Gen. 32:24-32                   Bethel                               2-14-10

Lessons From a Wrestling Match

Jacob wrestled with the angel and was given power with God and men.  His struggle holds many lessons for us as we strive to become more Christlike.  In a day when so many want easy religion with minimum commitment and optional disciplines, we must learn the secret of persistence and rekindle the heart-fires of true Christian zeal.

Describe all that preceded the event, leaving Laban, preparing to meet Esau, etc.

I.  Loneliness.  “And Jacob was left alone.” 

Too many do not know how to put forth an individual effort.

No one else to lean one.

No one else to blame.

No one to pass the buck towards.

God deals with the individual.  Individual call, individual confession, individual salvation, individual commission, individual rewards!

**  Most of the really important aspects of Christian growth are experienced as an individual, all alone, and with individual effort.

II.  Difficulty.  “And there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.”   

“There wrestled”  This is strenuous, muscle taxing, painful and demanding struggling.

Wrestling requires: 1. Strength  2.  Cunning  3.  Persistence.

Note:  “Until the breaking of the day” It lasted all night long!  No quick fix.  No easy solution.  No instant blessing!  Some struggles do not have a “quick fix”.

III.  PATIENCE!!!

 So what we have so far is a lonely struggle.  This could be the college student, the athlete in training, the dieter, the job applicant, the musician, the salesman, the prayer warrior, the minister, the person struggling to overcome a bad habit.  Anyone going through a particularly tough time will identify with Jacob.  It is lonely and difficult to struggle with a problem.

All must be willing to sometimes struggle alone.

IV.  Submission.  He “touched” the hollow of Jacob’s thigh and it was out of joint.  God wants his children to know who the Master is!  His struggles with us are not designed to break us but to build us!  He knows that we cannot have power until we have come to the place of submission to him.

People today want:

Respect  - without   -   Virtue

Position  -  without -  Qualification

Material Blessings  - without  -  Responsibility

Health  -  without  -  exercise and good diet

Power  -  without  -  discipline

Friendship  -  without  -  loyalty  and

Honor  -  without  -  Humility.

V.  Persistence.  “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.”

After the angel put Jacob’s thigh out of joint, Jacob’s strength was gone.  His cunning was useless.  But he was still PERSISTENT. 

God could have made it impossible for Jacob to grasp.  God wanted to bless Jacob but Jacob lacked humility.  He needed total submission to God before he could be able to receive the blessing of power with God and men.

God’s price tags on his enablements are not to exclude us from them, but to create the ability to receive them.

Power with God and men, without humility would result in loss of virtue and forfeiture of power!  God’s power in the hands of a proud man would ruin him and bring harm to others!

VI.  Blessing.  “Thou hast prevailed and hast power with God and men.” 

A.  Prevailed – Winning!  Sometimes

B.  Power!  Luke 2:52 says that even Jesus “grew in favor with God and man.”

God could have just given Jacob the blessing, but he did not have the spiritual strength to grasp it.  The wrestling, the struggling, the striving, the waiting, and the holding on empowers the recipient and instills the character needed to hold the blessing.

Faith without works is dead being alone.  When it comes to freely living the life which Christ freely gave you, faith must manifest itself through works!

Be persistent in:  Church attendance, Prayer and Bible Study, Giving, Witnessing to others.   Be persistent and allow God to prepare you for greater spiritual power!

Submission leads to Sanctification!

Persistence leads to power!