A Wrestling Match with the Lord

“A Wrestling Match with God”

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How many wrestling fans do we have in the house?

How many of you wrestled in high school or college? I never wrestled in school but I did wrestle with my next-door neighbor when I was a teenager. He was way bigger than me; and when he got tired he would just lay on me, and there was nothing I can do.

Can you imagine wrestling with God? That is exactly what Jacob does in this chapter; the man that wrestled with Jacob was the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ; called the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament.

V:30-“And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face-to-face, and my life is preserved.

Somewhere in the wrestling match Jacob realized that this man he was wrestling with was the angel of the Lord.

-“Jacob had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept…

Jacob had met God 20 years before at Bethel; Bethel was the most important place in Jacob’s life, because that is where he met God.

This place, Penniel; becomes the second most important place in Jacob’s life, because here is that God broke him, and blessed him.

Jacob has been away from home for 20 years; now he is on his way home, to the land of Canaan.

His first concern is Esau; he knows he has to face Esau and he is afraid. When Jacob left home 20 years before this, he had stolen the birthright from Esau. The last thing Esau had said to him was, I am going to kill you if it’s the last thing I do. Maybe Jacob passed a wanted poster with his picture on it; wanted dead or alive.

Jacob’s #1 concern was Esau; so in the beginning of this chapter Jacob sends some servants to Esau to tell him he is coming home. Jacob’s servants come back and say, V:6-“we came to your brother Esau, and is coming to meet you with 400 men.

When Jacob hears this, V:7-“ he is greatly afraid and distressed”.

What do you think Jacob is thinking? He’s thinking that Esau is coming to kill him!

Jacob is facing a huge challenge, problem, crisis in his life. What will Jacob do? Will he go to God in prayer, and ask God for wisdom and courage to face his brother, or will he figure out what to do on his own?

He switches to his default mode, he starts planning, strategizing and preparing to appease Esau.

Jacob’s main problem is not that he feared his brother; his main problem was he didn’t trust God, he didn’t go to God first.

God had met Jacob as soon as he started out toward home,V:1-2, the angels met him, God was watching over him. When Jacob saw the Angels he named the place, Mahanaim, which literally means "two camps." God put two camps of angels with Jacob, one in front of him, and one behind him. God was going to defend Jacob and take care of Jacob.

But as soon as he hears about the 400 men, he forgets about God and start scheming. Jacob is still trusting himself; he still thinks he can handle whatever life throws his way. So he divides his family, and servants into two camps and reasons V:8-“if Esau kills one company, the other company can escape”.

Never mind the Angels of God sent to protect me, never mind the word of God that has promised to bless me and multiply my family. Jacob doesn’t really trust God. But notice what he does in

V:9-12, he prays; he reminds God that you’re the one that told me to return to Canaan, you said you would take care of me, and then he asked God to deliver him from his brother Esau.

This is the first recorded prayer in the Bible, it is a wonderful prayer; Jacob prays all the right things; but he doesn’t pray in faith, and it was the last resort. Prayer should be our first resort; it should be the first thing we do when crisis comes into our lives; not the last resort.

A lady asked her friend "Where did you get your husband?" She said, "I met him at the travel agency, he was the last resort."

Prayer must not be our last resort!

Jacob prays and then goes right back to scheming, and preparing to pacify his brother’s anger with the gift of 560 animals, V:14-15.

Jacob didn’t have confidence in God to protect him, so immediately after his prayer he went right back to scheming plotting and planning. It’s not the planning and thinking that was his problem, you NEVER check your mind at the door when you work through issues, decisions, challenges, NO! On the contrary, you must think, plan, research and work through crisis with your eyes wide-open.

Someone says, the reason I am not a Christian is because I think for myself. No the reason you are not a Christian is because you don’t think for yourself. We must be careful that we don’t neglect God, and trust our own abilities, formulas, plans, personality, and resources instead of God.

