Finding God in the Struggle

The man said, “From now on, your name will no longer be Jacob. You will be called Israel, because you have wrestled with God and with men, and you have won.”

Genesis 32:28 (CEV)

You tried to have a good attitude and trust God, but this year of high school is just hard. Or you couldn’t be on the team because you missed tryouts. Or you and your parents are having a hard time seeing eye to eye.

So, you get mad. At life. At God. You wrestle.

Jacob had his own struggle. He had heard the Lord’s voice telling him to move back to his homeland, and he obeyed. But going home meant facing his brother, Esau. The last time they were together, his brother had promised to kill him. And now it looked like he was going to do it. Esau was on the way with 400 warriors—not exactly a welcoming party.

Jacob did all he could, sending ahead gifts, and his flocks, to try to convince Esau to change his mind. Jacob took his family to a safe place, but he didn’t stay with them. As he waited through the night, alone and anxious, a man came and wrestled with him. Jacob believed this was God appearing like a man. Jacob refused to let the man go until he blessed him, and he did. And Jacob’s name was changed to “Israel” which means “a man who wrestles with God.”

God blesses those who seek and obey him. He helps them work through their doubts, fears, and frustrations. Jacob’s father and grandfather knew God personally, but Jacob still needed to figure his faith out for himself. He searched for God and found him. You can, too.

SPIRITUAL FITNESS TRAINING

In what ways do you need the Lord’s blessings? What doubts or frustrations do you wrestle with? Write them in a journal or on some paper, pray about them, then put a reminder in your phone to check back in a month. Record what the Lord has done to help you, so far.

INSPIRATION

“There are times when God only releases his blessings on us after a season of prolonged and even painful wrestling with him.”

—Jon Bloom, American author and staff writer at desiringGod.org

KEEP IT GOING

Related passages: These additional verses will help you expand Scriptural knowledge and place on the armor of God’s Word to tackle each day. Refer to the tabbed Bible references to read the passages today.

Job 42:1–3

Job 42:5

Matthew 7:7–8

Romans 8:38–39