"And Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. When he saw that he could not prevail against him, he touched the socket of his hip, and the socket of Jacob's hip became dislocated as he wrestled with him. And the angel said, 'Let me go, for dawn is breaking,' but Jacob said, 'I will not let you go unless you bless me.' So the angel said to him, 'What is your name?' and he said, 'Jacob.' And he said, 'Your name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for you have contended with God and with men, and have prevailed'" (Genesis 32:25-29).
Sam Storms in his book To the One Who Conquers, says there are two reactions of the soul to suffering; dependency and disillusionment. He uses Paul as an example. Paul the Apostle, came through great tribulations and was able to say suffering was to, "make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead (II Corinthians 1:9)." Of course as believers we know that we are not to slip into despair or disillusionment. Our loved ones may be hurting, our finances in shambles, our health keeps us from doing what we once did (for Christ I might add), our spouse has left us, or we live together but alone in one house, loneliness, heartache, the list goes on and on, put your own suffering in this list. It does, if we are honest with ourselves, push us into disillusionment. We ask; "where was Christ, when is He going to show up at all, why, why, why?" I agree with Storms except that I think in order to KNOW that we can fully trust "the first and the last," we must go through the times of questions, and doubt. Without talking to Mr. Storms, his devotion comes across as if there are only two reactions and one is right and one is wrong. I disagree. The one (disillusionment) so often leads to the other one (dependency). If we just wake up one morning and our world has shattered and we say, "Wow, great, I am more dependent on Christ now." I think we are probably not human and in denial. God takes us through the "world falling apart" in order for us to question, to doubt, to wrestle, with Him. Job wrestled. Jacob wrestled. I believe even Joseph wrestled, even though some would disagree with me. I think Joseph started out a bit arrogant, and learned through his suffering. Hebrews tells us that Christ learned through the things that He suffered as well.
Christ is the first and the last. He was there, He is with you. Ask God for the grace to hold on to His perfect sovereignty that will result in His glory and your good (to quote the catechism). Cling to Him through the doubts. Tell Him you are not leaving until He blesses you, as Jacob did. Jacob left that place with a limp, totally dependent on the Lord. Wrestle with Him. Through your wrestling you will be given the grace to carry on, and you will then know that it is all of Him.
From one who has wrestled much and will in the future..........Lynn
2 comments:
Lynn, thank you so much for your wisdom. It is true... sometimes life the hard things in life just get so overwhelming... and a lot of times my head knows what's right, but my heart won't believe, just like Thomas. Thank you for your encouraging words, I feel like it's just what I needed to hear today, as sometimes I get tired of wrestling. But it's definitely better to wrestle and come away limping then to walk away all together. Thank you sweet sister. Love you, Linz
Thanks for this. I've read it three times now. The third time found me struggling and finally hit home. You see, I've been doing a bit of wrestling this evening myself. Thank God for His great patience with us.
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