Struggle
This word is often associated with a negative event that is on the horizon or has even recently happened. I think there are lots of things that happen that are a much lighter struggle then others.
I don’t watch a lot of wrestling matches. I’m not sure that most of what people call wrestling on TV is even wrestling. I’ve watched some high school wrestling and college wrestling and it is straight up a hand to hand struggle against another person in a particular weight class. I was reading the story of Jacob wrestling through the night with a representative from God when I came across this word, struggle. Check this out….
22 During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two servant wives, and his eleven sons and crossed the Jabbok River with them. 23 After taking them to the other side, he sent over all his possessions.
24 This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. 25 When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!”
But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 “What is your name?” the man asked.
He replied, “Jacob.”
28 “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.”(Genesis 32:22-28 NLT)
I don’t think I realized that Jacob’s wrestling match with God came on the eve of meeting his brother Esau for the first time since he had stolen his Dad’s blessing from him. I can feel the struggle that is going on inside Jacob’s head long before this wrestling match. He is very anxious about meeting his brother and some level of reconciliation. I can imagine Jacob replaying all the incidents in his head where he had tricked Esau and “one-upped” him.
This wrestling match proves to be pivotal in Jacob’s journey. It is here that he receives a new name and it’s evidently because of his determination and tenacity to win the wrestling match/struggle.
I do face some struggles in my life for sure. I’m not sure that I saw them as a wrestling match, but maybe that would be a good way of looking at it. I would then see that in the midst of a struggle, I must push, pull and do everything in my power to win. I should never just allow myself to be defeated by a simple struggle. In the midst of the struggle some things can change. My perspective of the struggle can be changed. Struggles are definitely not always a negative thing. They are often very positive and life changing in small but incremental steps.
As I face struggles, I want to keep them in proper perspective whether they are positive or negative. As I navigate struggles, I can grow and become a better version of myself. The caterpillar becomes a butterfly through great struggle. I want to become more Christlike in the midst of struggle – inner strength, humble, full of love, compassionate, serving, filled with grace, kind, dependable and determined.
Pressing On!
Dwayne