Wrestling with God (Genesis 32:22-31)

Australians have been treated to a feast of sport over the couple of months. We had an enthralling Ashes Test Cricket series, the Tour de France cycling, Wimbledon tennis, the World Swimming Championships, and are still in the middle of the Women’s World Cup Soccer. At the same time, closer to home, we have been able to enjoy the Thunderbirds win in the national Super Netball Championship, the Australian Rules football is approaching their finals, along with the Rugby League, Rugby Union, and the Australian Supercars.

One sport we don’t hear much about in Australia is wrestling. Some people might think about wrestling as the professional wrestling which became popular in the 1980s with its flamboyant costumes, outrageous choreography, and dramatic story lines which involved various larger than life characters. However, the origins of wrestling can be traced back more than 15,000 years. It still engages athletes in competitions of strength and agility all around the world, and features as an Olympic Games as athletes continue to use many of the holds and tactics used in the ancient world.

The wrestling match we hear about in Genesis 32:22-31 wasn’t a friendly competition. Jacob was on his way home after spending years with his uncle Laban, working to earn the right to marry his daughters, and then increasing his flocks of sheep, goats, and other livestock. Jacob was returning to the land of his father and was worried about meeting his older brother Esau. He had fled from Esau years earlier when his twin had wanted to kill him for cheating him out of his birthright as the older son. Now, as he was preparing to see his brother again, Jacob had sent everything he owned, his servants and his family across the river, and was spending the night on his own.

Sometime during the night, a stranger came to Jacob and began wrestling with him. This contest continued all night until the sun was about to come up. The stranger dislocated Jacob’s hip and wanted to leave, but Jacob demanded a blessing before he would let him go. The stranger told Jacob that he would no longer be called that name, which means ‘deceiver’ but instead he would be named ‘Israel’ which means ‘God fights.’ After the stranger left, Jacob realised that he had been wrestling with God and named the place where they fought ‘the face of God.’

This story summarizes Jacob’s whole life. Even before he was born, he and Esau struggled together in their mother’s womb (Genesis 25:22). When they were growing up, the two boys continued to struggle with each other, resulting in Jacob taking Esau’s birthright as the older son. Jacob struggled with his father by tricking him into giving him the blessing which was meant for Esau. After running away from his home and going to his uncle Laban’s house, Jacob struggled with Laban, first to marry his daughters and then to build up his own flocks and herds. Jacob struggled with people his whole life, and these struggles reached a climax on the banks of the River Jabbok as he physically wrestles with God. Like in his other struggles, Jacob didn’t give in, but he persisted, even with a dislocated hip. As the result, God gives him a new name, a new identity, and a limp to carry with him for the rest of his life to remind him of his encounter with God.

This story of Jacob wresting with God is a powerful illustration of the life of faith. We all face struggles in our lives. During these struggles, we can encounter God and wrestle with him. There might be times when what we read in the Bible doesn’t seem to be consistent with what we experience in life. We can hear God’s promises to forgive, love, protect and prosper us, but we might be suffering from guilt, loneliness, illness, or other difficulties. We might hear about God’s goodness, but the circumstances of our lives can leave us wondering whether God is really on our side and whether we can trust him.

One surprising aspect about this story is that God could crush Jacob, but he didn’t. The almighty Creator of heaven and earth goes up against a mere mortal and matches his strength. Like parents might wrestle with their children but not use their full strength, God matched his strength with Jacob’s and didn’t overpower him. In the same way, God will never overwhelm us or overpower us when he meets us in our struggles. Instead, God meets us where we are and in our ability.

When we wrestle with God in faith, a couple of things can happen, just like they did with Jacob. Firstly, we learn to endure and grow through our struggles. We can become stronger in our faith as we learn to trust God’s goodness and grace to us in Jesus. God promises that our struggles will not overwhelm us, and neither will he overpower us. Instead, when we grapple with God through faith, we can encounter him in a way that we wouldn’t have if we hadn’t struggled with him, and God blesses us in the middle of our struggles. Instead of avoiding our struggles or the struggles of faith, when we engage with them and with God through them, we meet God in a new way and he blesses us, just like he blessed Jacob.

When people wrestle each other, for example in the Olympic Games or for a football at the Adelaide Oval, they become physically very close. The same happens when we wrestle with God through faith. We get closer to God as God draws closer to us. We might prefer to run away, hide from the struggles that face us, or avoid the difficulties life presents to us. However, when we embrace the struggles, wrestling with God in faith and through prayer, asking the hard questions about what he wants for us, and grappling with the difficulties that come with following Jesus in faith and love, our heavenly Father draws us into a closer relationship with him. As we get closer to God, our faith can grow stronger, and, as Paul writes in Romans 5:3-5. God grows us in perseverance, character and hope.

Watching people wrestle on our televisions or from the seats in the stands can be easy. It is much more difficult to be wrestling with strong, powerful athletes, who can often look scary or overwhelming. Like Jacob that night on the banks of the River Jabbok, we might be scared, alone, and feeling overwhelmed by the struggles we face. However, we never need to be afraid of our struggles or wrestling with God in faith. Like Jacob, God will never overwhelm us. He will meet us where we are to strengthen us, help us to persist, and to draw us into a closer relationship with him. Like Jacob at the River Jabbok, when we wrestle with God, he will bless us with his love, grace and mercy in Jesus.

More to think about or discuss:

• What are some of the struggles you are facing in life? Do you prefer to wrestle with those struggles or avoid them? Can you explain why…?
• What do you think it was like for Jacob to wrestle with God? How is that similar to what it can be like for us to wrestle with God, his promises, and trusting him in our struggles?
• How might wrestling with God in your struggles help you to be closer to God, find a stronger faith, or receive God’s blessing in your life?