Ultimate cage fighting – Old-Testament-style
by Pastor Reid Matthias
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Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak (Genesis 32:24).
Some Bible stories, like this one, are hard to believe, especially if you know how to wrestle.
Wrestling was a big sport in the US state of Iowa, where I grew up. It was a requirement for boys to take part during PE in Years 7 and 8. We learned how to grapple, yank on opponents’ legs and arms and mash their faces into the mat. If we wanted victory, we had to be aggressive.
But those matches never lasted for more than three minutes. It was exhausting and painful. I would have avoided it if possible. In our Bible reading today, it feels like Jacob actually seeks it out.
As I read the recap of the match in Genesis, I’m amazed by many things regarding Jacob’s wrestling: his tenacity, his precociousness, his endurance. All for what? What was he hoping to achieve?
Victory over God? Victory over an angel? Victory over a man?
I wrestle with God a lot. It’s never quite to the extreme of what Jacob had to go through. But God stretches me, mashes my face into all sorts of things, and he is aggressive – oh, yes, he is. By the end of my wrestling matches, all I can do is hold on for dear life and hope to be blessed by the activity of wrestling. I know that God could destroy me in an instant. I know that there is no possible way I can win. I know that no matter what I do, at the end of our time, God can simply dislocate me.
And just like with Jacob, God does not destroy me. Yes, it was a painful process. Yes, I know that I didn’t win. And, yes, I’m blessed by the wrestling because I’m now stronger, and God is preparing me for even better things.
Heavenly Father, as I wrestle with your will for my life, bless me like you did Jacob, to grow stronger in my life with you. Amen.
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