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One of the greatest gifts you can ever receive or give to yourself is a break. Sometimes it's a break just to catch your breath. Other times it's a break to process your thoughts. We live in a culture that glorifies grinding but downplays breaking. Even Jesus mastered the art of taking breaks—he did not apologize for stepping away to be alone with the Father, and he even took a nap in the middle of a storm.
John Mark Comer says that hurry is the greatest enemy of spiritual life in our day. Some of us are not just tired; we are living disconnected because we won't slow down and let God meet us in our rest.
Rest is not weakness, but rest is wisdom. If God, who created the heavens and the earth, took time to rest, who do you think you are to live your life without taking a break?
God did not rest because he was fatigued. God rested because he was finished. Some of us are getting sleep, but we are not getting rest because we're going to sleep with unfinished things happening in our life. Your body may be asleep, but your soul is not at rest.
Rest is one of the greatest acts of faith because it is expecting God to do more while you do less. In 2025, you're about to accomplish more while doing less. What you used to have to sweat for, what you used to have to work overtime for, what you used to cry yourself to sleep about—God is about to give you more while you do less.
Throughout scripture, we see that we need faith to also stop. Sometimes your greatest hindrance to your breakthrough is not the devil. Sometimes you need to have a conversation with the person in the mirror. God is saying, "I can't bless you because you're too busy." Sometimes God has to wait until you rest so he can show you what's next.
When we say "I need a break," it's a double entendre—one word with multiple meanings. We're not just talking about rest; we're also talking about releasing. What if God is waiting on you to take a break so that you can make room for him to make a break? That is, people, places, and things that he wants to break off of you. He's saying, "I need you to take a break so you can handle the breaking while it's happening."
This is not about God moving what's bad. Often times this is about God trying to get you to what's best. What do you do when God is trying to open your eyes to let go of something that's still good, but it's no longer God?
God is saying, "They're not bad for you, but are you just going to settle for good all your life?" All of humanity fell because Adam chose what was good instead of what was God. Sometimes what's breaking you is not on the outside. Sometimes what's been breaking you is something on the inside. You can blame the person or the place all you want to, but sometimes God is saying, "I got to do some work on the inside so that you can have the courage to stay away from what's happening on the outside."
Many of us don't just need a break from work. We need a break from wrestling because some of us are worn out from what we are doing on the outside, and we're worn out from the wrestle that's happening on the inside. There's a version of you that God needs you to be that you don't even know exists.
You're holding on to Jacob when Israel is on the inside. You're holding on to your job when he said he has multiple businesses with your name on it. You're holding on to your soft girl era when he said, "No, I got a Boaz."
He's saying, "You're waiting for me to give you something, but you cannot have that something until you become someone. Because I don't just trust anything with anybody. I need you to have the right stature, the right mental, spiritual, and emotional capacity so that you don't fumble favor when favor gets in your hand." God can trust you with favor. You had some fumbling seasons, but fumbling season is over.
You're wrestling in church receiving the word, but if you can be honest, we're all in here wrestling. Wrestling with who we used to be, wrestling with intrusive thoughts, wrestling with who didn't speak to you when you came in church today, wrestling with what happened to you throughout the week, wrestling with what's going on with your children and your marriage. We're all in here wrestling with something.
Wrestle until you win. My problem is not the fact that you're wrestling. My problem is you keep throwing in the towel and giving up before you get your breakthrough.
We want the wedding, but we don't want to wrestle for the thriving marriage. We want the new house, but we don't want to wrestle to create the income that's needed to keep paying the mortgage. You got to be like Jacob. "I'm not letting go."
Jacob sent everybody ahead of him. He sent his family ahead of him. He sent his servants ahead of him. He sent his possessions ahead of him. By this time, Jacob had become wealthy and successful. He sent all of his wealth, all of his relationships, everything that culture idolizes ahead of him. He said, "Y'all go ahead. I'mma stay behind because sometimes God waits until you're all by yourself to deal with you without distractions."
