In the Abiding Facebook ad: “One of the many amazing stories in the…”

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One of the many amazing stories in the Bible is when Jacob "wrestled with God" in Genesis 32. Well, I've always kind of wrestled with this entire concept. Who "wrestles" with God? The all powerful, sovereign, majestic God? How disrespectful is that? And how pointless? But Jacob did... and let's talk about Jacob. Jacob's story starts back in Genesis 25, when he was born to Isaac and Rebekah, grabbing the heal of his first-born twin brother, Esau. As many siblings are, they were quite different... and their mother favored Jacob, while their father favored Esau. When the boys grew and Isaac's eyesight began to fade, Rebekah convinced Jacob to trick his father into giving him his blessing, which rightfully belonged to Esau. Jacob did, but then had to flee his family to escape Esau's anger. Jacob tricked his blind father. His mother helped set it up and his mother helped him get away. But after tricking him, he had to leave his family anyway. Jacob hadn't consulted God about any of this, obviously. He just acted on what he wanted at the time, with a little prodding by his mom. But soon after he flees his family, we hear about Jacob having a dream, and seeing angels going up and down a ladder. In this dream, God tells Jacob he will be blessed - the blessing He promised to Jacob's grandfather, Abraham. After being deceitful and underhanded, Jacob is... blessed? But, from this point on, we see Jacob talking more with God... building the relationship with God... listening to God. In Genesis 28, Jacob starts a family. He works for Laban for seven years with the promise of marrying Laban's younger daughter, Rachel. But at the end of the time, the trickster is tricked - because it turns out that Leah is in his bed! Laban says if Jacob will work another seven years for him, he can have Rachel too. So Jacob does just that. Jacob starts a family, builds up healthy flocks and provides well for his family. There is drama with Laban, but everything works out. Then, in Genesis 32, Jacob hears from messengers from God that Esau is coming to meet him. Uh oh, this can't be good. But Jacob's changed, right? Has Esau? Is Esau still angry after all this time? And Jacob prays... he asks God to save him from Esau's anger, but also affirms God's promises to him. The night before they were to meet, Jacob went off by himself and "a man wrestled with him until daybreak". It's a really odd exchange... if you think this "man" is God or one of God's angels. Is it God? Esau? Jacob's conscious? But as they wrestled, the man injured Jacob's hip when he couldn't break away, because Jacob wouldn't let him go. The man asked Jacob's name. I wonder why - you know from the rest of the exchange that he knew who Jacob was. Jacob answers who he 'thinks' he is - he's Jacob. The man says, no, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome." Jacob wrestled... wrestled with all the things that had happened. Wrestled with bad choices he had made, having to leave his home, an estranged brother, having to manage family drama with his father-in-law and his wives, having to face his brother now. And he would not let go until he was blessed. He would not let go until he understood that God still loved him and would be with him. And here's the thing, God could have let go... God could have gotten away from Jacob. God is God. But he didn't. He must have wanted Jacob to wrestle with him... to know it's not always easy to understand why things happen. But God is with us in the struggle. We've heard the expression, "Let go and let God..", and I believe that... in surrendering our worries and cares and desire to control to God. But also, when we struggle, do we "let go" of God too easily? I struggle with scripture sometimes. I struggle with God. Do you? Don't let go. Don't quit praying. Don't quit asking for discernment and understanding. In the abiding, we will struggle. Don't let go of God... he will never let go of you. Bless and keep... Abide... Provide... Amen and Amen.