Skip to main content

Ask Rewind

Sign in to ask Rewind about this sermon — answers are grounded in the actual transcripts.

The study, discipleship, and teaching platform built on your church's own preaching.

Product

How it works
Pricing
What's new
Churches on Rewind

Solutions

For churches
For teaching teams
For groups
For seminaries
Agency partners

Company

About
Contact

Legal

Trust & your data
Terms
Privacy
How we use AI
Accessibility

© 2026 Rewind

Leaning In When You're Stuck & Struggling | Cornerstone Church | Pastor Linn Winters · Rewind

Cornerstone Church

64 min

Linn Winters · Feb 18, 2026 · 6 min read · 64 min listen

The big idea

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.

In this message

The big idea
Point 1 of 8Like skiing, the intuitive response to struggle (leaning back) is actually the worst thing you can do; the answer is to lean in.
Point 2 of 8Our two intuitive responses to struggle — try to fix it ourselves, then ask God to rescue us — are good but not enough on their own.

Point 3 of 8God 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.
Point 4 of 8Question one: sometimes struggle is simply the consequence of our own foolish decisions, not something God sent.
Point 5 of 8Question two: sometimes struggle is a loving, redirecting discipline from God in response to disobedience.
Point 6 of 8Question three: sometimes struggle is God's tool to grow us into the likeness of Jesus.
Point 7 of 8Question four: sometimes struggle puts our faith on display so someone else can see Jesus in how we handle it.
Point 8 of 8God 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.
Take it into your week
Transcript

Ask Rewind about this message

Sign in to ask Rewind about this message

Scripture in this message

Proverbs 22:3
Hebrews 12:5-6
Romans 8:28-30
John 15:1-2
Matthew 5:16
Jeremiah 29:13

Rewind AI drafted the Big Idea and some point headings shown here from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Linn Winters · Feb 18, 2026 · 64 min watch · 3 min read

Leaning In When You're Stuck & Struggling | Cornerstone Church | Pastor Linn Winters

In this message

Big Idea
Key points
Application

Scripture in this message

Proverbs 22:3
Hebrews 12:5-6
Romans 8:28-30
John 15:1-2
Matthew 5:16
Jeremiah 29:13

Big Idea Key points Application

Big Idea

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.

Key points

1
1Like 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.
2
2Our 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.
3
3God 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.
4
4Question 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.
5
5Question 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.
6
6Question 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.
7
7Question 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.
8
8God 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 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.

Application

Pastor Linn frames the response to every kind of struggle the same way: lean in.

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.

Take it into your week

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

Sign in to ask Rewind about this sermon

Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“Proverbs chapter 22, here's what it says. It says, the prudent, in other words, the wise see danger and they take refuge”
Read the whole chapter →
From the transcript
“thing. Have you forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses a son or a daughter? It says, my son do not make light the Lord's discipline and do not lose heart, don't get discouraged, don't get mad when he rebukes you because the Lord disciplines the ones he loves. He goes”
Paraphrase of the transcript
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him... We've all been called according to his purpose... For those God foreknew, he predestined... to be conformed to the image of his son.
From the transcript
“Jesus said, I am the true vine and my father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit”
Paraphrase of the transcript
In the same way let your light shine before others... that they may see your good deeds and then glorify God in heaven.
From the transcript
“This is God speaking. He says, you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”

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

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Sign in to track your progress through this devotional.

Day 1

Related passage

Pastor Linn used a picture that sticks: learning to ski down the bunny hill. When you get scared, every instinct tells you to lean back, away from the slope. But leaning back lifts the edge of the ski and sends you into a crash — what he called a 'yard sale.' Leaning forward, into the very thing that frightens you, is what engages the edge and lets you steer. That runs against everything your body wants to do, and that is exactly the point. When a struggle lands on us, leaning back feels safest. Retreat, brace, wait it out. Yet the whole week ahead rests on the opposite move: lean in. This isn't a call to pretend the fear away. Psalm 46 doesn't say there's no earthquake; it says God is our refuge and strength while the mountains give way. Fear is human, and the ground really does shake. Leaning in simply means we stop bracing against God and turn toward Him in the middle of it. Before we sort out any reason behind a struggle, it helps to notice which way we're already leaning — and to let that be an honest starting place rather than a verdict.

For reflection

When a struggle hits, what does 'leaning back' usually look like for me — and where do I feel it starting right now?

Pray

Pray for the willingness to lean toward God rather than brace against Him in ___.

