WORTH THE FIGHT

Genesis 32:26 “But Jacob panted, I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

Unlikely as it may seem there are many people who wrestle with God everyday. Some win and some lose. Those who win arise from their experience with a stronger, fuller, faith. Those who choose to refuse God’s will in their lives, walk away as losers. As Christians we can reflect on Ephesians 6:12 which reminds us that we "wrestle not against flesh and blood, but principalities, against powers, against rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." As we wrestle with this we should resolve that we will not let go until we are victorious and receive our blessing from God.

Sooner or later, no matter who you are, the Lord is going to speak to you. Perhaps he comes in the silence of the night. Perhaps his words leap from the pages of a manuscript and embrace you or they simply ring in your ears. The call is for every child of God to "come home"

When Jacob asked the Lord for a blessing before he went home, he wasn’t asking for a material blessing because he already had that. What he wanted was the confidence of knowing that God’s spirit was with him. In essence he said I’m going home, "but I can’t go home like this," without your presence in my life.

Remember, up until that point, Jacob’s life was filled with short cuts and cheating. He was deceitful in so many ways. The very moment described in our scripture is brought on because Jacob is fearful that Esau will destroy him due to an earlier transgression committed by Jacob in which he tricked Esau out of his birthright. On so many other occasions, Jacob would have ran away to hide. He would have looked for the shortcut – the easy way out. But not this time. There is a profound amount of resolve in Jacob’s cry. “I will not let you go until you bless me.” Even Jacob, “the deceiver”, knew that there were no quick fixes to God’s blessings.

A great lesson should be taken from this account. It can be so tempting to run away – to throw your hands up and say, “It is way too difficult”. Maybe you have been tempted to settle for something short of God’s ultimate plan. Perhaps the struggle has seemed just too tough and not even worth it.

The key question that comes from Jacob’s wrestling match with the Lord is, “Are we willing to put in the time and fight for what we desire from God?” You must first determine if the things that God has spoken into your heart are significant to you. You must decide if you really want them and if you believe that God is the one who can give them to you. Once that realization has been achieved, you must set your heart to be persistent. It takes true faith to be persistent. Let us have the faith that pushes us to press on in expectation that God will bless us when we seek him.