10 17 07 In the Beginning III
(Wrestling Matches)

“‘No longer will your name be Jacob,’ the man told him, ‘but Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have prevailed.’” (Genesis 32:28 NET)

In a sense, we all come face-to-face with God at points in our lives. We wrestle (yaboq in Hebrew) with God concerning our plans and His will for us. We struggle with Him concerning our family. We even get angry at times as we don’t understand the whys and wherefores of life. Prayerfully, we all decide God’s will over ours as we wrestle with those situations!

I have heard it said that we should never trust a man without a limp. Jacob received a life-long limp as the Lord touched his hip in their battle. (All the Jews remember the struggle as well, as they refuse to eat the tendon from the hip socket.) Jacob’s name was changed from Jacob (deceiver) to Israel: (God’s fighter). He had a new BEGINNING!

As we struggle with God, He does not desire to change how He has made us, but how we use the personality He has given us. Israel was a fighter, but for all the wrong reasons. God would use his energy to fight His battles and the battles of the people Israel.

As we go through the WRESTLING MATCHES of our life, may we all realize who we are fighting against and who we are fighting for! God is on our side, not against us! The more we know of His character and will, the more we line up with it. It’s ok to struggle, but struggle well and allow God to give us a limp if need be. If nothing else, it will remind us Whose we are!!!! WRESTLING MATCHES with God and for God is better than wrestling against Him. That match we’ll never win. God is still God.