1. Jacob: From Defeat To Victory Genesis 32: 24-31 LK George Hsu, MD, FRCPsych 04.03.2016 Sacramento

2. Jacob Struggled With God Gen 32:24-31
So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”  Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.” The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.  

3. Jacob A hard life Unloved by his Father Isaac
Struggled to steal Isaac’s blessing
Had to flee for his safety
Cheated by Father-in Law Laban
Family discord: wives, concubines, and children
Toiled without rest for 20 years
Crisis: his past is catching up with him

4. Jacob in Crisis Gen 32 Jacob scared, fearful, distressed
On verge of total loss: That he had struggled in vain
Gen 32:7-11 In great fear and distress Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac…Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children.

5. Mental Health
All health issues: Gene & Environment interaction: “Nature” & “Nurture”
We cannot change our genes
But we can shape our environment
Environment: Adverse vs Beneficial
Adverse: Bullying, lack of warmth and caring, broken relationships, bad habits, unemployment, financial troubles…
Beneficial: For Christians: God’s intervention, our Faith, Christian Love

6. Jacob’s Adverse Environment
Upbringing: Not his father’s favorite
Strong Mother, Weak Father
No spiritual teaching from Isaac
Competed and Struggled with Esau
Sent away from home
Struggled with Laban
Conflicts of his 2 wives
Jealousy among his sons
Adverse effect on mental health

7. Grace in Jacob’s Hard Life
God’s graciousness, promise and protection
God has given Jacob many strengths: Smart, Resourceful, Tenacious
By Grace, Jacob’s wise choice to use his tenacity: to wrestle with God
By Grace, Jacob knew his own brokenness and asked God to fix it

8. God’s Grace in Jacob’s Crisis
In fact God came to wrestle with Jacob at the critical moment when Jacob had reached his limit
God struggled with Jacob first, before He handled Jacob’s crisis
God has to change Jacob first because Jacob was his own worst enemy
God blessed Jacob by defeating him
In wrenching Jacob’s hip: the strongest joint, Jacob was victorious over himself
In brokenness, Jacob was healed

9. Broken but Healed In brokenness, Jacob became humble
He quit his toxic struggles with everyone
Defeated, Jacob learned to put God First in his life
Broken, he learned to lean on God
He knew that all good things came from God
Even bad things in God, like being crippled, can become blessings

10. How God Engaged and Changed Jacob
God cared enough to come and wrestle with Jacob
Because “Struggle” is Jacob’s preferred method and style in life
So God cared enough to use wrestling to engage Jacob
The Word became Flesh: Christ came to meet us on our turf and our terms
And He still does today

11. Psychology Vs Faith
Secular Psychology and Psychiatry: extreme antagonism to Faith
Attacks Faith as Infantile, Immature, Fantasy, Unhealthy Projection and worse

12. Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud: God is an illusion Belief in God is
an infantile need for a powerful father figure

13. Cognitive Therapist Albert Ellis:
Belief in God is just a reflection of childhood dependency
Where’s the proof that God cares about you?

14. Faith Is Good For Mental Health
Prof Koenig at Duke pioneered research on Faith & Mental Health in last 30 years
Research found overwhelming evidence that Faith is good for mental & physical health
Paradigm shift: No more attack on Faith
Evidence is what counts, not Opinion or Theory

15. How Is Faith Good For Health
Faith in God gives meaning, purpose, self control, and love
All these are good for mental health
Current Research: How do they change Brain Function to give Mental Health?
Need for Christians to get involved in Neuroscience research
We know the transforming power of meaning and love in Faith: George Stott

16. George Stott: CIM Missionary
George Stott: one leg amputated
Applied to join CIM: rejected 3 times over concerns about only one leg
He asked to see Hudson Taylor
Taylor: You can also serve by staying at home and praying
Stott: But those with both legs are not willing to go to China
Taylor deeply moved
Stott established the Wenzhou Church

17. Conclusion We all have a Jacob inside us
Hard life? In crisis? Worried?
Be open to God: Choose Christ in faith
Allow Jesus to engage & transform you first; then ask Him to solve your problem
Live in a Christian community to grow in mental and spiritual health
Without Christ: Even “good things” ultimately turn to emptiness
In Christ: Even “bad things” can bring blessing

18. Conclusion: A Reminder
God may allow illness to afflict you
You can Glorify God even in illness
An illness can be a Blessing in Christ, remember George Stott
If God allows you to develop a mental health problem: Seek help from God and the Church
Also: Get help from mental health professionals, just like if you have broken your leg you’d need a doctor