Text: Genesis 32:22-32
“And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.” — Genesis 32:24
I was an 80’s kid. I remember when my dad took me and my brother to the WWF Main Event at the USF Tampa Sun Dome, where we watched the legendary Hulk Hogan take on Terry Funk, and The Hillbillies (Uncle Elmer, Hillbilly Jim and Cousin Luke) tussle with Rowdy Roddy Piper and Jesse Ventura. Wrestling was so real back then!!
In Genesis 32, we see a wrestling match for the ages. It came at a time of crisis for Jacob, who had struggled for so long with family life. Jacob was a wrestler from the very beginning. In a sense, he wrestled away the birthright from his older brother, Esau, through manipulation tactics. He also wrestled away Esau’s blessing by pretending to be his brother and deceiving their father. Afterward, Esau wanted to kill him, so Jacob fled to his Uncle Laban’s house. There he meets Rachel and it was love at first sight.
But as we like to say in the south, Jacob’s chickens are coming home to roost. He is going to reap what he has sown with deceit and manipulation. After Jacob worked seven years to take Rachel’s hand in marriage, Laban tricked Jacob by sending Leah to his tent instead. Laban “out-Jacobed” Jacob. He had to work another seven years to marry Rachel and then we see that whole Baby Birthing Olympics thing take off between Rachel and Leah.
Jacob later manipulated the breeding of Laban’s flocks to get wealthier than Laban. Eventually there’s just too much strife and animosity in this dysfunctional family, and we saw in last week’s devo how Jacob fled with his wives and children. He’s on his way home, and he’s scared. He hasn’t seen Esau in years and for all he knows, the older brother still wants revenge. He separates his people into two camps so that if one is attacked, the other might escape.
In this great crisis moment, afraid and distressed, Jacob encounters what many scholars believe to be the pre-incarnate Christ himself coming to meet him. And here late into the night, on a dark and dusty road, God and Jacob wrestle. It’s Jacob’s “dark night of the soul.”
A dark night of the soul is a phrase to describe a crisis of faith or a difficult, painful period in one’s life. It can involve feelings of despair, emptiness, and disconnection. The dark night of the soul can be a time of feeling like there’s no place where you belong. It can be a time of intense sadness, frustration, grief, loss, or hopelessness. The dark night of the soul can also be a time of regression, where things that were once life-giving feel dull and uninteresting. It can be a time of despair over a habit or addiction you feel you will never overcome. It can be a season of depression, or a haunting sense that your best days are behind you. It might be a time of feeling like God has abandoned you and you don’t know why. I believe many of these struggles could have been Jacob’s reality. But Jacob’s breakthrough was coming, and so is yours and mine.
Wrestling requires close contact, and that’s why God allows us to wrestle with him so that in our struggle we can hear God’s heartbeat, sense his faithful grip, and know intimately his love behind the discipline of his correction. God wanted all of Jacob’s proud self-reliance and fleshly scheming, and the Lord came to take it by force if necessary. Instead of tapping out and running away, Jacob stayed in the fight until daybreak.
The very fact that God is willing to wrestle you into submission means he has great plans for you. Indeed, what he has in mind is greater than anything you could ever imagine. That is why God is wrestling with you. Friend, you will look back on some things you’re going through right now and your future self is going to be glad you stayed in the fight. You’re going to be glad that you didn’t tap out when God wrestled with you in the dark. He’s about to change everything, and it’s probably going to surprise you. More on that in next week’s devo!
PRAYER
God, thank you for wrestling with us instead of abandoning us. You never give up on the person you are conforming us into. Holy Spirit, empower me to stay in the fight and never tap out on the redemption you are writing in this story. Give me faith to see you are at work in the dark night of my soul. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Questions for Personal Reflection or Group Discussion:
- If you could create your own wrestling character, what would that person look like?
- When have you had a dark night of the soul?
- What does this story in Genesis 32 reveal about God’s character?
