We’ve studied a story this week about Jacob wrestling with God. What do we learn from this? On the one hand, we see from this story that fighting with God isn’t punished by death on the spot. Jacob’s shock is that he survives the ordeal. God let him win!
It’s all a sign, foreshadowing what God will do many years later.
The people of Israel, his children’s twelve tribes and all their descendants will fight with God, too. They’ll rebel aaginst him, worship other gods, take his gifts for granted and not share their blessings with others, and otherwise abuse his love.
People still do this today. How do people fight with God today? Some are obvious, they love to argue with or about God. But others are genuinely struggling, questioning, doubting, wrestling with belief.
What do we do with this? We can do the same as Jacob or Israel, and his nation of descendants. Despite their rebellion and sin, God had mercy on them. He had mercy on them and gave Jesus, his son, the death and punishment that should have gone to them.
Jesus walked away bruised, limping, broken. He also walked away blessed. He birthed a new nation, the church, the community of those redeemed by his having wrestled with God.
So if you’re wrestling with God, if you want to believe but have questions, concerns, or if you find yourself angry about the past, scared you’ll get hurt, or arguing with God asking why, you are like Jacob, and the kind of person God loves, that Jesus will fight for, and whom Jesus died for.
Challenge: Ask Jesus to fight for you.
- You can [permalink append=”#comments”]Discuss the Challenge[/permalink] online, or by starting a local discussion group!
- Are you meeting just once a week with your discussion group? You can find all of this week’s discussion material in our Weekly Study Guide