Don’t Let God

Hold On Through the Struggle

Genesis 32:22–31 NRSV

22 The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. 24 Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25 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. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” 27 So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 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.” 29 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. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

This is the word of God, for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

I. Introduction

Most of us have had the experience of carrying too many grocery bags at one time.

You look into the back seat or trunk and decide, “I can make this in one trip.” You place several bags on one arm, a few more on the other, and perhaps you are holding your keys with one finger while trying to close the car door with your foot.

Halfway to the house, one of the bags begins to slip.

You feel the handle stretching. Your fingers begin to hurt. You know you should probably put everything down and start over, but you have already come too far. So you tighten your grip, adjust the weight, and tell yourself, “Just hold on a little longer.”

Holding on sounds simple until what you are carrying becomes heavy.

It is easy to talk about perseverance when life is going well. It is easy to say, “Keep the faith,” when the road is smooth and the future seems certain. But holding on feels different when the diagnosis is not what you hoped to hear, when someone you love is no longer sitting beside you, when a relationship is strained, or when you are waiting for an answer that does not seem to come.

Our series is called Don’t Let Go, and today’s message is Hold On Through the Struggle.

Genesis 32 introduces us to Jacob in the middle of the most difficult night of his life.

He is beside the Jabbok River. His family, servants, livestock, and possessions have all crossed ahead of him. Jacob remains behind.

The Bible says, “Jacob was left alone.”

That sentence matters because there are some struggles nobody else can face for us. People can pray for us, encourage us, and sit beside us. But there are moments when we must face our own fears, our own decisions, our own history, and our own relationship with God.

Jacob is alone, but he is not at peace.

He is preparing to meet his brother Esau.

Years earlier, Jacob deceived his father Isaac and took the blessing intended for Esau. Esau became furious and planned to kill him, so Jacob ran away. Now, after many years, Jacob is coming home.

He cannot keep running.

There comes a moment when every runner runs out of road.

We may keep ourselves busy. We may avoid certain people, places, memories, or conversations. But eventually we must confront what is happening within us.

Jacob has spent much of his life relying on cunning, manipulation, and deception. He manipulated Esau, deceived Isaac, and struggled with Laban. But now his old methods cannot help him.

Esau is approaching with four hundred men, and Jacob is terrified.

So he sends gifts ahead, divides his family into groups, and creates a plan. But eventually there is nothing left to arrange.

Jacob is left alone.

And in the darkness, a mysterious man begins to wrestle with him until daybreak.

The text does not immediately identify the stranger. Later, Jacob understands that he has encountered God.

Charles Wesley reflected on this passage in his hymn “Wrestling Jacob”:

“Wrestling, I will not let thee go, Till I thy name, thy nature know.”

Jacob is not merely wrestling with another man. He is wrestling with God, with himself, with his history, with his guilt, and with his fear.

Jacob has reached a turning point. Will he remain the same fearful, deceptive, self-protective man, or will he allow God to change him?

And change does not come easily.

Jacob wrestles all night.

We sometimes imagine that an encounter with God will immediately make everything comfortable. But Jacob’s encounter with God is uncomfortable. It leaves him exhausted, wounded, and walking differently.

Yet it also leaves him blessed.

We must be careful with this passage. It does not teach that every painful or harmful situation should be endured. Holding on to God does not mean holding on to abuse, danger, or destructive behavior. Sometimes faithfulness requires boundaries, distance, and wise help.

But there are struggles we cannot avoid if we are going to grow.

We cannot experience reconciliation without difficult conversations. We cannot experience forgiveness without acknowledging the wound. We cannot mature spiritually without confronting the parts of ourselves that need to change.

Before Jacob can face Esau, Jacob must face Jacob.

That may be the hardest struggle of all.

We are often good at identifying what is wrong with everyone else. We remember what they said, what they did, and how they hurt us. But transformation begins when we allow God to show us ourselves.

Lord, show me where pride has taken control.

Show me where fear has shaped my decisions.

Show me where my words have wounded.

Show me where I need to apologize.

Show me where I need to change.

Holding on through the struggle means refusing to run from what God is revealing.

As morning approaches, the mysterious man touches Jacob’s hip and dislocates it. Jacob is wounded, but he still refuses to let go.

The man says, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.”

Jacob answers, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.”

Notice that Jacob does not say, “I will not let you go until you explain everything.”

He does not say, “I will not let you go until you remove every difficulty.”

He says, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.”

Jacob knows there is something in this encounter that he needs. He is exhausted, but he knows he cannot return to his old life unchanged.

So Jacob holds on.

Holding on does not mean pretending you are not hurting. It means trusting God while you are hurting.