- In order to wrestle with God, you have to acknowledge your struggles in the first place. What are yours?
- Take a few minutes to think about what you would like to read in a letter from your future self. What might that letter say?
Text: Genesis 32:22-32
“And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.” — Genesis 32:24
I was an 80’s kid. I remember when my dad took me and my brother to the WWF Main Event at the USF Tampa Sun Dome, where we watched the legendary Hulk Hogan take on Terry Funk, and The Hillbillies (Uncle Elmer, Hillbilly Jim and Cousin Luke) tussle with Rowdy Roddy Piper and Jesse Ventura. Wrestling was so real back then!!
In Genesis 32, we see a wrestling match for the ages. It came at a time of crisis for Jacob, who had struggled for so long with family life. Jacob was a wrestler from the very beginning. In a sense, he wrestled away the birthright from his older brother, Esau, through manipulation tactics. He also wrestled away Esau’s blessing by pretending to be his brother and deceiving their father. Afterward, Esau wanted to kill him, so Jacob fled to his Uncle Laban’s house. There he meets Rachel and it was love at first sight.
But as we like to say in the south, Jacob’s chickens are coming home to roost. He is going to reap what he has sown with deceit and manipulation. After Jacob worked seven years to take Rachel’s hand in marriage, Laban tricked Jacob by sending Leah to his tent instead. Laban “out-Jacobed” Jacob. He had to work another seven years to marry Rachel and then we see that whole Baby Birthing Olympics thing take off between Rachel and Leah.
Jacob later manipulated the breeding of Laban’s flocks to get wealthier than Laban. Eventually there’s just too much strife and animosity in this dysfunctional family, and we saw in last week’s devo how Jacob fled with his wives and children. He’s on his way home, and he’s scared. He hasn’t seen Esau in years and for all he knows, the older brother still wants revenge. He separates his people into two camps so that if one is attacked, the other might escape.
In this great crisis moment, afraid and distressed, Jacob encounters what many scholars believe to be the pre-incarnate Christ himself coming to meet him. And here late into the night, on a dark and dusty road, God and Jacob wrestle. It’s Jacob’s “dark night of the soul.”
A dark night of the soul is a phrase to describe a crisis of faith or a difficult, painful period in one’s life. It can involve feelings of despair, emptiness, and disconnection. The dark night of the soul can be a time of feeling like there’s no place where you belong. It can be a time of intense sadness, frustration, grief, loss, or hopelessness. The dark night of the soul can also be a time of regression, where things that were once life-giving feel dull and uninteresting. It can be a time of despair over a habit or addiction you feel you will never overcome. It can be a season of depression, or a haunting sense that your best days are behind you. It might be a time of feeling like God has abandoned you and you don’t know why. I believe many of these struggles could have been Jacob’s reality. But Jacob’s breakthrough was coming, and so is yours and mine.
Wrestling requires close contact, and that’s why God allows us to wrestle with him so that in our struggle we can hear God’s heartbeat, sense his faithful grip, and know intimately his love behind the discipline of his correction. God wanted all of Jacob’s proud self-reliance and fleshly scheming, and the Lord came to take it by force if necessary. Instead of tapping out and running away, Jacob stayed in the fight until daybreak.
The very fact that God is willing to wrestle you into submission means he has great plans for you. Indeed, what he has in mind is greater than anything you could ever imagine. That is why God is wrestling with you. Friend, you will look back on some things you’re going through right now and your future self is going to be glad you stayed in the fight. You’re going to be glad that you didn’t tap out when God wrestled with you in the dark. He’s about to change everything, and it’s probably going to surprise you. More on that in next week’s devo!
PRAYER
God, thank you for wrestling with us instead of abandoning us. You never give up on the person you are conforming us into. Holy Spirit, empower me to stay in the fight and never tap out on the redemption you are writing in this story. Give me faith to see you are at work in the dark night of my soul. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Questions for Personal Reflection or Group Discussion: