I enjoy a good fight.
It’s thrilling to see hand-to-hand combat in an action-packed fight scene. That’s why I watch superhero movies and only enjoy the combat video games. After watching a movie with a fight scene, in my head . . . I think I can fight using the same moves.
My appreciation for a good fight is probably because I’m naturally a bit confrontational. My mind goes to strange places when I’m faced with potential danger (note: I said potential because I haven’t been in a real fight since my sister and I fought in high school.) I dream up scenarios about how I would take my opponent out. I imagine that I would sell “wolf-tickets” until my heart’s content.
For those who didn’t grow up with my Daddy, master wolf-ticket seller, wolf-tickets are defined as empty promises that boast about something you are not going to do and probably don’t have the ability to do. My generation may know it as “talking smack.” Daddy would joke around about how he and his siblings would threaten to “knock somebody into next week” knowing said person was three times their size. The point was to make that person think you were stronger, bigger or worse than you actually were. Your threats were meant to create fear. If faced with an opponent you knew you couldn’t defeat, Daddy used to say that you sold your wolf-ticket while walking away, hoping nobody would want to cash in on the empty threat. (Daddy wasn’t anybody’s fool.) You didn’t fight someone you had no chance of defeating.
That is why I have been regularly baffled at the story of how Jacob wrestled with God. Wrestling is a form of combat where you perform various moves with a competitor, putting you in constant contact in an effort to gain a superior position. Genesis 32:24 says “Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.” This man was identified as an Angel of the Lord, aka God incarnate. I read this and thought, why would you ever wrestle with God? He’s all-knowing and all-powerful. Was Jacob talking smack to try to intimidate God? No amount of wolf-tickets could help you win that fight.
To better understand the idea of wrestling with God, I sought the wise counsel of a loving teacher over the Women’s ministry at my church, Minister Kathryn, and my Daddy, the professional wolf-ticket seller. They taught me that wrestling with God is about having intimate contact with Him while going through your various challenges in life. It’s a fight for your spiritual and natural victories and can show up in the following ways:
- Praying – prayer is the half-nelson of the wrestling world. It opens up your heart for the Holy Spirit to have the superior position, to direct you and guide you in what you need to do. It is the process of laying your issues at His feet and waiting for Him to answer you. You may go back and forth asking your why’s, why not’s or when’s but ultimately, you are staying in close contact with Him to hear His voice and heed His direction for your life. You have to fight impatience and acquiesce to self-control to stay under submission to God’s plan and not try to go your own way.
- Reading the Word of God – reading your Bible is the backbreaker of wrestling moves. It allows you to truly get to know God, understand his character, and recognize His voice because He will never say anything that contradicts His word. Some of the instructions you find in reading God’s word may cause you to break bad habits or an old, religious way of thinking. The breaking gives way for Him to lead you in a new way or down a new path. It is uncomfortable at times, devastating even, but always worth it.
- Praise & Worship – this is the double team maneuver. Worship opens the door for intimacy with God. The point is to thank God and show gratefulness for all He has done in your life, the big and the small. You may worship with music or just lift your voice to make a joyful noise. You can enter His presence with thanksgiving and praise. Show your appreciation for all He has done, is doing and will do.
I don’t know if Jacob performed some of the latest wrestling moves with God, but I do know he limped away from that encounter with a blessing and redemption. He refused to relent his hold on God and was blessed beyond his expectations. You and I must do the same.
There are times when we may wrestle with God because we don’t understand His plan for our lives or what He wants to accomplish. Our flesh wants to whine and sell wolf-tickets by threatening to walk away from His presence or seek fleeting solace elsewhere. However, the Holy Spirit is constantly interceding on our behalf in order to gain superiority in our actions, thoughts, and emotions. We must refuse to give up just because it appears that we’re not winning the natural fight. Relenting intimacy with God just because He is not abiding by our timelines is not an option and will leave you worse off than before you started. In order to know what the Holy Spirit is telling us to do and allow Him to supersede our own desires, we have to maintain constant contact with Him. We must spend time in prayer, reading our word, and worshipping. In times of trial, God is inviting you to wrestle with Him. Will you go toe-to-toe?
Father, thank you for allowing me to wrestle and have intimate contact with you. Help me to resist the empty threats of wolf-tickets in the natural, so I can gain insight into the spiritual. Thank you for always talking with me and allowing me to enter your presence. Guide me and renew me as only you can. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
