Fear to Favor | Dan Watson

to be able to receive forgiveness and not extend forgiveness is an oxymoron. Like it doesn't matter what they've done. Like Esau had been done bad and dirty, but yet he extends this forgiveness. And Jacob's response is like, man, because I've received this forgiveness, it's like seeing God in a face of a human, which tells me the way I walk, because I have received grace and forgiveness, the way I walk matters to the people around me, because maybe, just maybe, the way that I walk now after being changed by Jesus could demonstrate the face of God to a world that desperately needs to see the face of God. It is an honor to be back. I was here in the summer. I get to be back with you today and I get to jump into this series, this collection of talks that you've been doing about wrestling with God. And you've been in the book of Genesis, looking at the life of Jacob. And I know it's been a phenomenal time. And we would have seen in Genesis chapter 32, you would have seen that Jacob has this moment at night where he wrestles all night with God. And he says, I will not let you go unless you bless me. And Jacob gets a blessing. I don't know if it was the blessing he was expecting, but he gets a blessing. He gets a limp to his life. He has a new walk. And then he gets given a new name. Instead of being called Jacob, hill grabber, deceiver, he's now called Israel. And in Genesis chapter 33 is where we're going to jump in today. We see this story of Jacob reconciling with his brother Esau. And if you remember the story going back a few chapters, Jacob stole the birthright blessing from Esau by deceiving his father. And then he runs away for 20 years in hiding. And he's been in hiding and he's trying to stay away from Esau. But in chapter 33, after chapter 32, where he has this moment with God, things change for Jacob. And I realize when you have had the grace of God on your life, your life changes. You can't help it. When the grace of God has truly impacted your life and he's changed you from who you were to who he has called you to be, now the walk of your life is different. And we see the difference of Jacob's walk. Everything changes. His response changes. And I want to give us today three observations that I see how Jacob's life has changed in response to wrestling with God. And the first one is this, is that your response changes when fear confronts you. Your response changes when fear confronts you. Let's jump into the text. Genesis chapter 3, the first couple of verses. It says here, Jacob looked up and there was Esau coming with 400 men. And so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants. He put the female servants and their children in the front, Leah and the children next, and then Rachel and Joseph in the rear. Can

you imagine this for a moment? Just picture this, right? You've got Jacob just wrestling with God, like life's changed, all of that kind of stuff, going to reconcile with his brother, knowing that's what God has called him to do. And as he's on the way, he sees Esau in the distance, the guy that he betrayed, the guy that he deceived, the guy that he stole from, he sees him in the distance and he sees him with, the scripture tells us, 400 men. That's not a welcome party. That's an army. And if I was Jacob, I would do a runner. I would be gone. I'd be like, oh, snap. No, not today. This is, I thought this would be good. This is not good. 400 men, me, my wives, my servants, my children. No, no, no, no. We're out. But Jacob does something slightly different, because this is what happens when fear changes you. I don't know if you've ever been so scared in your life. I used to play rugby. when I was growing up and I played rugby in college and I don't want to brag but I was really good like like like like really really really good really like you know not just a little bit good but like a lot of it you know I was I was really really good I gotta let you know that college sports in America and the UK are very different let me just tell you that your college sports thousands of people turn up in the college jersey and cheer and they make a whole day of it my college sport four mums turn up and they cheer it's different and so I remember I'm playing rugby in college and and I was like I said I was really like really really good like really good like you know again I'm not boasting I'm just being honest I was really good and I remember being on the pitch and my main job as the wing forward was that was the break out of the pack and to tackle people down to the ground so that they would drop the ball and our team could pick up the ball like I used to love taking people down to the ground I still love taking people down to the ground but this is what I did and and I was really good at it but I remember this one game and my coach he's standing on the sideline he's like Watson Watson you're off and I'm like I'm looking around I'm like we don't have another Watson on this pitch like he can't be talking to me because I'm really good and he was talking to me so I came off the the pitch at the end of the game I said sir step into my office and so we stepped into his office and I said so why did you take me off and he said well

