Gold in Wrestling! Dr. Mrs. Lilian Stanley
Gold in Wrestling! Dr. Mrs. Lilian Stanley
As Rio Olympics sink into history our minds are still fresh with scenes of wrestling, especially with a bronze for India. We find a wrestling match in the Bible too. The wrestlers were Jacob and God. What ' s interesting about it is that Jacob won the match. Before we come to the incident itself, let us see what it means to wrestle with God to experience aREVIVAL IN OUR PERSONAL PRAYER LIFE.
Let ' s read Isaiah ' s lamentation about the lethargy in the prayer life of Christians.“ There is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself to take hold of You”( Isa 64:7). This speaks about a person ' s personal prayer life. The prophet could not find even a single person who was willing to rouse himself from his slack in prayer life to call on God ' s name and catch hold of Him. God is close to us, but we are not enthusiastic enough to get hold of Him. If we do not pray, we cannot take hold of God. Prayer is holding God in our grip.
For revival in our prayer lives, we should pray,
pray and pray. There is no other way. If you sleep in prayer, pray when you wake up. If your mind wanders, pray when you arrest your wandering thoughts. Never give up praying. Then you ' ll find revival in your prayer life.
Let ' s now come to the wrestling match in Genesis chapter 32. Jacob wins the quarter finals and is assured of a bronze when he won over his father-inlaw( Gen 31:55). As he enters Semifinals, he recounts God ' s promises for victory:“ I will make you prosper”( 32:9). Jacob was scared. Very scared and panicked thinking about Esau. At that juncture he made a vital decision. He thought the solution to the problem was in spending time ALONE WITH GOD and take hold of Him. So he sent everyone across the brook, including his family( Gen 32:24). He had rightly understood the teaching of Jesus,“ to go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father”( Mt 6:6). Jacob is now ready for the semifinals. His opponent enters the ring. The match lasted till daybreak.
“ A man wrestled with him till daybreak”( Gen 32:23). It was not a chance encounter but a choice encounter. The man did not come to meet him when he was in company. But when Jacob was alone He met him. It was a personal, one-on-one, hand-to-hand combat. It was a tough match and about to end in a draw. But his opponent, seeing that He could not get the best of Jacob, threw Jacob ' s hip out of joint. Surely He was a powerful opponent.
What would anybody do in such a scenario, when pain shoots through his body? He would immediately relax the grip instinctively, unable to stand the pain. But Jacob would not let go of his quarry. Now the man is crying for mercy:“ Let me go, for it is daybreak,” He pleads. But Jacob, having his clutch still on Him would not budge. He had the audacity to tell God:“ I will not let You go unless You bless me”( 32:26).
After asking his name, the man said,“ Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have
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