Jacob’s plan was to handle the situation with Esau on his own.

Do you have an Esau you’re facing today? Someone or something that is a huge challenge, a great difficult, a bad situation, a hard person that will not go away; it is hovering over you, and breathing down your neck?

Every one of us face Esau’s in our lives; things that are BIG, Hairy and scary. What will we do? Will we put confidence in our ability to hand it; or will we go to God, trust God? Jacob has prayed to God; but he is trusting himself! Have you ever done that? I have!

Jacob sends the animals to Esau as a present, then he put his family in one place, and were told in

V:24-“ Jacob was alone…

The scene is set for God to have a wrestling match with Jacob; don’t miss this, it is not Jacob that wrestles with God, it is God that wrestles with Jacob, God takes the initiative. V:24-“there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of day”.

God gets a hold of Jacob and wrestles him to the ground. Why did God wrestle with Jacob; and why does God wrestle with us?

Let’s sit ringside and watch this wrestling match between God and Jacob and learn two reasons God wrestles with us.

#1 God wrestles with us:

1. To Break us of Self-Sufficiency.

V:24-25.

Jacob was a saved man, but he was a carnal man, a man depending on himself, not God. God does not want us living as self-sufficient Christians. God will speak to us about our self-sufficiency, he will put us through the school of hard knocks to bring us to the place to trust him. But if we persist in living a fleshly, carnal, scheming, manipulating life; a faithless life, self-sufficient life; God will get a hold of us just like he got a hold of Jacob.

God will wrestle with us to break us of self-sufficiency. Are you trusting your flesh to face the enemies, overcome the difficulties, and move you into the land of Canaan; the victorious Christian life? You must not!

-“The carnal mind is enmity with God, it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be”.

God doesn’t want us trusting our flesh, intellect, charisma, and abilities to live for Him. God wants us trusting and depending on Him to live to Christian life.

Jacob thinks that he strong enough, smart enough to handle Esau; God is going to show him that he is not.

God slips up on Jacob this night, surprised him and showed him he was not as strong as he thought he was. God will surprise you! When you think you’re strong, smart and able to handle anything and everything, God will show you you’re not!

· You’re not going to be surprised by church.

· You’re not going to be surprised by religion.

· You’re not going to be surprised by preacher.

But God will surprise you; God got-ahold of Jacob and it was a surprise! My prayer today is that God would slip up on you, surprise you, and get a hold of you, if he does, you’ll never be the same!

God gets Jacob to:

· A Place of Isolation.

V:24-“ Jacob was left alone…

It is very important for us to get along with God; this narrative goes to great links to show us how God got Jacob alone. The carnal man does not want to get alone with God. The man who’s trusting in his flesh, doesn’t think he needs to get along with God. God wants to bring us to a place of isolation, so we can break us from self-sufficiency.

We need to be alone, and get alone where we can meet with God. We have to determine to do this; many of us love to be around people, we have a phone in our hand, we’re talking and texting and tweeting and checking Facebook and watching videos, with an ear bud in our ear, or watching TV and movies, we spend very little time alone today. God wants to get us alone; wrestle with us, work in us, and bless us.

God separated Jacob from his wives, children and possessions. God got him alone so he could work in him!

God doesn’t change people in groups, or as families, God changes us individually. He got Jacob alone so He could work in Jacob’s life.

God revealed himself to Jacob as a person, a man wrestled with Jacob. God is not a concept, or an idea, are a figment of your imagination.

God reveals himself in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ wants to get a hold of you personally, and reveal himself to you personally!

God wants to do in your life is personally! Just you and God.

Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? One day you will stand before God personally, not as a family, not as a team, not with your bowling buddies, but alone!

God gets Jacob to:

· A place of Confrontation.

V:24-“there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day”.

Jacob is alone, thinking about the next day and facing Esau; and out of the darkness comes a man and jumps on him.