Dan I want to let you know you're really good I said I know he said but there is a difference between your really good games and you're not so good games I said please enlighten me and so he said Dan when when you're on top form this is what happens you break out the pack you see the opposition and in that moment you know you can take him down and so you give all your full force and you run at that opposition and you take him down and you win the ball for our team and we score a try and it's amazing I said I know that's good says but on your really bad games then when you break out of the pack and you see the opposition in that split second you decide if that opposition is someone that you can take down or someone that can take you down and if you think that that's someone that can take you down what you begin to do is you begin to back off you begin to retreat you begin to stay still and let the opposition take ground and let them score a try and we can't have that and today then you let the opposition take the ground I was at war and I realized that in a split second I allow fear to take over me and let it take the ground that it should not take and so many of us in life often we can allow fear to take over us and Esau in this moment he's looking at this moment and he's gone there are 400 men coming towards me my brother who I deceived my brother who I betrayed my brother who I let down is coming towards me and he begins to allow fear for a second take over him let's have a look back at that scripture he says that the 400 men so he divided the children among Leah Rachel and the two female servants he put the female servants and the children in the front so they could be killed first and then Leah and children next and then Rachel and Joseph the ones that he loved at the back so that they could be protected fear makes you do some crazy things I wonder for you what do you do when what you've been dreading finally shows up in your horizon that when the person you hurt finally walks into the same room as you that when the conversation you've been avoiding can no longer wait but when the situation you prayed would go away now stands right in front of you what do you do when you finally face the fear and we see what Jacob does he starts calculating he starts manipulating this situation he

starts trying to control things he's organizing and arranging who goes where it looks wise but guess what it's driven out of fear and fear makes you control what you cannot control it makes you think that you can do something of what only God can redeem and Jacob in this instance in these verse is trying to control and manipulate a situation but I love that he realizes man I'm not just Jacob I'm Israel I don't walk the same way that I walk anymore I've been by the grace of God. I've been blessed by God and so I'm gonna approach this different. And so what does he do? The scripture says in verse 3, it says that he himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother. The old Jacob would have ran away, but the new Jacob says I'm gonna face what I need to face. I'm gonna do what I need to do. For the first time in his life he does not send someone else out ahead of him. He does not run away, he doesn't try and fix the problem, he faces the problem. And he bows down seven times as his brother approaches. Friends, that's humility in motion. And sometimes God lets us face what you've ran from, not to punish you but to redeem you in a situation and show you how strong he is in you. And as I'm reading this I'm asking myself a question and maybe I'm asking you the question today. What things and fears are you facing that you're trying to manage instead of surrendering to the Lord? Where are you trying to divide stuff and organize stuff and construct stuff instead of trusting God with the outcome? We don't live by sight, we live by faith. And Jacob had to face his fear and bow down in humility before he could walk in his true healing. And for many of us it's the same thing. We got to face our fears and fears will make you want to build walls but faith makes you step forward. And I love that Jacob in this moment is going, you know what, I'm gonna step forward. I know there's 400 men coming my way right now but I'm gonna step forward in faith because I'm changed and I've had encounters with God that faith changes you from the inside out. The second thing that I see in this observation of text is that grace runs towards you. Let's look at verse 4. It says this, But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him. He threw his arms around his neck

and he kissed him and they wept. This verse changes everything. This verse is a beautiful picture friends. Like grab it. Jacob expects wrath but he gets embrace. You see that. He embraced him. I like that word embrace because it's the name of your church. He expects revenge but he gets restoration. He expects payback but he finds peace in a moment. Have you ever looked at something and go, how did that input get that result? No, like how did how did those ingredients get that result? Like you just don't understand how that outcome became the outcome. It doesn't make sense sometimes. Like a picture is sometimes you look at a couple together and you look at him and you think how did how did he get her? It doesn't make sense. She is way out of his league. Any husbands agree that they are way out of their league? No. Okay, very good-looking men in here. My goodness, humility. My wife is way out of my league, man. She's like, she's a ten and I'm a two. It's just how it goes and I'm looking at how did I get her but thankful for the grace of God on my life and the blessing of God on my life that I got a ten. I'm trying to think, man, like Jacob deceived his brother. He stole from him. He took what should have been his. He lied and he betrayed him and then he ran and how does Esau not want to kill him? Not want to take him out? Not want to beat him? Esau's response, it shouldn't have been the response, it shouldn't have been the outcome from what was the impact but Esau's response says he ran to meet Jacob and he embraced him and he threw his arms around his neck and he kissed him. This is wild. Grace interrupts what guilt expects. Esau running was an unexpected grace and unexpected mercy and it reminds me of Luke chapter 15 verse 11, the parable of the prodigal son where the son takes his inheritance early and he runs off and he squanders it and he spends it in all sorts of places, all sorts of faces, does all sorts of things and he wastes it and he ends up being an absolute mess and he goes back to his father's house expecting wrath and expecting being rejected and thrown out and just make me another one of your servants but yet the father comes running towards the son and what does the father do. He embraces him, he kisses him, and he puts on the biggest pie that he could ever get.

This is what grace does. Grace runs towards you. And this moment is not just about Esau's forgiveness, this is a picture of our Heavenly Father's heart. The grace runs faster than your guilt and my guilt ever could. He runs faster than our guilt could ever take us. His grace runs towards you, to embrace you. Man, when I came to Jesus at 17 years old, I was expecting for God to be disappointed with me, to bring up all of my failures and all of my sin and all of my mistakes and all of my shame and bring me into condemnation, but he did not do that. He met me with compassion and he embraced me with mercy. Friends, that is the gospel, that the gospel doesn't wait for you to clean up, the gospel meets you in your mess. The scripture says that whilst you and I were still sinners, Christ died for us. He ran towards us. Grace runs towards you. And the question is, will we receive it? Because when grace touches your heart, it changes everything. I love in verse 5, let's jump to verse 5. It says, then Esau looked up and saw the woman and children. Who are these with you? He asked. Jacob answered, they are the children God has graciously given your servant. They're the children God has graciously given your servant. You see that grace changed Jacob's vocabulary. Jacob would have been a person who would have said, no, this is mine. He was trying to steal things that weren't his and he would have kept on to everything that even was his. And so he had this, this is mine, mine, mine, this belongs to me. My two-year-old right now, Ellis, she's nearly two, she has favorite words and some of her favorite words is mine, mine across our house. So it takes it, mine. I'm like, that's not yours. That's ours. Mine, mine, mine. And Jacob in this moment, the old Jacob would have been, these are my children. This is mine. But because he's had an encounter with God that truly changes his life and then it changes his walk. And now it goes from mine, mine, mine to now these are gifts that God has graciously given me. It changes the way that you see stuff. It changes from being ownership to stewardship. That you now go, man, this business is not mine. This family is not mine. This marriage is not mine. These gifts are not mine. No, no, no. This business is God's. This family is God's. This marriage is God. These gifts are God. The success is God. It changes everything. You realize that the grace is a free gift from God that has been given to you that nothing you have done can earn it. You just receive it because of the price that he has paid for it. And now it changes who you are when you wrestle with God and you receive this

