RAW SpiritualitySample

Day 4: Wrestling

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you… Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.” – James 4:7-8,10 (NIV)

Who is your greatest enemy?

As followers of Christ, we know that both collectively and individually our true greatest enemy is the devil. However, what many of us experience daily is that our greatest enemy is ourselves. Often our own identities are our own greatest enemies.

Yes, the devil is the father of lies and destruction, but we take the bait and run with it. We inherently agree with the lies and live them out. We allow the wrong mindsets to manifest and manipulate our world views and self-awareness.

Jacob was known as a deceiver. It was literally the meaning of his name (Genesis 25:26). Not a very nice name, since our enemy the devil goes by the same alias. Yet, after taking his inner turmoil into a takedown with God on a silent desert night, Jacob became known as Israel – the one who overcomes by struggling with God.

Imagine sitting in the stillness one evening, maybe on the beach or at your fireplace, in your garden or on your front porch. Reflecting on the day’s events and your life in general. Then, suddenly, someone tackles you and turns your self-reflection into a moment of self-defense. And yes, it was a literal physical encounter that Jacob had with the Angel of God, not a figment of his imagination or a vision during meditation.

Jacob even walked differently after this encounter. Encountering God changes your life. From this moment on, the encounter that Jacob – now Israel – had with God, was physically visible. It became his new signature move – as in, this was the new signature way he would move for the rest of his life. It was limp for life now, and all who would encounter Israel hereafter would notice that he had an encounter with God first.

Struggling with God is how we overcome ourselves, not Him. Ironically, it is through the struggle with God that we are able to finally submit to Him. And then find a release for oneself, getting clarity and peace of mind.

Our identities are likely our biggest struggles. Take this struggle to God to become who you were born to be! Jacob was obviously not stronger than God, but he was simply resilient enough in his longing for Him to not let go. This changes his identity, which both showed and changed his character, which holistically changed his life.

So, don’t simply sit and suffer in silence. Take the struggle to your Savior. You might struggle with it at first, but you cannot lose the match if you push through it. You might not encounter God quite as physically as Jacob did either, but through honest, open, and conversational prayer, the way that you encounter God will still be very real.

Get quiet! Get real! Get going after God!

Discover Deeper:

» What does your time with God currently look like? Be specific and real.

» If you don’t really spend intentional time with God, or lack some intensity in your time with God, what steps can you take to deepen your encounters with God?

» What are the issues you currently wrestle with in your life that you need to start taking the struggle to God for? How are you going to go about it?