When God doesn't rescue you from struggle, the answer is to lean in and find out what He's actually doing — not to lean back and crash.
Getting stuck in struggle often isn't because struggle itself is wrong, but because we don't know how to navigate it — we try to fix it ourselves or ask God to rescue us, and when neither works we stay stuck. Pastor Linn walks through four questions to ask God about a struggle — is it my own foolishness, God's discipline, God's growth, or God putting my life on display — and shows that in each case the answer is the same: lean in rather than lean back.
A story from life
Baptism testimony of a woman named Allie describing her journey from a lost, partying lifestyle to faith in Jesus.
A story from life
Baptism testimony of a man named Will describing straying from childhood faith into a party lifestyle and being restored by Jesus.
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 1 of 8
Like skiing, the intuitive response to struggle (leaning back) is actually the worst thing you can do; the answer is to lean in.
Pastor Linn describes learning to ski down a bunny hill and how the natural instinct to lean back when scared actually lifts the ski's edge and causes a crash — a 'yard sale.' Leaning forward instead engages the edge and lets you steer and control speed, which becomes his image for how to respond to struggle.
“Is it possible that the reason you and I get stuck in the midst of struggle is because we don't know how to navigate struggle”
— Linn Winters
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 2 of 8
Our two intuitive responses to struggle — try to fix it ourselves, then ask God to rescue us — are good but not enough on their own.
Pastor Linn says when struggle hits, we first try to solve it responsibly, and when that fails we pray for God to deliver us. Both are legitimate, but if we stop there we usually remain stuck, because most struggle isn't the 10% God intends to end quickly through rescue.
“What was so intuitive, what was so natural, what felt like the right thing to do in the moment was literally the wrong thing”
— Linn Winters
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 3 of 8
God is sovereign over struggle — He either sends it or allows it — so struggle is never wasted, and four questions help us discern His purpose in it.
Pastor Linn explains that because God is in control, every struggle either came from Him directly or was allowed by Him for a reason. He offers four diagnostic questions to pray through when God doesn't remove a struggle: was it caused by my own foolishness, is it discipline, is it growth, or is it putting me on display.
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 4 of 8
Question one: sometimes struggle is simply the consequence of our own foolish decisions, not something God sent.
Using Proverbs 22 on the prudent versus the simple, Pastor Linn tells the story of his friend John, badly injured after illegally riding a motorcycle to impress a girl, and other examples (an impulsive Disneyland trip on credit, a single woman dating a 'turkey' out of loneliness) to show that self-inflicted struggle isn't from God — the answer is simply to stop the foolish behavior.
A story from life
Story about a high school friend, John Booth, who was seriously injured after riding a neighbor's motorcycle without a license.
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 5 of 8
Question two: sometimes struggle is a loving, redirecting discipline from God in response to disobedience.
Drawing on Hebrews 12, Pastor Linn explains that God's discipline is an act of love aimed at redirection, not punishment, and it may show up in an area of life different from where the disobedience occurred, because God is after the heart. He tells of a friend with a hidden double life who ended up gravely ill and refused to see it as loving discipline, contrasting that with the call to repent — a full turnaround — which causes struggle rooted in disobedience to end.
“when you and I are disobedient, it does not change how God feels about you. God still loves you just as much even in the midst of your rebellion and disobedience”
— Linn Winters
A story from life
Story about a friend who lived a hidden double life with mistresses, later became seriously ill, and struggled to see God's discipline in his suffering.
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 6 of 8
Question three: sometimes struggle is God's tool to grow us into the likeness of Jesus.
From Romans 8:28-29 and Jesus' vine and branches image in John 15, Pastor Linn shows that God's definition of 'good' is conformity to Christ, not comfort or possessions, and that fruitful branches are pruned to become more fruitful. He shares his own two years pushing a lawn mower after being turned down by a church, and a painful season under unfair leadership, as seasons where God taught him trust and how to live under authority and love difficult people, which later prepared him for fruitful ministry.
“Once you learn the lesson, the teacher can stop teaching”
— Linn Winters
A story from life
Personal account of a two-year season pushing a lawn mower after being turned down by a church, and of a subsequent difficult ministry role under unfair leadership.
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 7 of 8
Question four: sometimes struggle puts our faith on display so someone else can see Jesus in how we handle it.
Citing a survey where people said they'd never become Christians because they'd met a fake one, Pastor Linn points to Matthew 5 on letting your light shine, then tells how his mother's unwavering faith through divorce, poverty, and raising a special-needs child transformed his own faith — concluding the struggle was for him to witness, not just for her to endure.
A story from life
Story about the preacher's mother raising four teenagers and a special-needs daughter alone after divorce, and her faithfulness through struggle.
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 8 of 8
God often doesn't explain which of the four reasons is behind a struggle, because He wants us to chase Him in the midst of it.
Pastor Linn compares this to Valentine's Day, saying his wife (illustratively) loves to be chased, and God similarly delights when we pursue Him with all our heart in confusion rather than getting a tidy explanation. He cites Jeremiah on seeking God with all your heart and the account of Samuel telling Saul that David was a man after God's own heart.
“a God who has never wasted my pain is always doing something in my struggle”
— Linn Winters
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Take it into your week
Pastor Linn frames the response to every kind of struggle the same way: lean in.
Application
Stop the foolish decision
If your struggle traces back to your own unwise choices, name it honestly and simply stop doing the thing that keeps producing painful consequences.
Repent if it's discipline
If God reveals the struggle is a spiritual spanking for disobedience, stop resisting Him, turn a full 180 degrees, and return to obedience so the discipline can end.
Ask what He's teaching you and cooperate
If the struggle is growth, ask God directly what lesson He's producing — patience, trust, love for a difficult person — and lean into learning it rather than resenting the process.
Ask Him to help you live it well
If your struggle is putting your faith on display for someone else, pray that God would help you live it with visible faith and confidence so others see Jesus in you rather than complaint.
Chase God in the confusion
Whatever the reason, get on your knees and pursue God with all your heart in the middle of not understanding, trusting that He is near and at work even without an explanation.
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI