Wrestling to see God...
by Pastor Marty TollefsonJacob was let alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. The man said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” …so Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face…”
Genesis 32:22-32
Wrestling is seemingly part of the air that we breathe. We wrestle with important decisions. We wrestle with what we want to do with our one, holy, precious life. We wrestle with career choices and matters of priority. We wrestle with family and those relationships of importance. We wrestle with the diagnosis and wonder what the future will bring. We wrestle…. Here, wrestling means that something is not all together clear. Welcome to that which we humans call…LIFE!
I have always appreciated this story for the simple reason that Jacob did not give up. He didn’t throw in the towel. He wasn’t overpowered. He held on! He was not going to let go until he was somehow blessed. Often, people recount the blessings of life that they discovered during a time of wrestling or walking a difficult patch of life. They have learned something that they would not have known otherwise. Now, I do not seek out wrestling partners nor do I naturally welcome periods of suffering to learn something new. I don’t and I won’t. But…I have learned some of life’s greatest lessons through what early theologians have called “the dark night of the soul.” I have, like Jacob, held on to those moments until I have been blessed, somehow! I am not going to wrestle for nothing…. Jacob was blessed but he was also profoundly marked by this occasion (vs. 25) going forward.
What are you wrestling with?
Where do you see God?
OR, maybe, you are wrestling to see God’s face in and through your life.
Jacob was bold; courageous and determined to hold on…. Wherever we are at in life’s struggle…my hope and prayer is that we hold on to the promises of Jesus.
Like Jacob, we too, will be blessed…somehow!
Pr. Marty
Genesis 32:22-32
Wrestling is seemingly part of the air that we breathe. We wrestle with important decisions. We wrestle with what we want to do with our one, holy, precious life. We wrestle with career choices and matters of priority. We wrestle with family and those relationships of importance. We wrestle with the diagnosis and wonder what the future will bring. We wrestle…. Here, wrestling means that something is not all together clear. Welcome to that which we humans call…LIFE!
I have always appreciated this story for the simple reason that Jacob did not give up. He didn’t throw in the towel. He wasn’t overpowered. He held on! He was not going to let go until he was somehow blessed. Often, people recount the blessings of life that they discovered during a time of wrestling or walking a difficult patch of life. They have learned something that they would not have known otherwise. Now, I do not seek out wrestling partners nor do I naturally welcome periods of suffering to learn something new. I don’t and I won’t. But…I have learned some of life’s greatest lessons through what early theologians have called “the dark night of the soul.” I have, like Jacob, held on to those moments until I have been blessed, somehow! I am not going to wrestle for nothing…. Jacob was blessed but he was also profoundly marked by this occasion (vs. 25) going forward.
What are you wrestling with?
Where do you see God?
OR, maybe, you are wrestling to see God’s face in and through your life.
Jacob was bold; courageous and determined to hold on…. Wherever we are at in life’s struggle…my hope and prayer is that we hold on to the promises of Jesus.
Like Jacob, we too, will be blessed…somehow!
Pr. Marty
