Have you had a disagreement with a friend, got mad but never let the other person know what was bothering you?  Sometimes it is best to hold your tongue, especially when angry.  But often we need to talk it out, and it may be more like a wrestling match than a making of peace.  If we bury it and it bothers us enough it can fester into an angry dark spot within. We can also have a struggle within ourselves.  Maybe it’s a hard decision we need to make or a struggle with our conscience, the question of doing what we believe to be right or wrong. Often,  working it out with God first, makes it possible to work it out with others, or even in our own internal trouble.  

Life is a joy, and life is a struggle.  I think a lot of us feel this way.  Though it can become hard to believe in joy when we are struggling.  Even God can become the object of our wrath when only darkness seems to surround us.  There are times when difficulty, fear, heartache, and the darkness they create make it hard to see God at all, or maybe it leads us to blame God for our suffering.  It is something we may feel is a lack of faith.  But faith is believing in what we cannot see or understand yet know is real. 

C.S. Lewis, Christian theologian and apologist (defender of the Christian faith) wrote: “Faith is the art of holding on to things in spite of your changing moods and circumstances.” Ironically, we must believe in God to be angry with him.  So, wrestling with God, being angry with the Lord over life’s traumas and unfair outcomes is not as blasphemous as we might think.

In the well-known bible story of Jacob wrestling with God we read about a man who has struggled with people and with God as he attempts to grab God’s blessing on his own.  Lies and trickery are all part of how this man negotiates life.  And to the outside observer, it might appear to have worked.  Jacob acquires a lot of possessions and has many children.  But he lives in fear, and on his way to meet the brother he had cheated, it all comes crashing down within him.  It is then that God makes himself known in the form of a man wrestling with Jacob.

At such times, it may be a blessing if we wrestle with God.  It’s not like the Lord doesn’t know our minds.

Do we wrestle with God, wrestle with one another, ourselves?

In Jacob’s big match with God, the Lord, in the least, tolerates Jacob, but more importantly goes to him in his most desperate hour.  He knows how important this is for Jacob.  And yes, Jacob gets injured, but he hangs on to God and is blessed.

And that is part of what we need to learn for ourselves.  To hold on to God, wrestle, if necessary, but don’t let go.  Join us Sunday and we will look at one of the Bible’s most fascinating and important teachings.

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you!

Pastor Rick