Wrestling with God: Genesis 32:22-32

We are all at our best when we cling to God.  This is another platitude that passes easily through the lips but is hard to live out in practice.  How often do I profess to follow God yet try to solve my own problems!  Learning to let go of control and walk through life following God’s lead is a constant struggle.

As evening before his encounter with Esau dawns, Jacob spends some time alone.  His plans are already in motion.  There’s nothing left to do.  He needs to calm himself, ensure he didn’t miss something, and wait for tomorrow to come.

God comes to Jacob.  They wrestle, which seems like an odd activity.  If Jesus came before me, would I spend my time with him in a wrestling match?

Wrestling is what locks this story in place into the life of Jacob.  Jacob’s life has always been about wrestling.  At his birth, he wrestled against Esau to be born first.  He wrestled with Esau over the birthright.  He wrestled with Isaac over the blessing.  He wrestled with Laban over his wives.  He wrestled with Laban over his flocks.  Life is a struggle for Jacob; he has a consistent knack for going through life the hard way.

As Jacob worries about meeting Esau, he is knee-deep in a wrestling match with God.  He schemed, prayed, and then continued to scheme.  Jacob acknowledges God’s presence in his life, but he’s not yet learned to trust God.  Jacob professes God with his mouth, but he’s not yet submitted to God’s way.  That’s why Jacob is always wrestling.  Jacob wants to go through life his way.

To make this point, God comes and wrestles him.  In the middle of the wrestling match, God touches Jacob’s hip.  The hip bone is the location of the strongest bones in the human body.  God touches Jacob’s hip to show how fleeting Jacob's strength is.  God touches Jacob to show him the fallacy of believing in his own ability to solve his problems.

As they wrestle, God continues to ask Jacob his name.  Certainly, God knows Jacob’s name.  God asks Jacob his name because he wants Jacob to think about his own identity.  God wants Jacob to think about who he is.  As Jacob wrestles with his own identity, God touches his hip and his strength is shattered.  God teaches Jacob about his very identity.

Once his strength is shattered, Jacob can no longer wrestle on his own power.  This is where the true lesson happens.  As Jacob’s strength flees, he clings to God.  He still refuses to lose the wrestling match, but he can no longer win on his own power.  The only way Jacob can keep from losing is to literally cling to God.  God made his point beautifully and changes Jacob’s name as Jacob’s identity shifts.  Jacob is at his best when instead of wrestling with God he clings to Him.  We are all at our best when we cling to God.