Editor’s Note: This post is the first contribution (I hope first of many!) by my new ministry colleague Erin Wiens St. John. Please join me in welcoming Erin to Creative Commons Prayer.
**
Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day. When he saw that he didn’t prevail against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was strained, as he wrestled. The man said, “Let me go, for the day breaks.” Jacob said, “I won’t let you go, unless you bless me.” (Genesis 32: 24-26 for Proper 24, Year C)
In Sunday School, this story is commonly called, “Jacob wrestles with an angel.” But the text references no such being. Instead, it simply calls his aggressor “a man.” Perhaps the man is an angel, perhaps a demon. Or perhaps even another human being.
All of us struggle with opponents like the one in this story. We wrestle with addiction, family struggles, unexpected success, wealth, poverty, the ups and downs of living with partners and spouses. We spend our lives wrestling with a series of angels, demons, and fellow mortals.
Recently, I’ve wrestled with an intense, surprising, debilitating illness. At times, like Jacob, it has stripped the muscle off my legs and made normal walking difficult. After a year and a half and one failed recovery, I’m grappling to get my hands on a second, more permanent end to this struggle.
Although Jacob is badly wounded during his fight, he seeks—no, he demands—a blessing. He will not leave until he can say he has won something from the experience. And then, having won it, he proclaims that he has seen the face of God.
We, too, have a choice in our wrestling with the Powers That Be in our lives. Addiction, self-destructive habits, relationships that fall apart—few of these aggressors are going to freely bless us.
At first, my health struggles seemed demonically unhelpful, an unwelcome interruption at an age when the world was supposed to be my oyster. And for the first few months, I wanted nothing more than to get better as quickly as possible, cut my losses, and move on with my life.
But Jacob’s story teaches me that I can wrest blessings from even the most injurious of opponents. The illness has given me revelatory self-knowledge, a newfound ability to move slowly, and immense gratitude for life’s simple pleasures. Eventually, I hope these months will empower me to help others through similarly shadowy experiences.
And in wrestling these blessings from a very difficult demon-angel, even though I may leave the ring permanently marked, I too can say that I have seen the face of God and lived.
Related Scripture
Genesis 32:22-31 (World English Bible, Public Domain)
22 He rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had. 24 Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day. 25 When he saw that he didn’t prevail against him, the man touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was strained as he wrestled. 26 The man said, “Let me go, for the day breaks.”
Jacob said, “I won’t let you go unless you bless me.”
27 He said to him, “What is your name?”
He said, “Jacob”.
28 He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
29 Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.”
He said, “Why is it that you ask what my name is?” So he blessed him there.
30 Jacob called the name of the place Peniel;† for he said, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” 31 The sun rose on him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped because of his thigh.
Related Media
You can support Creative Commons Prayer directly on Patreon, by buying our designs on Zazzle, or by purchasing related media on Amazon.
Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved
Jed Bartlet wrestles with GodCheck out the book and amazing companion podcast by Kate Bowler.
A classic TV theology moment.