‘[The angel of the Lord] wrestled with him till daybreak.’ Genesis 32:24 NIV
Why would God let someone wrestle with Him? Because wrestling requires close contact. Jacob was a self-made man with an independent attitude that said, ‘I don’t need anybody but myself.’
How long will God wrestle with you? Only for a limited time. In Jacob’s case, ‘till daybreak’. God knew that if Jacob didn’t submit to Him that night, the rest of his life wouldn’t go right.
There’s a lesson here for all of us. Don’t procrastinate; you may be running out of time. Before you forfeit your integrity or your family and your future, stop and realise that God knows things you don’t know. He knows when the enemy plans to launch his next attack, or when death will be allowed to claim you. When He wrestles with you, it’s to make you realise that you’re wasting your life, or neglecting your family, or to show you that you’re not the centre of the universe. Or He’s telling you to stay in this marriage instead of bailing out, or encouraging you to keep this job without quitting, or to stay involved in this church.
God will wrestle with you until you stop making excuses and face the truth. And He doesn’t sugar-coat things. He gives it to you straight. He won’t let you get away with some of the stuff you’ve pulled in the past! The very fact that God is willing to wrestle you into submission means He has great plans for you. Indeed, what He has in mind is greater than anything you could ever conceive or imagine. That is why God is wrestling with you.
SoulFood: Acts 8–9, Luke 7:11–23, Ps 118:10–18, Pr 15:31–32
The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright ©