Living in the Spirit
July 27, 2020
Scripture Reading: Genesis 32:22-31
The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the day is breaking.’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go, unless you bless me.’ So he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Jacob.’ Then the man said, ‘You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.’ Then Jacob asked him, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’ And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, ‘For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.’ The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.
Wrestling with God* is the title of the video that tells the story of Alexander Campbell, who was one of the founders of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and other congregationally governed churches in the USA. History records his efforts well as in the early 19th century, he brought a new way of being Christians into a land full of promise. His quest for unity is still alive today.
I think we all wrestle with God as we discern what is righteous and what is just. Jacob was a bit of a conman. His mother helped him trick his brother out of his inheritance. He ran away to escape the wrath of his brother and, most likely, his father. He, in turn, was tricked by his father-in-law to marry the oldest daughter Leah. Jacob got the father-in-law back. And then, he decided to take his family and return home, leaving him to make peace with God before he could make peace with his father and his brother.
Jesus, too, had to deal with the temptations of the world when he went into the desert before he started his ministry. Sometimes it helps to see the ways of the world from a neutral perspective. That is why it is so essential that we maintain constant communion with God in prayer, meditation, and study to prepare us for the times we are caught in circumstances where are responses must be automatic as we have no time to ponder what to do.
Prayer: Lord, help us keep in good spiritual shape as we face the challenges of the world. Amen.
*Wrestling with God is available on Amazon Prime if you would like to watch it.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.