What Jacob is showing us is a spiritual discipline called solitude. Isolation is when you get alone with you. Solitude is when you get alone with God. Solitude is not simply withdrawing from people, but it's drawing closer to God. Solitude is not loneliness; it's the freedom to be alone. It's isolation that leads to transformation.
"I love you, but leave me alone." Some of you have just said something that's going to give you the breakthrough for the rest of the year, but you haven't had the courage to say it. "I can't hear God because my life's too loud. Leave me alone. I got vision, but I lack clarity because y'all confusing." Whatever you can't step away from, you are a slave to. If you can't take a break from it, that's not love. That's labor. It's a sad thing to be saved and still a slave.
What if you can't hear God because you're addicted to company? What if God has only been talking to you in your dreams while you sleep because you won't make time for him once you wake up? He'll give you signs in your dream that you don't have the time to interpret and process because you're too busy.
Before God blesses you publicly, he will deal with you privately. Before God blesses you publicly, he will often first deal with you privately. Make an appointment to meet with God. You make an appointment for your doctor. You make an appointment for people that you need to meet with. You make an appointment to get your car fixed. When was the last time you took your calendar out and made an appointment to meet with God? Not just organic time, but intentionalized, prioritized time.
Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 6:33: "Seek me and the kingdom first and my righteousness and all these things will be added unto you." When you prioritize him, you don't have to chase stuff. Stuff will start chasing you. There are some things you won't ever get unless you're in his presence. Some things you'll never know until you get in his presence.
When Jacob was left alone, a man wrestled with him till daybreak. This is what scholars call a theophany—a picture of God or a foreshadow of God in the Old Testament. Just like when the Hebrew boys were thrown in the fiery furnace and they saw a fourth man, they didn't know his name. They just called him a man. But it wasn't just a man. It was the Man.
Jesus doesn't show up until Matthew, but he showed up in Genesis because he saw someone in need of his presence. He may not come when you want him, but he's an on-time God. He showed up early because he saw someone wrestling.
He didn't show up for someone that was perfect. He didn't show up for someone that even deserved his presence. He showed up for Jacob, who all of his life had been deceiving to get what he wants. He showed up for someone that even though they were dysfunctional, saying, "I can use someone who is imperfect, but I can't use someone that I can't trust."
God is looking at Jacob and saying, "With flaws and all, I've seen how you've deceived other people. But I still know your heart for me." Some of his deception was inherited by his natural bloodline. His mama taught him how to be deceptive, to steal the birthright from his brother, Esau. Some of our flawed nature isn't just because we're bad, but because of where we were born. What do you do when you inherit a flawed nature, when all you've been exposed to is deception?
Jacob and the man wrestled till daybreak. This was not a short struggle. They fought all night—12:00 a.m., 1:00 a.m., 2:00 a.m., 3:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m. They still wrestling. Sometimes when you're in pain, faith looks like persistence. Some of us can't get the blessing that Jacob got because we keep giving up in the process.
Jacob spent his life wrestling for things. He wrestled and fought and manipulated his way into getting a birthright. Even when his mother was pregnant with him in the womb, he was twins with his brother, Esau, wrestling in the womb to get out first. He wrestled and manipulated his way into getting the blessing from his father. He's been wrestling and manipulating his way for approval, and now he's wrestling with God.
Some of us are exhausted not because we are fighting people but because we are wrestling with God's process. God is trying to take you one way, but you're fighting to go another way. You love your job and you're like, "I'm ready to quit," and God is like, "I need you to be patient and grow up." So you wrestle. You gave your tithe. You gave an offering and you're believing God, but now there are other areas of your life you feel like you're struggling. You're saying in your flesh, "I don't know if I'm doing that no more," and God is saying, "Trust me again."
Some of us aren't wrestling with people. We're wrestling with God's process. What do you do when the people who did you wrong, God says, "Now go bless them"? You're wrestling.
