Wrestling with God

Submitted by Michael S (United States), May 20, 2016 at 12:50

Shalom Anne

Your "wrestling" place is probably a good place to be. If you didn't believe in God, you wouldn't be wrestling with Him. Jacob wasn't all that sure about who and where God was, when he was living with his mother and father. He had heard from them both, the stories about how God had worked with them and in them; but his real "encounter" with God, his "Born Again" experience, was when he dreamed at Beit El about the angels ascending and descending to and from heaven. There, he became convinced of God's reality. To him, that was all the evidence he needed, even though there are wicked people today who would not be convinced by even such a dream.

During that encounter, while the dream was still fresh in his mind, he vowed to worship the god of Bethel if that god would prove Himself to be God by keeping Jacob on his dangerous journey, and returning him safely to that place. I noticed that when Jacob DID return, however, he wasn't all that anxious to return to Beit El and pay his vows to God. Instead, he and his family dawdled at Sh'chem, and got into no small amount of trouble with the locals.

Before getting to Sh'chem (present-day Nablus), while fleeing from his duplicitous Uncle Laban and while waiting to face his vengeful brother Esau, from whom he had extracted the birthright and the blessing, and who had hundreds of fighting men with him, Jacob came up against a man who seemed to be a messenger or avatar of God. His physical wrestling with that man became the embodiment of the prayer in him, a cry of help to the God of Bethel. That messenger proceeded to cripple Jacob, and then to pronounce Jacob the winner of the contest; for though he was too weak to prevail against the mere messenger, he had prevailed in the spirit with God.

That's how it is with man and with God. As long as we are confident in our own strength, we don't think we need God; and we can go so far as to foolishly say there is no God. But when we are in dire straits, we cry out to Him. I remember once crossing a farmer's field. When I was in the middle of the field, far from the fence, a bull charged at me from behind. I couldn't out-run him, so I just stood, lifted my hands to heaven, decided that I was probably going to die there, and shouted, Hallelujah! because I would soon be in God's presence. The bull veered and scooted right past me; and I have never since been afraid of charging bulls.

I don't think Jacob ever doubted that there was A God, the God of his fathers. He was unsure, though, about how he related to that God. This is presumably where Christians separate from Jews: The Christians profess to be confident in their relationship with God because of Jesus; but the Jews don't accept that Jesus was sent by God and that God rose him from the dead. In reality, I don't think the two groups are that different from each other: The whole matter has gotten institutionalized; but the core issues are still the encounter and the wrestle.

Notice that Jesus went through something similar: His Beit-el - like encounter was when he was baptized by Yochanan in Yarden; and John saw the spirit descending on him like a dove; and his wrestling was in the garden, where he sweated blood while crying out to God. After his encounter, Jacob had to face his brother Esau and his men, and possible death. For Jesus, he had to endure the cross and actually go through death. That's why God has exalted him to a higher place than Jacob; but we also, who face the certainty of death, which happens to us all, having faith in God's relationship with us, will one day rise from death and enter with Jesus into a new, eternal, life. That is the Christian hope.

You went on to say,

"I call on God to usher in some sanity because I fear that, if I and others do not appeal to Him, He'll just go ahead and usher in the madness that He's currently decided is what is best for us."

This is indeed the time to call on God, while the clay is still wet. Soon, all of us will be kiln-baked pots, to spend eternity in the form of our final casting. Some things cannot be changed: God opposes those who oppose Him, and received those who receive Him. He also will not let the suffering of the innocent go unavenged; but that still leaves a lot of things to pray for.

I'd better stop here -- I'm getting sleepy.

Shalom shalom

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