Wrestling

None of us like pain. The old adage that once you put your hand on a hot stove, you learn not to put your hand there again is true. Unfortunately, our body's natural reaction to pain is also what hinders us from growth; as another old adage says, "No pain, no gain."

Jacob’s Wrestling

In Genesis 32 Jacob experienced this concept of no gain without pain firsthand. Jacob is worriedly awaiting his brother Esau's impending arrival and having sent his family and possessions ahead of him, he stops for the night by the river Jabbok and prays; it is here that he experiences pain with incredible gain.

There by the river Jacob encounters a mysterious person with no introduction, no name, yet somehow Jacob knows that this person is important. We find out later in the story and in Hosea 12 that this person was God. In a curious manner, Jacob wrestles with this "man" all night. As a way to free himself, the man wrenches Jacob's hip from its socket, an incredibly painful thing for anyone who has experienced a joint out of socket. Yet Jacob still refuses to let the man go until he receives a blessing from him.

Jacob’s Transformation

Finally, the man asks for Jacob's name. Names were attached to a person’s identity in that time in history, and they declared a person’s character. Your name defined you as a person and had significance. Yet what was Jacob's name? It meant "deceiver," or literally, "he grasps the heel." Jacob, with one utterance of his name, defined himself as a deceiver, which is what he had been all his life. He exposed his character to this "man," yet in so doing receives more than he could have imagined. He receives not just a blessing, but also a transformation; his name is changed to Israel, which means "he struggles with God." His name and therefore his character is changed in that instant.

Jacob wrestled because he was in desperate need. His brother was heading towards him, and Jacob had no way of knowing how everything would turn out. Jacob was in need of a blessing, and in turn, he receives a transformation. His wrestling with God changed his life forever. (Notice though, that he is forever reminded of the event with a limp.)

Our Transformation

Too often, we are guilty of not "wrestling" with God to a place of transformation. We give up, we avoid the pain, or we simply lose hope. Yet our understanding of God cannot grow and our relationship with Him cannot mature unless we wrestle. Our theology is shallow until it becomes deeply rooted in the process of wrestling with God. Our character is not fully developed until we have learned to wrestle and struggle with God. Otherwise, our theology or our understanding and study of God, if not rooted deeply, will in times of crisis become uprooted quickly.

No pain, no gain.