Wrestling with God

When Spencer first started High school I remember they asked him to try wrestling.

And he did, he got in there and practiced with the team, went through their exercise routines, all the running they did and what He discovered was this, he didn’t like it.

It was ok, but just wasn’t for him. but what it did do was this, it gave him the confidence to ask about what he really liked, that was basketball. And within no time he was practicing with the JV team and he played two seasons with Appalachia until the school merged ....

He enjoyed it....

We all have gone through those events were we put ourselves out there to try something we are not certain about and what we found out was either we liked it or it pushed us on to something else we do like....

In the book of Genesis, chapter 32 you find the story of Jacob wrestling with God. It is a unique story, for really it is a time when Jacob has tried everything, He has cheated and stole. He misrepesented himself to his father and stole the birth right from Esau and ended up having to flee from him.

With his uncle Laban He has suffered hardship and mistreatment, and finally he has left and on his way home he knows he will meet his brother and will have to give an account for his actions.

But on this journey something special happens, the Lord shows up to him late at night...

Look at Genesis 32:1-2

Genesis 32:1–2 ESV

1 Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2 And when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God’s camp!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

Now coming to this place Jacob is blessed, he knows this place is indeed special and he stays there, but the threat of Esau is great, he is afraid and he hopes to pacify Esau’s possible anger by preparing a gift for him.

Verse 14 and 15 says that he sends

Genesis 32:14–15 ESV

14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.

And he divides his family and wealth hoping that if they are attacked, perhaps one group will survive and he send them on ahead of him… you can read that from the text of Genesis 32.

And while he is alone in this place, this place he knows is the Lord’s place, someone comes to visit him and wrestles with him...

Genesis 32:24 ESV

24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.

And you know, as the Lord wrestled with Jacob there are some special things we can see with this event.

The Lord is strong but gentle. The Lord wrestles with him until breaking of day without killing him in the first second.

God is an all powerful God

Psalm 147:5 ESV

5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

One thing we see is that Jacob doesn’t understand that God had planned to use him in a divine way, God could have killed him, but doesn’t. Why Because God wants Jacob to be a blessing to the world God had placed him in.

Jacob didnt know his future, but God did… God was with him and would help him.

Isaiah 41:10 ESV

10 fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Do you realize that, we wonder at times what in the world are we doing, what are we going to do or how will we serve the Lord. And He already knows… He knows our future.

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

and then

Psalm 16:5 ESV

5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.

Here we see our future is in His hands....

The Lord is strong, but he is gentle with us.

And consider this… He is patient with us as well...

The Lord is patient. All night long, 8-12 hours of wrestling. The Lord doesn’t say “get off me in five minutes.

God stayed right there, Jacob is wrestling and struggling with the Lord this night and it is really a moment of conviction.

I say a moment of conviction, He has asked for the Lord’s help, his blessings, but will he be willing to push through the hard moments to take hold of what God has planned for him?

Think about just how far Jacob has come… he was the skimer, what his name literlaly means and he was the one who got taken advantage off by Laban

And it was while working for Rachel, serving his father in law that Jacob really learned to depend on God.

And thought that dependency, he learned to trust God...

Do you depend on God?

Think of the Scriptures… Proverbs 3:5

Proverbs 3:5 ESV

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

Our ways are faulty, our ways lead to failure. oh, yiou might have success for a while, but not forever. The Lord gives wisdom to bless and help us perfectly my friends.

Let me share Isaiah with you… 26:4

Isaiah 26:4 ESV

4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

When I think of a rock in relation to the Lord I am not thinking about that baseball sized rock that I can throw, No I am thinking of the boulder that is huge and strong, not easy moved.... but if it could roll.. it takes out everything in its way.

Jacob so wanted the blessing of God, the blessing of hIs father… He never got to enjoy the blessing of being the first born of Isaac… but he did enjoy the blessing of God.

Consider Phil 4:19

Philippians 4:19 ESV

19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

God is the one true suppilier of all that we need for this life, and no matter what that need is, He is the one who can supply it.

Aren’t you thankful that God wants and chooses to bless those who follow Him with a whole heart?

Yes...

Also know the Lord is

The Lord is powerful and The Lord is generous. 

The Lord asked Jacob to let him go, but you know Jacob wasnt more powerful… not at all… God is...

But when he asked to be freed Jacob declined until the Lord blessed him...

Look back at verses 25 to 29

Genesis 32:25–29 ESV

25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his 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 has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, 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.

We see the power of God that with one touch, he dislocates Jacob’s hip… He put it out of socket… but even in pain and with this new disability Jacob pushed on....

And as the Lord contends with Jacob, Jacob asks for His blessing, and the Lord changed his name..

He went from a dishonest skimer, a trickster if you will- to one who not has learned to depend on God, but as labored in His presence, with him and was changed.

And we see that … You see the true repentance of his heart, that His life has changed .. we see it when He meets his brother, He mistreated his brother and owed him dearly… you see that especially in Gen 33, verses 9-11

What do we learn from all of his

Nothing is as simple as it seems at times,

We can plan and skeeme for things in this life..

But God is the one who provides the true and great blessing of life, it begins with our own changed heart my friends.