Day 2

The first of Pastor Linn's four questions is the most humbling: is this struggle simply the fruit of my own foolish decision? Proverbs 22:3 says, 'A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences' (NLT). Pastor Linn told of his friend John, badly injured after illegally riding a motorcycle to impress a girl, and of smaller versions we all recognize — an impulsive trip charged to a credit card, a relationship pursued out of loneliness that we knew was unwise. His point wasn't to pile on shame. It was clarifying: some struggle didn't come from God at all. We produced it. And if that's the case, the response is refreshingly simple — name it honestly, and stop doing the thing that keeps producing the pain. That's not a small thing to admit, and it's easy to keep hoping the consequences will lift on their own. But naming a foolish decision plainly is itself an act of leaning in. It's turning toward the truth instead of away from it. Grace meets us here, not with a lecture, but with the honest freedom to stop and change course.

For reflection

Is there a painful consequence in my life right now that traces back to a choice I already know wasn't wise?

Pray

Pray for the honesty to name ___ plainly and the courage to simply stop.

Day 3

Pastor Linn's second question turns to discipline. Drawing on Hebrews 12, he described God's discipline not as punishment but as love aimed at redirection: 'For the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes each one He accepts as His child' (Hebrews 12:6, NLT). That's a tender frame, not a harsh one — the way a good parent corrects a child they cherish. He noted, too, that discipline can surface in a different area of life than where the disobedience happened, because God is after the heart, not just the behavior. This one calls for care. Not every hardship is discipline, and it would be a mistake to read every difficulty as a spanking; hard circumstances are often simply hard. But when God does gently reveal that a struggle is connected to a place we've been resisting Him, Pastor Linn's counsel is clear: repent — a full 180-degree turn — and return to obedience, and that particular struggle can end. Leaning in here means stopping the resistance rather than digging in. If you're unsure whether this is your situation, that's a good conversation to bring to someone at your church rather than deciding alone.

For reflection

Is there an area where I've sensed God's gentle redirection and have been leaning away instead of turning back?

Pray

Pray for a soft heart to receive correction as love, not rejection, regarding ___.

Day 4

The third question reframes struggle as growth. Pastor Linn anchored this in Romans 8, where God works all things together for good — but he was careful about what 'good' means. Verse 29 defines it: to be 'conformed to the image of His Son' (ESV). God's good isn't primarily comfort or possessions; it's Christ formed in us. Pastor Linn shared his own seasons of this: two years pushing a lawn mower after a church turned him down, and a painful stretch under unfair leadership. At the time they felt like dead ends. Looking back, they were where God taught him trust, how to live under authority, and how to love difficult people — the very things that later made his ministry fruitful. So the response he offered is active, not passive. Don't just endure the season resentfully; ask God directly what He's producing — patience, trust, love for someone hard to love — and cooperate with the lesson. Growth rarely feels like growth while it's happening. But asking 'what are You teaching me here?' is itself a way of leaning in, trading resentment for curiosity about what God is shaping in us.

For reflection

If this hard season is meant to grow something in me, what might God be trying to produce — and am I cooperating or resisting?

Pray

Pray for eyes to see what God is teaching you through ___, and for willingness to learn it.

Day 5

Yesterday's question about growth has a picture attached, and it's worth its own day. Jesus said, 'I am the true vine, and My Father is the gardener' (John 15:1, NLT), and He goes on: the branches that bear fruit get pruned so they'll bear even more. Pastor Linn leaned on this image to make a hard truth bearable — that pruning isn't the gardener's rejection of a branch, but His investment in it. Nobody prunes a plant they've given up on. That reframes a painful season entirely. When something is being cut back in your life — a plan, a comfort, a role you loved — it can feel like loss with no purpose. Jesus says the opposite may be true: fruitfulness itself is what invites the shears. Notice, too, where He locates our part in it. Not in producing fruit by sheer effort, but in remaining: 'apart from Me you can do nothing' (John 15:5, NLT). The branch's whole job is to stay connected to the vine. Leaning in, in this season, might look less like striving harder and more like staying close — abiding — trusting the Gardener knows exactly what He's doing with the shears.

For reflection

What is being 'cut back' in my life right now, and can I trust that the Gardener is investing rather than discarding?

Pray

Pray for grace to remain close to Jesus while something painful is being pruned in ___.