The text says they're wrestling, not fighting. You can't wrestle from long distance. You may be in a process with God where it feels like you're getting hurt. That's not the enemy. That's God. Because one thing about the wrestle—at least his hand is on you. If you feel like you're in a season where you've been wrestling with God, you're saying, "God, if you don't do nothing else, just keep your hands on me. It don't feel good while it's working, but I know it's working for my good."
Wrestle in the middle of your process. Praise him in the middle of your pain. Praise him in spite of how you feel. You may not feel like throwing your hands up, but open up your mouth and fight for your future.
The text uses the language of wrestling, not fighting. You cannot wrestle from a distance—wrestling requires close contact, physical engagement. When you're in a wrestling process with God, it may feel like you're getting hurt, but that's not the enemy. That's God. And the beautiful thing about wrestling is that at least His hand is on you.
If you're in a season where you've been wrestling with God, you can say: "God, if you don't do nothing else, just keep your hands on me. It don't feel good while it's working, but I know it's working for my good." Wrestle in the middle of your process. Praise Him in the middle of your pain. Praise Him in spite of how you feel. You may not feel like throwing your hands up, but open up your mouth and fight for your future.
Some of you stopped wrestling because you feel like you need permission. But Jacob didn't ask for permission. He said, "I'm not letting you go until you bless me."
Jacob had money, success, property, possessions, and people working for him. But he was empty on the inside. There's a purpose that God will give you that a paycheck can't give you. Jacob wasn't wrestling just for blessings—he was wrestling for fulfillment.
Jacob said: "I'm not letting you go until you bless me. I'mma keep praying all night until you bless me. I'mma keep quoting scripture all night until you bless me. I'mma plead the blood until you bless me. I'mma keep praising you until you bless me. I'mma keep showing up until you bless me."
Do you have anybody in the room making up their mind that just because you're fed up, you're not going to give up? That you say, "I'm not letting you go until you bless me"?
God says, "Let me go." Jacob says, "I'm not going to let you go until you bless me." Then God says, "All right."
But God knows where to touch. He doesn't attack Jacob's hands, because if He did, that wouldn't change him. Instead, God touches his hip—what he's used to depending on. God touches his stability, what he's used to going to before he comes to God.
God says, "This fight could have been over if I wanted it to be over, but the process was for you. I needed to develop a dependability in me that you don't have. All of your life, you have been used to depending on yourself. People didn't show up for you. Family didn't show up for you. Leaders didn't show up for you. And some kind of way, you always figure it out. Now you start treating me like people treated you. But I will never leave you nor forsake you."
God touches the socket of his hip and dislocates it. Here's what blessed the preacher: even though his hip is broken, Jacob continues to wrestle with God. Not to calm down, but to hold on.
When something breaks on your body, the natural reaction is to touch what's broken, to tend to it. But the Bible says Jacob didn't do that. Instead of touching what was broke, he held on to God.
Do you have anybody in the room that no matter how bad it's hurting, you're not about to try to keep touching and tending to it? "God, I'm not letting you go until you bless me. I know people are leaving me, but I'm holding on to you. I know my heart is broke, but I'm holding on to you."
Stop touching that broken relationship. God is like, "That was me." Stop trying to go back to your past. He's like, "That was me. I need you to hold on to me and stop trying to look back."
After hours of fighting, God asks Jacob a question: "What's your name?"
Why would the person who knows everything ask anything? Because whenever God asks a question, it's not for information—it's for revelation. Some people come to church, hear a sermon, and only get information that impresses the head. But in the kingdom, revelation is what changes your heart.
You can hear the same sermon and have different results depending on whether you're listening with your ears or listening with your heart. It is revelation that leads to transformation. This is why atheists and Hebrew Israelites can know the Bible but not look like the God of the Bible—they have information with no revelation.
Jacob answers: "Jacob." Jacob means deceiver, supplier. His name is a label of his nature. What if your transformation is waiting on you to tell the truth? God is waiting on Jacob to admit the label that he's embraced.
