Struggles
What would cause God to want to come and wrestle with me?
The same night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. - Genesis 32:22-31
We have interpreted Jacob's wrestling with God as a sign that we all have struggles in life and at times go against God. Jacob's journey through the desert on his way to meet his brother Esau is a journey of fear.
Knowing he deserved to be punished for how he tricked his brother, and knowing how angry his brother could be, Jacob had sent gifts, but heard no response. So, this struggle in the desert represents a turning point in his life. Can Jacob survive?
The struggle Jacob has with God is an inner struggle. God wants us to be in harmony with Him, so we need to strip away all the obstacles in our lives that block up from God. And the fact that God would come and wrestle is evidence that the inner turmoil we go through at times can be directed form God.
Jacob fought until his hip was put out of joint, and then he gave in to the pain and surrendered to God.
Don't we do the same?
We fight when we feel we are right and when we feel strong, but the moment we are brought down by disease or injury or are in deep pain, we call out to God for help.
God knows this is our nature and still God seeks to bring us back, to make us heirs of His kingdom, to make nations out of us, as He did for Jacob.
No matter how bleak thing may seem, there is good that can come form it, as Jacob discovers later in reconciling with his brother.
So, wrestle away, but know that God will prevail even when we think we have gotten the upper hand.
More to come...