Day 6

The fourth question is the one that looks outward: is this struggle putting my faith on display so someone else can see Jesus in how I carry it? Jesus said, 'let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father' (Matthew 5:16, NLT). Pastor Linn cited a survey where people said they'd never become Christians because they'd met a fake one — and then told a very different story. His own mother walked through divorce, poverty, and raising a special-needs child, and her unwavering faith through all of it is what transformed his own. His striking conclusion: the struggle wasn't only for her to endure — it was for him to witness. That's a weighty and strangely hopeful thought. Some of what we walk through, we may never fully understand for ourselves, because part of its purpose is someone watching. This isn't a demand to perform or to hide real pain behind a smile. It's a prayer: God, help me live this with visible faith and confidence, so what people see is You and not just my complaint. Leaning in here means asking Him for exactly that kind of help.

For reflection

Who might be watching how I handle my current struggle, and what are they seeing?

Pray

Pray that God would help you live through ___ in a way that lets someone else see Him.

Day 7

Here's the honest catch Pastor Linn saved for the end: often God won't tell you which of the four reasons is behind your struggle. Not foolishness, discipline, growth, or display — no tidy label, no explanation. And he suggested that's on purpose. God delights to be pursued. He pointed to Jeremiah's promise, 'If you look for Me wholeheartedly, you will find Me' (Jeremiah 29:13, NLT), and to David, remembered as a man after God's own heart. So as a new week begins — the ordinary one starting tomorrow, with its same commute, same relationships, same unanswered question — the invitation isn't to finally decode your struggle. It's to chase God in the middle of not understanding it. That might look small this week: a few honest minutes on your knees before the day starts, turning toward Him instead of away when the fear rises, refusing to wait for an explanation before you draw near. Every one of the four questions ended in the same place, and so does the week: lean in. Not because you've figured it out, but because He is near and at work even when He stays quiet. Pursue Him this week — He is worth chasing, explanation or not.

For reflection

This coming week, what is one concrete way I'll pursue God even before I understand what He's doing?

Pray

Pray for a wholehearted desire to chase God this week, in the confusion of ___.

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

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

Pastor Linn opened this message with learning to ski down a bunny hill — and the crash that comes from leaning back. What's a skill you've tried to learn where your first instinct turned out to be exactly the wrong move?

Discussion questions

1
Read Proverbs 22:3 aloud. What does it say about the difference between the prudent person and the simple, and how does that shape the way people think about a struggle they may have brought on themselves?
2
Read Hebrews 12:5-6 aloud. How does this passage describe God's discipline, and why might it matter that Pastor Linn framed it as loving redirection rather than punishment?
3
Read Romans 8:28-29 aloud. What does this passage suggest God means by 'good' when He works in the middle of a hard season, and how is that different from how people usually define good?
4
Pastor Linn pointed to Matthew 5:16 and told how watching his mother's steady faith changed his own. What does it look like for people to let a struggle put a visible, confident faith on display rather than complaint?
5
Pastor Linn offered four questions to pray through a struggle — is it my own foolishness, God's discipline, God's growth, or God putting my life on display? How might having those questions change the way we respond when God doesn't remove something quickly?
6
Read Jeremiah 29:13 aloud. Pastor Linn said God often withholds a tidy explanation because He wants us to chase Him in the confusion. What might 'leaning in' and pursuing God look like for us when we don't understand what He's doing?

Pray together

Ask God for the courage to lean in rather than lean back, and to chase Him wholeheartedly even when the reason for a struggle stays hidden.

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

Sign in to save this message.

Go deeper

Where these passages are preached

Proverbs 22 Hebrews 12 Romans 8 John 15

Explore related topics

Obedience Spiritual Growth Suffering Trust in God

Related sermons

Don't Let Your Promises Become Traps | Cornerstone Church | Brent Hatchett
Brent Hatchett · May 18, 2026
Shares scripture
Slaying Giants | Cornerstone Church | Michael Carlton
Michael Carlton · Mar 9, 2026
Shares scripture
The Truth About Anxiety: What the Bible Says and What Actually Helps | Pastor Linn Winters
Linn Winters · Aug 11, 2025
Shares scripture
Closing The Distance | Cornerstone Church | Pastor Linn Winters
Linn Winters · Aug 24, 2026
Shares scripture
Freedom Through Forgiveness | Cornerstone Church | Pastor Linn Winters
Linn Winters · Jun 10, 2026
Shares scripture
The Heart Of The Matter | Cornerstone Church | Pastor TJ McConahay
TJ McConahay · Jun 1, 2026
Shares scripture

Powered by Rewind · make your church's Rewind →