grace. You go, God, this is yours. This is yours. It changes everything about it. Side note, let's take a look at verse 6. It says, Then the female servants and their children approached and bowed down. And next Leah and her children came and bowed down. And last of all came Joseph and Rachel and they too bowed down. Just look at this just quickly for 30 seconds. Because something could change in Jacob. He no longer did what he used to do. He no longer ran. He no longer responded the way he used to respond because he had humility to allow God to change him from the inside out. He bowed down seven times. Grab this. Because he did what he did, the generations behind him followed. You see, when we decide, me as a father decides to walk in the ways of God, you'll see the generations coming up behind you, following your steps. And that's an encouragement for all of us and a beautiful weight for all of us. So they go, I'm not going to carry on in my old patterns. Why? Because I got generations of people around me watching and they're going to follow my footsteps and I want them to follow in the ways of God. And I love that that's an example that we see right here. Verse 10, it says this. No, please, Jacob said, if I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you've received me favorably. Let's stop there, grab this. To see your face is like seeing the face of God. Jacob knows what it's like to wrestle with God, and now he sees God's reflection in his brother's face through forgiveness. Ooh, he sees God's reflection in his brother's face through the power of forgiveness. And it shows us that forgiveness reveals God's face for a human grace. A.W. Tozer says this, the Christian is one who can forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in them. Friends, to say you're a Christian and hold on to unforgiveness is an oxymoron.

And I love that word because it tells you what you are. Some of you got it. To be able to receive forgiveness and not extend forgiveness, is an oxymoron. Like, it doesn't matter what they've done. Like, Esau had been done bad and dirty, but yet he extends this forgiveness. And Jacob's response is like, man, because I've received this forgiveness, it's like seeing God in a face of a human, which tells me the way I walk because I have received grace and forgiveness, the way I walk matters to the people around me because maybe, just maybe, the way that I walk now after being changed by Jesus could demonstrate the face of God to a world that desperately needs to see the face of God. The way that you respond, people can see Jesus. And so I asked myself, man, who in my world do I need to forgive? Who in my world needs to see the nature of God reflected off of me? Every time you forgive, you remind the world what grace looks like in human form. Man, grace runs towards you, it changes you. And the third and final thing is this, is that peace calls you to build. Verse 12 says this. Then Esau said, let us be on our way, I'll accompany you.

But Jacob said to him, my Lord knows what the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and the cows that are nursing their young. If they're driven hard, just one day, all the animals will die. So let my Lord go on ahead of his servant while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and the herds before me and the pace of the children until I come to my Lord, sir. Jacob, the man who once would have sprinted off or done something for his own gain and his own benefit. Now, because he has received this grace, something changes inside of him. This peace sets a new pace. And when grace changes your heart, it changes your speed. And I realize this, some of us, man, we've been running so fast in life, trying to fix everything, trying to prove something, trying to stay ahead of pain, but grace sets your pace. It reminds you that you are not what you were achieved, you are who God has redeemed. You are not your successes, you are not your title, you are not your wins, you are not your losses, you are not your bank account, you are not what car you have, you are not your relationship status, you are not any of those things. You are a child of God who God has redeemed.

And when we truly live that and know that, it changes the speed of your life. Now you're not in competition with anybody else. Now you're not trying to win and grab and steal things for your own gain. You walk at a new pace. Jacob's eyes were not fixed on himself, they were fixed on the people around him. Verse 18 tells us this, 17 tells us this. Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That's why the place is called Sukkoth. After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shishim and Canaan encamped within sight of the city. For a hundred pieces of silver he bought from the sons of Hamar, the father of Shishim, the plot of grain. where he pitched his tent. There he set up an altar, called it El Haloi Israel. El Haloi Israel, God, the God of Israel. So Jacob, on his journey, finally stops, builds a tent, builds shelter, and then he builds this, he builds an altar. An altar is a physical markers of spiritual encounters. They're reminders to say, right here, God met me. Right here, God did something. Noah built one after the flood that said, God rescues. Abraham built one to say, God provides.