Warren Wiesbe said, “God meets us at whatever level He finds us in order to lift us to where He wants us to be. To Abraham the pilgrim, God came as a traveler; to Joshua the general, He came as a soldier. Jacob had spent most of his life wrestling with people—Esau, Isaac, Laban, and even his wives—so God came to him as a wrestler.

- "With the pure you will show yourself pure; and with the devious you will show yourself shrewd"

God started this wrestling match, the Lord has something he is going to do in Jacob’s life.

Jacob had won every earthly wrestling match he’d ever entered; but Jacob has met his match this night.

This wrestling match lasted all night long; the word wrestling means in the dust; can you picture and all night wrestling match in the dirt and mud? There would be, dripping sweat, wet hair and beard, groping, pulling, head-butting, rage and anger, pain and thirst and frustration, Jacob cannot win.

Don’t get the idea that the angel of the Lord couldn’t beat Jacob; the Lord could’ve penned Jacob anytime he wanted to. But God does not pin Jacob; and God will not pin you to the mat this morning either. He will wrestle with you, touch you, press on your heart your need to surrender yourself to him; but he would not make you.

Jacob had no idea who he was wrestling with when he started, or that he was in the grip of God’s grace, to break him from self-sufficiency.

We’re told in V:25-“that the Lord touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh, and his thigh was out of joint as he wrestled”.

Finally God brought Jacob to the end of himself with brokenness, God touched Jacob’s hip and dislocated it.

Anybody who’s ever been a wrestler knows how important your legs and hips are to wrestling. When God dislocated Jacob’s hip; Jacob experienced instant pain. Jacob becomes limp as a dish rag, he couldn’t fight anymore, couldn’t resist anymore; he was broken. The wrestler was brought to the place he could wrestle no more. He wouldn’t be able to run from Esau; God was breaking Jacob of his self-sufficiency. Jacob had always trusted in his flesh, and his ability to outmaneuver anybody; but no longer, he was broken.

What area in your life does God need to touch? What are you trusting in, depending on more than God Almighty?

God is going to touch the area that you putting your confidence in; God is going to break us from self-sufficiency. We must not continue to live trusting and relying on our flesh.

If you keep fighting, resisting God he’s going to touch you and break you, for your own good and his glory. God loves you, and will wrestle with you to get to the place where you no longer put confidence in your flesh. God is wrestling with Jacob to bring him to the point of both physical and spiritual submission.

If you’re wrestling with God today; I want you to know that God never loses! God knows how to dislocate your plans, and break you and bring you to the end of yourself so you will cling to him and trust in him.

2rd reason God wrestles with us is:

1. To Bless us with Spiritual Victory.

V:26-32.

All of Jacob’s life he had been after the blessing of God; but he had always gone about it the wrong way. But after God wrestles Jacob to the ground and breaks him; he blesses him with spiritual victory.

Jacob is no longer wrestling, he is just holding on to the Lord; the Lord speaks to him and says in V:26-“let me go, the sun is coming up”.

But Jacob answers and says, V:26-“I will not let you go, unless you bless me”.

At first Jacob was wrestling in his own strength; now Jacob is broken and simply clinging to the Lord. Which is exactly what the Lord wanted him to do! Don’t get the idea this is a sad picture; this is a great picture, it is the picture of a man who is at the mercy of the Lord! Which is the best place you can ever get!

He is no longer self-sufficient, depending upon himself; he’s clinging to the Lord, he knows he needs God. So is asking God to bless him.

The Lord asked him, V:27-“what is your name? And he said, Jacob”.

The lord was not asking him his name because he didn’t know what his name was. The Lord knows your name, he knows all about you; he wants you to get honest about you. The last time Jacob was asked his name he lied, he said his name was Esau. But now he comes clean and admits who he is. He lied to his father, he lied to his brother, he had lied to his own self, but he could not lie to God.

The name Jacob means, it means swindler, schemer, cheat, and liar.

