I recently had the privilege of getting together with some old friends from El Paso. One of the blessings of being in ministry is developing deep spiritual friendships. One of the non-blessings is having to say good-bye. Anyway in the midst of conversation I was challenged to keep blogging and to blog about the lessons from my Sunday School class that God has challenged me to write. I will try again to blog.
Wrestling. Boys love to wrestle. I know this through personal experience. There were many occasions in our home of Jon wrestling with our two boys. They wrestled up into their teen years, hence the broken sofa. Our oldest, Chad, now has a son of his own, Clay. I have watched the two of them wrestle as well. Chad is tall and has broad shoulders; he has grown into a big man. Clay on the other hand is a small 40lb, 3 foot tall tyke. He is still growing into his huge smile. Yet they wrestle. Looking on we would all say, that isn’t a fair fight. Chad could easily crush Clay at any time he wanted. I could imagine if Chad laid his head on Clay’s stomach and fell asleep, Clay probably couldn’t get up. Yet they wrestle. Sometimes it is Chad, the father that urges the wrestling match on, other times it is Clay the son that does the inviting. Why? Intimacy. The wrestling match is a time of bonding and a way of intimacy. The son never feels fearful that the dad is going to let harm come to his own son. Trust is a huge part of a little boy wrestling with his big daddy.
This last week we were in Genesis 32; the life-changing wrestling match between Jacob, the son and God, his Father. I can’t help but wonder how it got started. Stop and imagine the different scenarios that could have taken place. Back to point. We need to take time to wrestle with our Father. It builds trust in us and is a time of deep intimacy.
Jacob’s wrestling with God was filled with purpose. God had called him to face his past sins by facing his brother. He had to do this before he could get to his promise land. He was scared and didn’t want to face his brother. Jacob, all alone was invited by God to wrestle through his fears with Him. Jacob enters in and comes out of the encounter a changed man. His walk will forever be changed. He now is able to courageously walk before his family to meet Esau with his 400 men. He also is able to come to Esau with great humility.
My challenge for you today is to go ahead wrestle out those things you are afraid to face up to with God. The results will be a transformed walk and intimacy with God
1 comment:
I never really thought about my struggle as a wrestling match with God, but really, that is a very good description. I don't know, though, that it has brought me more intimacy with Him, and I am not sure why. Obviously, it is because of my sin and weakness, and not anything He has or has not done. Yet, I wonder what I could have done differently in my battle...
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