God says, "All right, you're no longer Jacob. But Israel, you have wrestled with man and with God, and you have overcome."
This fight—when Jacob says, "I'm not letting you go until you bless me"—wasn't to get new stuff. It was for God to make him a new self.
When you say, "I'm not letting you go until you bless me," is that for things, or is it for God to make you someone? Jacob had things. He had stuff. But he didn't like who he was. So God had to change his name. In order to get a new name, he had to first change his nature.
God looks at Jacob's hip while they wrestle and says, "All right, we've been wrestling all night. I know what you need. You need a break."
"I know you love them, but y'all need a break. I know you're enjoying this season, but it's time for you to break away from this season. You've been in a breaking season. You've been in a birthing season, but now you're in a building season. I'm calling for you to become a different type of person so that you can walk into the fullness of this season."
Many of us keep trying to take old oil into new seasons. David was anointed with oil more than one time. Different seasons required different oil. Some of you are exhausted right now—not because you've been doing too much, but because you're trying to take old oil into a new season.
If you know you need a break—not just rest, but you need to release some stuff, release some people, release some places—there are three decisions you're going to have to make.
You're going to have to release what you were never meant to carry. You're going to have to release the need to feel needed. You're going to have to learn how to listen without lifting. Just because it's a problem does not mean it's your problem.
Let go of the names, the labels, and expectations that do not belong to you. Let go of the need to keep trying to prove yourself. When the preacher was younger, he used to preach and go straight to his phone to see if his brother said something. He would get done preaching and wait for people to tell him if it was good or not.
Then the Holy Spirit said, "Was it for them or was it for me?" Your pastor assigned you, but I called you. You had to release what you were never meant to carry.
Reveal where you have been wrestling. For some of us, we're not being honest with ourselves. We're saying we're good when we really aren't. You're acting like them leaving didn't hurt you. It did. You're going to cry in the car. You play tough around people, but when you get in the car, you let that window down and let it out.
Transformation begins with truth. The scripture says: "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free." Truth is not just a principle. Truth is also a person. Some of us are living in bondage because we keep believing a lie.
We believe lies like: "You don't need nobody." Yes, you do. We believe lies like: "Nobody wants you." That's a lie.
Have you been wrestling with feeling accepted or being accepted? You can be accepted but still not feel accepted. That's something you have to deal with within yourself. When the preacher first came back, he was so timid because he wasn't sure where he was fully accepted. But people were looking at him like, "Shut up. What do you mean? We're over whatever happened in the past."
If you're here, walk in why God sent you. Some of us are not fully experiencing elevation because we're addicted to hesitation. God is like, "Walk in it." And you're like, "You're playing hopscotch." Now it's time to walk. You're stuck in the same place.
Rename the breaking. Stop seeing this moment as a setback. It was a setup. Stop calling that a breakup. That was a breakthrough.
In verse 24, they said a man wrestled with God. But around verse 30, they said it was God. There's stuff that you were calling something in one season, but when you look back, you're like, "That was nothing but God."
They said I was fired. I said I was favored. That was nothing but God.
In the New Testament, Jesus goes to a city and before he ministers, he recognizes they have a need. They're hungry. He looks at his team and says, "What do we have to give them?" They said two fish, five loaves.
Jesus says, "All right, bring it to me." It's not enough for over 20,000 people. But little becomes much in the right hands. So he takes the little bit. He blesses it. Then he breaks it. He blessed it first. Then he broke it second. Then they gave it and they had overflow.
The blessing couldn't multiply until it got broken.
You think He's talking about bread? He's talking about you. He blessed you, then he broke you. But the breaking was so that what was in you could be multiplied. Jacob could not become Israel until he was broken. Some of you have been running from the breaking process.
If you know you need a break—whether it's rest or releasing—throw your hands up. God breaks your hip. But before God breaks your hip, you have to take a break from your company. You can't get your breakthrough until you break away from what's holding you back.
What do you need to break away from this week so that you can experience the breakthrough that you believe in God for?
