Wrestling With God?

A small group of Christian friends gathered and as we usually do, we made a list of our concerns for prayer. This week the list was long, evidence of the ways that we encounter sin and suffering in our world. Our list included sick friends, the grieving Christians in Sri Lanka, people who have lost their way, among other things. That we would pray is, hopefully, evidence that we are engaged, not apathetic about the state of the world in which we live! Ah, it’s a struggle, isn’t it? Are you ever tempted to lose yourself in distractions, to watch too much TV, play mindless games? Perhaps you want to be like a turtle and just pull into your shell and forget about the struggles out there?

I meditated on an episode from the life of Jacob this morning. His name means ‘Deceiver’ and he lived up to it! He ripped off his brother, tricked his old father, and manipulated his father-in-law. He is a shameless schemer until one night when he has a life-changing encounter. Here's how it's told: "...during the night Jacob got up and sent his two wives, two concubines, and eleven sons across the Jabbok River. After they were on the other side, he sent over all his possessions. This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until dawn. When the man saw that he couldn’t win the match, he struck Jacob’s hip and knocked it out of joint at the socket. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is dawn.” But Jacob panted, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” “What is your name?” the man asked. He replied, “Jacob.” “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “It is now Israel, because you have struggled with both God and men and have won.” “What is your name?” Jacob asked him. “Why do you ask?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there. Jacob named the place Peniel—“face of God”—for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.” (Genesis 32:22-30, NLT)

Like many of the Genesis stories, the details are spare and sometimes mysterious, but the core lesson comes through here, loud and clear. God had not given up on Jacob. In the middle of the night the Lord (or an angel representing Him) met Jacob and challenged him! It was a wrestling match that lasted all night and left Jacob a changed man with a new name, and a limp to remind him of the encounter.

God wants to lead us, to love us, to transform us from sinner to saint, but it won’t happen without struggle.  The character of Jesus develops as we experience the life of the Spirit Who comes to us through the daily practices of the disciplines – prayer, meditation, Bible intake, worship, service, confession – among them.  We don’t just drift into spiritual maturity. We wrestle with Self, Satan, and Systems that resist God’s work in us.   We must be willing to contend prayerfully for the work of God to be accomplished in us and through us.  Will we?

Don't be discouraged by the struggles of life!
Don't think you're doing something wrong because you're in a wrestling match.
It may be the very means that God is using to develop you into a champion for His purposes.

After Jacob spent that exhausting night, he realized that the strange encounter was more than a night of bad dreams! “I’ve met God!” And, “Mr. Slick”  became Israel, meaning “God wins.”  Everyday when his new name was spoken, he was reminded that his best life was found in submission to the Lord, that God always prevails. He came to understand, more deeply than ever before, that the center of God’s will is the place of greatest peace. That revelation came at the price of wrestling, not apathy.

Those struggles that are making you wrestle with faith, that cause you to question God's plans and purposes, that make you groan in prayer, that drive you to seek out the wisdom of the Word, are not a bad thing. God will use them to shape  you into a person worthy of His high calling and to reveal new depths of Himself to you. Don’t throw up your hands and just drift with the current. Prevail in prayer. Let God make you new.

Here's a word from the Word. "And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet." (Ephesians 6:10-13, The Message)
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Defender
(a prayerful recognition of His love in our struggles)

You go before I know

That You've even gone to win my war

You come back with the head of my enemy

You come back and You call it my victory

You go before I know

That You've even gone to win my war

Your love becomes my greatest defense

It leads me from the dry wilderness

All I did was praise

All I did was worship

All I did was bow down

All I did was stay still

Hallelujah You have saved me

So much better Your (this) way

Hallelujah great Defender

So much better Your (this) way

You know before I do

Where my heart can seek to find Your truth

Your mercy is the shade I'm living in

You restore my faith and hope again

When I thought I lost me

You knew where I left me

You reintroduced me to Your love

You picked up all my pieces

Put me back together

You are the defender of my heart

All I did was praise

All I need to do is worship

Lord I will just bow down

I'm just gonna stay still

John-Paul Gentile | Rita Springer | Steffany Frizzell Gretzinger

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Make a Life-changing choice!

 Yesterday around 10 am my office phone brought a call from a pastor I knew 40 years ago.  “Jerry, I just wanted to thank you.” His appreciation for ministry that I do was authentic and heart-felt. It was encouraging. Among the voices of the critics, hearing one of with affirming words is a blessing! "Thanks-living" has the capability of transforming another’s bad day into a good one, changing a miserable situation into one that is tolerable.

Do you realize that offering sincere praise to God opens our hearts to the inflow of the Holy Spirit? "Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. … Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name." (Psalm 100:2,4, NIV) You can break the grip of discouragement with a genuine offering of worshipful praise. Go beyond the trite – “Thank you, God, for beautiful flowers.”  Thank Him for grace, for faithful friends, for forgiveness, for strength, for promise and purpose. 

Praising Him is sometimes easy, almost spontaneous!  "Thank you, Lord! Praise God!" bursts from my lips.  There are days when we offer what the Bible calls a 'sacrifice of praise.'  A choice is made to look past the problems, to thank God for His goodness, that He is indeed Lord of life, in spite of situations that defy understanding.  Avoid the error of implying that God is the author of terrible things like war, disease, or sinful oppression by thanking Him for those things. He allows us great freedom – to create good and to do evil. And, in the middle of the messes that the sinful of humanity (ours and others) create, He invites us thank Him for His faithfulness, for His love, for His goodness.