Holding on does not mean you never become tired. It means your weariness does not have the final word.

Holding on does not mean you understand everything God is doing. It means believing God is present even when understanding has not yet come.

The band The Fray released a song called “How to Save a Life.” The song grew out of one band member’s experience with a troubled young man who had lost hope. It carries the painful realization that sometimes people need someone willing to stay with them through the night.

Sometimes loving someone means staying.

Sometimes the greatest ministry we can offer is our presence.

We may not have all the answers or know the perfect words. We may not be able to fix the situation. But we can listen, pray, encourage, and help someone find the support they need.

The church should be a community where people do not have to wrestle alone.

And this is not only about holding on to other people. It is also about believing that God is holding on to us.

There are moments when our grip on God feels weak. Prayer becomes difficult. Faith feels uncertain. Strength seems to disappear.

But our salvation does not depend solely upon the strength of our grip.

Even when we struggle to hold on to God, God is still holding on to us.

You may be wrestling with grief, disappointment, health concerns, family problems, or fear about the future. You may not always feel God’s hand, but God has not let you go.

After Jacob demands a blessing, the man asks, “What is your name?”

Surely God already knows. The question is not seeking information. It is demanding honesty.

“What is your name?”

Jacob must say it: “Jacob.”

For once, he must tell the truth about who he has been.

Years earlier, when his father asked his identity, Jacob lied and claimed to be Esau. But now, in the presence of God, Jacob tells the truth.

Transformation begins with truth.

God cannot heal the person we are pretending to be.

God meets us when we become honest about who we are, what we have done, what we fear, and what we need.

Jacob says, “My name is Jacob.”

God responds, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans and have prevailed.”

Jacob enters the struggle carrying an old name, but he leaves with a new identity.

He enters depending on manipulation.

He leaves depending on grace.

He enters trying to protect himself.

He leaves prepared to humble himself before his brother.

God does not merely change Jacob’s circumstances. God changes Jacob.

That is the blessing.

We often ask God to change the situation while God is seeking to change us in the situation.

We pray, “Lord, remove the struggle.”

God may be developing endurance.

We pray, “Lord, change that person.”

God may be teaching us humility.

We pray, “Lord, make this easier.”

God may be making us wiser, gentler, and more compassionate.

Jacob receives a blessing, but he also receives a limp.

When the sun rises, he walks away with an injured hip. The limp is evidence that the struggle was real, but it is also evidence that Jacob survived.

He does not leave untouched, but he does leave transformed.

Some of us carry limps that cannot be seen.

We carry the memory of loss, disappointment, betrayal, illness, or a season that nearly overwhelmed us.

Do not be ashamed of your limp.

Your limp is not proof that God abandoned you.

It may be proof that you wrestled through the night and lived to see the morning.

Jacob names the place Peniel, meaning “the face of God,” because he says, “I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.”

Later, when Jacob meets Esau, Esau runs to embrace him, and the brothers weep. Jacob tells Esau that seeing his face is like seeing the face of God.

The man who saw God in the struggle becomes able to see God in the face of the brother he had wronged.

The struggle with God prepares Jacob for reconciliation.

And today, on Communion Sunday, we come to another place where broken people are offered grace.

We come to the table.

We do not come pretending that we have never failed, never wounded anyone, never been afraid, and never fallen short.

We come telling the truth.

We come with our old names.

We come with our guilt.

We come with our grief.

We come with our questions.

We come with our limps.

And Christ meets us here.

At this table, the bread is broken and the cup is poured. These are signs of a Savior who knows what it means to struggle, suffer, and be wounded.

Jesus did not let go of us.

He held on through betrayal.

He held on through rejection.

He held on through the cross.

And even when humanity did its worst, Christ continued to love.

At the table, Christ says, “This is my body, given for you.”

“This is my blood, poured out for you.”

The table reminds us that grace is stronger than failure, forgiveness is stronger than sin, love is stronger than bitterness, and life is stronger than death.

So whatever you are wrestling with today, bring it to the table.

Bring your guilt.

Bring your grief.

Bring the relationship that needs healing.

Bring the fear of what may be waiting across the river.

Come as Jacob came—honestly, humbly, and unwilling to leave without a blessing.

Hold on through the struggle.

Hold on when the night feels long.

Hold on when the answers do not come.

Hold on until fear gives way to faith.

Hold on until deception gives way to truth.

Hold on until bitterness gives way to grace.

Hold on until the sun rises.

And when your strength begins to fail, remember:

You are not only holding on to God.

God is holding on to you.

Come to the table.

Come and receive the grace that will not let you go.

Amen.