WWG (Wrestling with God)

Ok, so most of us have seen these wrestling (wrastlin’ if you live in certain places!) shows that come on tv. I have to admit that I grew up loving it and every so often I find myself sneaking a few minutes each week. It has changed alot since I was a kid and it is pretty raunchy. With that said, one thing that hasn’t changed is that wrestling on tv is not real. I know, I just burst someone’s bubble. I do understand that it is choreographed and staged each week for our viewing pleasure. However, I think at times there are mistakes made because you can see some obvious pain on one the particiants face. Now, what does this have to do with anything? Well, wrestling is biblical. I am serious. There are several times people wrestled with God. In R.C. Sproul’s book, The Holiness of God, he talks about this issue. In it he talks about Jacob wrestling with the Angel of God and he sheds some light on this amazing story:

“The angel demanded the name of Jacob. The demand for the name was similar to the custom we have today of indicating surrender by saying uncle. For the combatant to yield his name meant that he was acknowledging the superiority of the other party. The yielding of the name was an act of submission. When Jacob surrendered his name, he surrendered his soul. He relinquished authority over his own life. With the surrender came a new name, a new identity: Israel.” (The Holiness of God, pg. 196)

Wow, the wrestling match that lasted all night was used to break Jacob, and us, in order to give us a new identity. Our lives are not committed but surrendered to God and his ways. Welcome to WWG!!