There are two ways to wrestle.
We all have something we are fighting. Each day has its different challenges. What are you wrestling with right now? Some of our struggles are self-made, and some are not. Sadly most people will believe all their struggles are just bad.
If you would ask the average Christian about spiritual warfare, the very first verse they will refer to is this one in Ephesians 6.
Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
People can recount many stories where they had to” wrestle” against the enemy. One time I ask an elder at church about his week, and his reply was: Pastor, “I had the devil on my back all week.”
I wanted to ask: who decided that it was okay to piggyback the enemy or even give him that much space in your life? He didn’t like my answer a bit as I replied: “That is fantastic because if he is on your back, he is not on mine.”
The word “wrestle” in Greek means: “to throw out or away.” The same action when you throw trash out or away.
When I throw the trash out, it doesn’t fight me. But what about the enemy. If I want to act like a bouncer, the enemy will engage me. You are not a spiritual bouncer trying to clear a nightclub. You have the authority of the name of Jesus.
Engaging in this kind of wrestling match is not what we are called to do. Jesus already came and overcame the enemy. All we have to do is to take a stand against him.
Jam 4:17. Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
The second kind of wrestling you can engage in can be found in:
Gen 32:24-26. And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he(Angel) said, Let me go, for the day is breaking. And he(Jacob) said I will not let you go, except thou bless me.
Here we see Jacob wrestle with God. This kind of wrestling is different than the one we previously talked about. Why do we need to wrestle with God? A few things happened with Jacob when he wrestled God:
First, we see that they wrestled until the breaking of the new day. This incident is very significant. God will not leave us halfway through our darkest hours. He will stay with us until something new breaks through. If you feel like you are still in a wrestling match, keep going because the new thing God wants to do for you has not come yet. Once your new day breakthrough, you will have something new to celebrate. Too many times, we give up halfway through the night.
Secondly, we see Jacob asking God to bless him. You have a blessing in your struggle waiting for you. Just ask for it. I love how Jacob kept fighting until he got it. Your yesterday might have been known by fear and rejection. Your yesterday might have been known by wandering and seeking. Like Jacob, you were carrying the curse of your past decisions but God is about to change your curse to a blessing. The wrestling was not just to expose the complicated things but also to expose and inherit a blessing.
Thirdly we see that Angel saying to Jacob that his name will be changed. No longer will you be Jacob – supplanter/cheater – but now you will be known as one that has power with God. In your time of wrestling, God speaks new things over you. In these challenging times, He chooses to say the things that will make your enemy wonder.
Lastly, I believe God wrestles with us because he wants to deliver us from our hang-ups. We all have them. When God struck Jacob’s thigh, he walked differently. Of course, people will ask why and what happened. What a great thing God is doing, giving you something that will have others ask about your encounter with God. People who encountered God have a different walk.
The kingdom is not passive but advancing. The enemy wants us to settle and get comfortable. There is no no-man’s land between the kingdom of God and the power of darkness. If we are not advancing and growing, we are retracting and dying. The kingdom of God suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.
I pray we all get into a wrestling match with God. You will never win, but you will never regret the encounter.