When we are filled with worshipful praise of God, there is a shift in our human relationships. We more readily offer genuine thanks!  When you hear yourself slipping into criticism, pause. Find a word of appreciation. Watch the tone of the conversation change. It will amaze you. And you'll feel so much better, so much more encouraged, at the end of the conversation.

Take these simple thoughts to heart today and make it a day for "thanks-living." Why not start right now with 5 minutes of praise prayer? Don't ask God for anything, just thank Him - profusely for people who bless you, for His plan in situations that challenge you, and for His love for you! Then, as you go through the day, look for opportunities to drop a word of affirmation and thanks into the lives of people.

Here is a word from the Word. Read it slowly, pausing to let the truth sink in.

"I will praise the Lord at all times.
I will constantly speak his praises.
I will boast only in the Lord;

let all who are discouraged take heart.

Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness;

let us exalt his name together." (Psalm 34:1-3, NLT)

"Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Oh, the joys of those who trust in him!

Let the Lord’s people show him reverence,

for those who honor him will have all they need." (Psalm 34:8-9, NLT)

One last thought- Thank you for sharing life with me through this daily blog called CoffeeBreak with the Word!

________

O worship the King all glorious above,

and gratefully sing his power and his love:

our shield and defender, the Ancient of Days,

pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise.

Your bountiful care, what tongue can recite?

It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;

it streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,

and sweetly distils in the dew and the rain.

Frail children of dust and feeble as frail -

in you do we trust, nor find You to fail;

your mercies, how tender, how firm to the end!

our maker, defender, redeemer, and friend.

O measureless Might, unchangeable Love,

whom angels delight to worship above!

Your ransomed creation, with glory ablaze,

in true adoration shall sing to your praise!

Robert Grant, public domain

Digging Wells, Taking Ownership

Struggle is the common experience of humanity.  Even on our best days we know that we are a phone call away from tears, a slip away from pain, one breath from death. How then can we live with the peace of God that is promised to us?  Are there choices to be made to own His promises?  Yes, there are.  We do not give in to ‘fate.’ We are not just brave, holding back our tears or anger. God asks us to look to Him, even as we do the things that allow Him to strengthen us.

There is a principle found in Isaac’s story in Genesis 26.  Even as he prospered, he had to deal with difficulty. Pushed out of the land of the Philistines, he moved to the area where his father had lived. There he found the wells dug by Abraham filled in. That little detail is more than a footnote. In that time and place, a well for water gave permanence and signaled a claim of ownership. After the patriarch had died, the Philistines reasserted their claim to the land by throwing dirt and stones into those wells.  Isaac goes back, reopens them. But, he found resistance. So, he moved on to another valley where he thought he might settle.   

Here is a part of that chapter. "Isaac dug again the wells which were dug in the days of his father Abraham but had been clogged up by the Philistines after Abraham’s death. And he renamed them, using the original names his father had given them. One day, as Isaac’s servants were digging in the valley, they came on a well of spring water. The shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s shepherds, claiming, “This water is ours.” So Isaac named the well Esek (Quarrel) because they quarreled over it. They dug another well and there was a difference over that one also, so he named it Sitnah (Accusation). He went on from there and dug yet another well. But there was no fighting over this one so he named it Rehoboth (Wide-Open Spaces), saying, “Now God has given us plenty of space to spread out in the land.” From there he went up to Beer-sheba. That very night God appeared to him and said, I am the God of Abraham your father; don’t fear a thing because I’m with you. I’ll bless you and make your children flourish because of Abraham my servant. Isaac built an altar there and prayed, calling on God by name. He pitched his tent and his servants started digging another well." (Genesis 26:18-25, The Message)  That well he named Shebah, which meant “oath.” He claimed God’s promise and chose to live in the covenant with God first known by his father, Abraham.

Isaac, though blessed and a son of God’s promise, had to dig wells which became symbolic of his search for God’s provision. He did not just pray and hope, nor did he pine for what could have been. He chose to work to own the promise. And, so must we!  When enemies attack you, seek refreshing from the Spirit. When Satan resists, return to your true Source.  When you are tired or discouraged, maybe even confused by the circumstances of life, find a place to settle in God and dig a well from which His Living Water can flow into your life.

In the middle of a hostile world, in times when struggle and conflict abound, go often to God’s Presence. Make the choice to pray, not timidly, but with desire to know Him. Enter into worship – alone each day and with others in gatherings of His Church. Open the Scripture and find renewal.  Yes, dig a well and declare that you are an owner of God’s promise to save you from sin, to keep you from temptation, to provide all that you need, and to give you life abundant and eternal.

Here is a word from the Word. Make it the meditation of your heart and mind today. Dig in and own the promise of His provision.

"In that day you will say: “I will praise you, O LORD.
Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me.

Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.

The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.”

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

In that day you will say: “Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;

make known among the nations what he has done,

and proclaim that his name is exalted.
Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things;
let this be known to all the world.
Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,
for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.” (Isaiah 12, NIV)
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Come Thou Fount of ev'ry blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount I'm fixed upon it
Mount of Thy redeeming love

• Public domain