The Original Wrestling Match

“This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break.”  [Genesis 32:24]

One of my close friends in high school was a wrestler.  I don’t know how he did it, but he loved it and he was very good at it!  I hated wrestling in gym class. I would intentionally give up because I didn’t like pain, nor did I want to inflict pain on someone else. Now, the soccer field was a different story! 

The first ever wrestling match occurred centuries ago between a guy named Jacob and another “unidentified” man.  During this wrestling match, Jacob comes face-to-face with the deception he has done throughout his life.  During the match, this “unnamed” man asks Jacob a question.  Finally, and perhaps, for the first time ever, Jacob gives this “man” an honest answer.  Then Jacob asks the “man” a question but the “man” does not answer.  Later we discover that this “man” was actually God!  Imagine wrestling with God!

Have you ever wrestled with God?  Ever asked Him a question and received silence in return?  Ever been angry with God? 

I can answer “yes” to all those!  Yet what I have discovered is that God doesn’t shy away from my questions!  He doesn’t even mind my questions – actually He encourages me to come to Him with my doubts and struggles.  God is big enough to handle them and HE is big enough to handle yours, too.  It’s okay to “wrestle” with God because in that struggle is where we discover who He really is! 

Someone once said, “Faith isn’t faith until it’s been tested.”  In the testing of Jacob’s faith, God didn’t answer Jacob directly.  Because of this, Jacob discovered so much more about God’s character and who He really is. 

Go ahead, question God.  Wrestle with God.  You can even be upset with God—HE can handle it.  You see, our perspective is finite, but His perspective is infinite!  He can see the end from the beginning.  And He is always working for your good, even when it may not seem like it!