When God asked Jacob who he was, Jacob came clean. He said, I am a liar, I am a swindler, I am a cheat, and I am a schemer.

All of a sudden his eyes were opened and he finally realized that his real problem was not with Esau, his real problem was with Jacob.

He thought if he could appease Esau everything would be good; but his problem was with God not Esau.

So you think this morning if I could fix my marriage, if I could get a new job, if we could get out of debt, if my kids weren’t causing me so much trouble I would be good. I’m not saying those aren’t real issues, struggles and problems. But your greatest need is to surrender yourself to God; to get honest with God, to get right with the Lord Jesus. The issue is you and God; and God is wrestling with some of you this morning, you’re in the grip of his great Grace. God has been patient with you, but you know he has his mighty arms around you and squeezing you wrestling you. Confess who you are, and surrender your heart to him today, and He will bless you. I want to tell you that you will never get right with God and be right with God until you admit exactly who you are and what you are. When Jacob admits he is Jacob, God is going to blessing him.

V:28-“Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince you have power with God and with men, and has prevailed”.

Now, wait a minute; I thought he lost this wrestling match and now, we find out that he won it.

How did he win it? He won it by losing it.

His name was changed from Jacob to Israel which literally means "Prince with God."

The same God that changed Saul the persecutor, into Paul the preacher, and Simon the coward, into Peter the courageous, had changed Jacob the cheat, into Israel the champion.

This was such a wonderful thing that this man had done to Jacob; that Jacob, V:29-“ask him what his name was, and he said why is it that you asked my name? And he blessed him there”.

When God has gotten a hold of you, brought to the place of surrender; you want to know more about him! The evidence of a work of God in your life; is a burning desire to know more about the Lord Jesus Christ!

Jacob name the place “Peniel”-the face of God; Jacob said I’ve seen God face-to-face and he didn’t kill me. He thought seeing God’s face would bring death, but actually it brought him new life. God doesn’t want to kill you he wants to change you, bless you and use you.

Jacob has wrestled with God all night, he has surrender to the Lord his character, name has been changed by the Lord, he has been blessed by the Lord.

V:31-“And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh”.

It was a new day in Jacob’s life; he has met God, and the sun is shining, and his life is changed, is a new day! God has wrestled with him in order to bless him!

Jacob has a new name, Israel; he has a new walk, he is limping; he has a new fellowship with God that would help him exercise faith in the face of difficulty. Can you picture him limping back into camp that morning; his hair is disheveled, his clothes are torn, his face is dirty, he has a fat lip. Somebody says, "Jacob, what in the world happened to you?" He said, "I just got blessed."

Today, you can have a new day, a new name, a new relationship, a new future if you will surrender your life to Jesus Christ. The way to win with the Lord is to lose! For when you lose the battle you win the blessing.

In all this wrestling match, the Lord never did pin Jacob. He never did put his shoulders on the mat. Could the Lord have pinned? Absolutely, but he didn’t.

What does that tell me? God will never make you anything you don't want to be. He'll wrestle with you; but he'll never pin you. The Holy Spirit is wrestling with you today, why don't you just say Lord, I am Jacob, a sinner, and I surrender my life to you today. Save me, changed me, and bless me! And He will!!!

Christian here today: The only way you can confront the Esau’s: the problems, difficulties, challenges and heartaches of life; is to have a meeting with God first!

Jesus the son of God wrestled with sin, and took sin and pinned it to himself on the cross and defeated sin death and hell. Jesus died in the darkness, suffering and shedding his blood for my sin. But on Easter morning as the sun began to rise Jesus Christ walked out of the grave victorious over sin and death and hell. Because Jesus won the battle with sin; I can know the joy of a new day, new life, new name, new relationship, and new future.

If you’re tired of wrestling with God in the darkness of your sin; surrender yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ, place your faith in him and you will have a new life, new name, new relationship, new future.

Quit wrestling with God and surrender yourself to him today! SING-“I surrender all”.