Wrestling With the Living God

WRITTEN BY DREW MATZ

Why we must be broken before we can flourish

There comes a time in our lives where we approach an impasse. Some unforeseen circumstance, some obstacle stands in our way and does not allow us to pass on - at least not without a substantial struggle. Jacob reached just such an impasse on the banks of the river Jabbok. Having sent his belongings and his servants across the river ahead of him, Jacob stands alone and vulnerable. Apart from his family he has been isolated from his other worldly concerns, he now has the anticipation of confronting his brother Esau whom he had deceived so many years earlier. On the other side of the river lies Esau’s territory, and one can sense the 20 years of built-up dread Jacob must have been feeling. His ornery antics have caught up to him, and now his chickens are coming home to roost as he must stare his actions in the face.

But then, Jacob is confronted with by a figure, a figure with whom we are told he “wrestled” until the break of the day.

When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.

Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.

Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.

Genesis 32: 25-31

It’s a story as mysterious as it is strange. The figure seems to appear out of nowhere, and – for no apparent reason – instigates a grappling match with Jacob. All night the two struggle, and just when Jacob seemingly gets the better of the man, the man touches Jacob’s hip and permanently damages it. Here, having lost all he had gained through his deceit and manipulation, Jacob wants to be blessed so badly that he refuses to let go as he is gradually being brought down. He had gotten here believing he was capable of handling anything life threw at him, but is now being crushed. Made lame from his injury, he is finally broken enough to receive blessing - fairly.

As the story unfolds, we learn that the figure with whom Jacob is wrestling is none other than God himself. It is in this isolation – in the midst of dire struggle that Jacob finally receives his blessing and new name, and only when he is broken by God. Moreover, names were intimately connected to character in the Old Testament. A change in Jacob’s name implies his character has now changed. He has been stripped of any illusion of his own ability to handle adversity. Similar to Paul’s thorn in the flesh, he is also plagued constantly by a limp to remind him of his struggle with the living God.

Contrary to much of what we hear today, struggle is not the sign of a faith gone awry. Rather, it is the very clay with which the Lord is using to mold us into his holy vessels. In our own struggle with God he is always breaking us - reworking and refining us until we are conformed to the image of his son. Like Jacob, God will often isolate us from that which we use to create self-reliance. It is only once we are humbled and our self-sufficiency lies shattered on the ground that we are prepared to be truly blessed.

In being brought low, God was able to uplift Jacob and prepare him to be reconciled to his brother Esau. So too in our own relationships, God will often humble us in our own struggles with him in order to mature us and prepare our hearts to forgive and uplift one another. Life under the cross will be difficult, but such is the case when we struggle with the living God.