The Glory of the Wrestle – Part 1

In the beginning God…

What does it mean to engage with a being that created the very air you are breathing and the ground you are walking upon? What is dialogue’s formula when the one you are speaking to “hangs the earth on nothing” (Job 26:7)? Thankfully, because of the Cross, the only formula needed is a persistent “yes” that maintain’s an agreement with the Spirit’s leading, which in turn will fuel the exerting of oneself to do the things the Word calls us to. As we agree with His ways and pursue the knowledge of God through prayer and fasting, we grow in grace and enter into a Christian lifestyle that is an advocate of scripture — for this is Christianity in its most simplified form.

But how do we go to the depths? In what way do we go beyond the current lacking examples we have in the world of true Christianity, and lay hold of a reality in Jesus which surpasses even that found in the book of Acts? To pray, is to converse with God! It is the highest calling any of us will ever have. And it is through prayer we gain a relationship with Christ that is unto to loving Him and His ways at a level beyond human capability. There is a chamber found within a believers desire that longs for nothing less than the fullness of God. Many of today’s leaders within the church have suppressed this desire in the hearts of believers, in causing them to believe we worship a metaphysical God that distanced Himself from us after the time of the Apostles. If this is true, then why do we seek Him? How could you love a person that died 2,000 yrs. ago if you’ve never seen Him, talked to Him, touched Him, heard His voice or experienced how He felt about humanity (i.e. you). Though this Man hung from a cross displaying fresh lacerations and bruises, that had only moments before been inflicted upon Him, he continued to undertake the reality that one day we, His bride, would stand by Him and for eternity continue to fall deeper in love with Him. If our God would do this for us while being tested in human flesh and having those limitations (Heb. 4:15), then how much more will He pursue us now that He is glorified, in a perfect body and sitting at the right hand of the Father (Rom. 5:10)!? He is a God that draws near as we draw near to Him.

The heart of God is reserved for those who will wrestle in times of darkness and seemingly impossible circumstances. We must be a people that press against that divine barrier between God and man until we break through and He can no longer restrain to give all that He has for us. It is in the wrestle that we not only get stronger, but we enter into the much needed revelation which exposes who Jesus really is.

In Gen. 32:22-32 a divine wrestle with God was recorded. Jacob grappled with God, being humbled, gaining a blessing, and attaining a revelation as to how great of a Man this really was that he contended with. He wrestled for an entire night and came out a better man than he was the evening prior. He had an idea of how great of a God it was that put the stars in their place, but it took a night of wrestling to bring the realization this God whom he wrestled with would bless him, and actually allow him to contend with God in such a way as this.

Though Jacob may have began his wrestle with pride, he in the end came out humble. Though he may have entered just a man, he came out blessed by God and bearing the name of a nation. Finally, though he may have entered believing in God, he came out knowing and having experienced God. John 17:3 says “this is eternal life that they may know You the only true God.” This type of experiential knowledge comes as a result of the “divine wrestle.” There is no other way. We must come before the God of the Ages with our junk, issues and emotional debris and say, “we will not let go until we know You.” There is no other way to holiness.