When I was in college, my professors used to tell us to struggle, wrestle, and grapple with texts in books as well as the Scriptures. I love the idea of mulling over a text striving to see the deeper meaning behind it. It brings to mind a certain passage of Scripture with wrestling in it.
He said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed." Then Jacob asked him and said, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved." (Genesis 32:28-30 NASB)
Jacob wrestled God and not only lived to tell about it but also had his name changed. He no longer was known for his deceptive ways but now the way he would be used by God.
House of Heroes has a song the mirrors Jacob's. The song is about trying to escape his past when he wrestles God and finds the forgiveness he was searching for.
. the glory of the angel or the terror in me. tonight will be my ending or tonight my new beginning. all thru the night. i wrestled the angel. to undo the curse. that burdened me all of my life. and for the first time i could see. that God was not my enemy. chorus. like pieces of the sun. our light burns on and on. like stars in the night sky we shine. i'm living to shine on. i’m living to shine on. i’m living to shine on.
When we struggle with aspects of our faith we should not run from it, but rather face it head on and allow God to show new things and use us in new ways.
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