I’m amazed by the stamina of Jacob. We all know what it’s like to reach a point of exhaustion. Many of us are quick to give up. This is true physically and spiritually. As soon as we feel a touch of fatigue, that’s us finished. Not Jacob. He presses on, and on – and on – until God says, “Let me go”. The scene would smell of impiety if it were not presented in Scripture as heroic. What are we meant to learn from this?

Come, O Thou Traveler unknown,

Whom still I hold, but cannot see;

My company before is gone,

And I am left alone with Thee.

With Thee all night I mean to stay

And wrestle till the break of day.

– Charles Wesley

In Genesis 32 we read that God came to Jacob and the two of them wrestled until the break of day. I’m convinced this is not an abnormal experience. The God who took Jacob to the mat will come repeatedly in the night to grapple with us, too. In fact, I think we can say more: One of the chief metaphors for understanding a life with God is wrestling. I’m not alone in supposing this. In Calvin’s commentary on Genesis, he says that the purpose of Jacob’s experience is, in part,  “to represent all the servants of God in this world as wrestlers; because the Lord exercises them with various kinds of conflicts.” What a thought! Whether we are twenty or eighty years old, we must be ready to have our numbers called. Right now the hands of God might just be taking hold of us to try our strength and test our endurance.

Now, what does it actually mean to wrestle with God? Here are five brief thoughts. 

1 – Realising Your Chief Business Is with God Himself

Christian monotheism is a radical truth. It reveals that there is a sovereign God who is the invisible hand behind all of our circumstances. This insight ought to change how we understand everything in life. Sickness and suffering can never be detached from God’s wisdom, power and love. He is the one orchestrating everything for His glory and our good. There are no accidents; there is no randomness. 

One implication of this is that, when we feel ourselves thrown down by the force of circumstances, the one we must grab hold of – even struggle against – is none other than the Almighty. Here David is our great model. In Psalm after Psalm, he does not lament fate or fume at Satan. His hands are ever on Yahweh. He tosses and turns with God from one emotion to another until faith prevails.

2 – Engaging God, Not Ignoring Him

Realising that our business is with God is not the same as actually wrestling with Him. All of us have been habituated by cheap amusement.

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