Wrestling
The River of Jabbok might not be a name you immediately recognize. I definitely was not familiar with it. I knew the story, we probably all know the story, but I did not know the place.
You might recognize it by its other name “Peniel”, which is what the banks of the river Jabbok were named after Jacob wrestled God there. “Peniel” means, “ I saw the face of God and yet my life was spared.” (Genesis 32:30).
In Genesis 32, we find Jacob awaiting a meeting with his brother Esau. It was their first meeting since Jacob had stolen Esau’s birthright.
Jacob had decided to send his servants, wives, and children across the river, ahead of him, to meet his brother first and, hopefully, assuage Esau’s anger.
And so, on the banks of the river Jabbok, Jacob is alone. He is afraid, exposed, and facing an unknown future.
That night, a man wrestled Jacob until daybreak. It is a very strange but significant story. The man, whom Jacob later identified as God, could not overpower Jacob and Jacob would not give up until God blessed him.
God touched Jacob’s hip socket “so that it was wrenched” (Genesis 32:25) and then gives Jacob a new name- Israel. Israel means “wrestling or contending with God.”
If a name is supposed to be a blessing, how can Israel be a blessing?
How can wrestling be a blessing?
The name Israel is a description of the relationship that God is offering Jacob, and you and I. It is not one of blind submission to an angry and temperamental god but one that is active and alive, filled with wrestling and embrace.
In giving this name, God is telling Jacob something about Himself. That He will be close enough to wrestle with and that He will not leave. The relationship might be difficult and strenuous, but God would allow the struggle instead of smiting Jacob and his descendants.
A wrestling relationship is one that is robust and long suffering, trustworthy and something that can be leaned in on when life is difficult.
A God who will wrestle with you is one that is available,present, and close enough to touch. Not someone who is distant and aloof. It is an invitation to come at God with all we’ve got because God is not afraid.
Jacob’s new name invited him into a relationship with God that is face to face. It is a declaration that God will engage with us - a beautiful outpouring of His grace. You and I receive this same grace through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
Being granted permission to wrestle is a blessing.
God wants us to wrestle with Him. We see it with many men and women in the Old Testament, we see it in Jesus, we see it in Paul’s life, and you and I see it in our own.
He can handle our questions, our doubts, our frustrations, our disappointment with Him, our anger, or anything else we might bring to the table. He already knows it anyway.
What He cannot abide is our apathy, our disinterest, our pretending, our making of idols to replace Him and our seeking another way around Him and His Lordship over our lives.
God will not crumble under the weight of what we bring against Him and He will not be found wanting. We cannot bring anything too dark or hopeless because in Him there is hope and light that cannot be extinguished.
But you and I must know that we will not change God. He will, in fact, change us.
God invites us to wrestle with Him because there, on the banks of the river Jabbok, is where you and I can be softened. It is in the struggle that change will come and a new understanding and new identity can be given. God will not change but our perception of Him will as we are drawn into the deeper truth of who He is.
And, so, as you stand on the banks of the river Jabbok, staring into an unknown future - afraid, exposed, and feeling alone, will you meet with God to wrestle through whatever it is you are carrying? Will you contend with God and bring your grievances so that you can see Him face to face?
I want to encourage you, in this strange time, to bring the things you are carrying to God - raw, honest, and true. No more letting yourself think in what you “should” be feeling but trusting God with what you are actually feeling, thinking, experiencing and then allowing Him to work it through with you.
No issue is too big or small, even in a pandemic - God’s arms are big enough for everyone. This is the time to lean into the blessing of a relationship where God is close enough to touch and to wrestle.
May this strange time not be called the river Jabbok but be renamed Peniel and may you know the glory of seeing God face to face. For this, my friends, is truly what all our hearts are longing for.