A Thought For The Week Of March 7, 2016

"Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak." (Genesis 32:24) Wrestling with God. That's what Jacob was doing. This is such a familiar story and yet the imagery within it remains rich and powerful every time it's encountered. First is simply the idea of wrestling with God. Don't we all do that from time to time? Probably, in fact, more often than we care to admit. Our will vs. God's will. Surely that's a constant battle. Temptation vs. faithfulness. Do we not engage in that wrestling match on a regular basis? We wrestle with God over and over again. But if we take as a given that God's will is going to be done then we see the importance of this story. Jacob thought he was winning the match. He would get his way, but in the end he could not defeat God's will. God prevailed. There's great hope there, and - as Jacob discovered - even great blessing. I found it interesting that this wresting match took place at night. Jacob says he came face to face with God, but in such a way and at such a time of day that he couldn't actually see God. Perhaps most of us encounter God most meaningfully at night - the busy-ness of the day is over, things are quiet and God can speak. And because it's dark, the "holy mystery" remains, no matter how powerful our encounter might be. I wonder if that might be the reason that we generally close our eyes when we pray? We blot out as many of the world's distractions as possible and only then can we have a truly powerful encounter with God. And I wonder why, as the much ended, Jacob's hip was touched and wounded? Perhaps that's actually the perfect image for a wrestling match with God. Not because God seeks to hurt us, but because we tend to want to walk away from God, choosing the worldly path that Jesus said many would choose - the path that leads ultimately to nowhere good! But God works to keep us close to him instead. God keeps us on course, even as we try to set our own course. Perhaps the most important thing we learn from this story is that we will never really prevail against God's will. God's will is going to be done, no matter how hard we might fight against it. Actually - isn't that our greatest hope?