for all of you. God isn't late. God has no limits. He's not limited. God is not threatened by your timeline, your vision board. He's not threatened by that. You've been trying to manifest so many things. Look, turn it over to God. And what he gives will never need to be forced. Stop striving. Stop competing. Stop turning life into a scoreboard. Trust thee, God, who remembers. Trust thee, God who listens. Trust thee, God, who opens what no human hand can force. Your life is not a race against someone else's blessing. Your worth is not waiting on one more outcome. Your father sees you. Your father hears you. Your father remembers you. And when the time is right, your father will open. Look, he'll open what no amount of pressure you apply could. Look, if this message touched you, share it. Share it. Simple, easy, free. Think of one person. You can be a hero today. You can be a hero. Post the link. Hey, this blessed me. I think it'll help you too. Maybe put a thing on there. Are you tired? I know I was. I know I am. Whatever, whatever you want to do. Until tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. Eastern Standard Time or on playback anytime. Till then. Shalom Bishem Yeshua. Shalom Alaikum.