Jacob builds one to say, God restores. And these altars are a reminder to give us peace. Not that we're not ever gonna have conflicts, but it's an awareness of God's presence. And often to have peace is not always for everything to change in the moment, but to remember who is in control in the moment by looking back at a moment. When Jacob names the altar El Haloi Israel, he's saying the God who changed me is now my God forever. He's making an altar now, why? Because altars are how we preach to your future about what God did in your past. It's how you preach to your future and to your now about what God did in your past. Because best believe me, you're gonna need moments where you're gonna have to preach to yourself. I remember moving here just nearly three years ago. We moved with a few suitcases filled with my wife's shoes. I'm joking, they're my shoes, I'm not lying. Hell, we moved into a house in Atlanta, 14 suitcases, a wife with three children, and we're in this empty living room. And I'm standing there, a brand new city, a brand new ministry, a brand new culture, only knowing two people in the whole city, and I'm going, God, I do not know what is ahead, but guess what, God, I trust you in the now. And I had this overwhelming peace that surpassed all understanding.

And why do I have that peace? Well, I'll tell you why, it's because I know I look back in that moment, looking at all the different markers and altars that I have placed to remind myself in moments of uncertainty that I serve a faithful God. I look back to when I was homeless, and I go, God, you got me through that, you can get me through this. I look back at living in a household of abuse, and I go, God, you got me through that, you can get me through this. I look back in the early days of my marriage of not having enough money to be able to buy toilet roll and to buy groceries in our cupboard, and somehow someone turns up with just the right amount of groceries that me and my wife need for our house for the next couple of days. I go, God, you got me through that, you can get me through this. Oh, sometimes you've got to build altars so that in the moment you can speak and preach to yourself about your future by looking back at the past and saying, God, you did it then, you can do it now. And this is why it says in Psalms 103, praise the Lord all my soul and forget not all of his benefits, the one who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion. And in this moment, Jacob is building an altar to say, God, I will not forget the goodness and the faithfulness of an almighty God. I know there may still be tough times ahead. I know I still may struggle in certain things, but I'm building this altar right here to show that you are a faithful God. El Haloi, Israel, you are my God. Remember his name changed from Jacob to Israel, saying, you are my God. So in every situation, God, I know you got my back. In every situation, God, I know I'm following you. In every situation, God, I know I'm trusting you. In every situation, God, I know that you are with me, that you are faithful. Some of us need to build altars in our lives because sometimes we get to moments and we forget what God has already done. We forget that he's got you through the worst days of your life already, that he's got you through this moment. The one who died on a cross, and we look back at this story and we look, and this story is really all about God's grace. That the one who sent his one and only son to die on a cross and die deaf, that we should have died. Amen. And give us a life that we should not have.

But yet, because of his love and because of his grace, he opens his arms ready to embrace you and to love you he saw Jesus is a greater picture of Esau he's waiting for us to to come home he's waiting for us to him embrace the grace he's waiting for us to not walk in fear but to walk in his favor maybe there's some people today watching that you have never truly accepted or walked in his grace and Jesus today is saying my grace is for you son my grace is for you daughter you can receive it in Jesus name with every head bowed every eye closed the scripture tells us if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and God raised him from the dead then you will be saved so whether you're in this room right now or whether you're watching from another location maybe that's you maybe you're saying I want to receive the grace I don't want to do life the old way like Jacob I want a new name the scripture tells us that when we're in Christ Jesus we are a new creation behold the old is gone and the new has come and today you can walk away made new made fresh and walking differently because grace has changed you and so heavenly father I pray for every single person under the sound of my voice God I pray God but would they know that you are God and you are good that their grace your grace is towards them and it's a gift freely given they can be received and God I pray right now God would people receive your grace today and walk differently because of you Jesus and I pray for every single person who has already received that grace but I pray that we would not walk the same way that we have walked without wrestling with you that now because of that wrestle because of that God encounter we're different we're changed we're transformed but help us to walk and live a transformed life God and help us never forget your goodness and your mercy and your grace God be with us now forevermore in Jesus my name amen and amen hey everyone it's Adam from embrace if you enjoyed today's message make sure to subscribe to embraces YouTube channel to stay updated you can also click here to check out other videos thanks for watching