Recently, I attended a women’s retreat where the speaker shared parts of her journey into contentment, but primarily spoke of the need to dwell in contentment as Paul challenged us in Philippians 4. Many of the verses she shared were life verses for me, ones that I was planning to use in a devotional that I was to give to this same group of women in the next few days. These verses were ones that kept circling in my brain and heart as I prayed over what the Lord would have me share in the next few days. So, as I was listening to the speaker, I was carrying on this dialogue with the Father. “Ok, Lord, Now what? Scratch the life verses and go in another direction? No? Ok, then what? It’s the process, the journey, the wrestling to contentment/peace that is the topic!” Yes, this is what has been so valuable in my relationship with the Father, this discourse, this fellowship, this journey - and this wrestling. There is value in “the wrestle.”
There is value in this journey to contentment, this state of peace that the Father promises to guard our hearts and minds in our Savior. He wants this communication, this dialogue with us, this relationship. Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians, right off the bat, that He has initiated this fellowship and intimate relationship with us through Christ Jesus, a companionship and participation in life.
What happens when we don’t come to the Father with those hard questions, those deep hurts, or those crazy doubts? Let me tell you, it’s not good. What if Adam & Eve, in the garden, at the tree forbidden to them chose to wait until that evening when they had an appointment with their Creator to decide whether to eat its fruit or not? They could have taken all those pesky questions the enemy of their souls posed to them and brought them to the Father to get His wisdom on their doubts. Hmmm, the story would be so very different.
What of Cain? The Father warned Cain, “Sin is crouching at the door, be careful”. Cain could have turned and asked - what do you mean? And then he could pour out his anger, his jealousy and had a dialogue with the Father. Again, the story would have been so different.
How about Abram, Sarai, and Hagar? All three of them made decisions without discussing options with the Father and we are still to this day reeling from the consequences of their actions. We could go on and on with examples from both the Old and New Testaments of people failing to discuss the options, discuss the anger or hurts or misunderstandings with the Father. Just going on their own ability to figure things out or reacting to life’s rocky paths without the Father. I certainly have stories of hasty decisions and going off on my own with really bad consequences.
Abram, Sarai, and Hagar changed their path and began discussing things with the Father and He blessed all three of them. Did you know that Isaac and Ishmael, Abraham’s sons (from Sarah and Hagar) came together at the end of his life and buried their father together? I would have loved to hear their conversations.
Jacob, Isaac’s son, wrestled all night with the Lord and would not let the Lord go until the Lord blessed him. The Lord changed his name to Israel - God Wrestler. The Lord values that night of wrestling with Jacob so much so that His chosen people are called by Jacob/Israel’s name to this day.
Look at Moses. God met him time and again, discussing the prospect of returning to Egypt to gain freedom for the Israelites. Moses’ shepherd’s staff became the staff of God during those discussions, disagreements, those wrestlings and Moses became God’s man.
Samuel’s mother Hanna wrestled with the Lord and now we have stories of the great prophet Samuel. David wrestled time and again with the Lord, and now we have the songs written from those times, the Psalms. Martha, Jesus’ dear friend, could have just stayed in the kitchen griping to herself and who knows what would have happened if she hadn’t gone to complain to Jesus that she was doing all the work with no help?
Jesus also wrestled with the Father. He wrestled with Him until He gained a level of peace that I cannot fathom. He found the peace in the Garden to walk a path that was horrible beyond comprehension to gain a joy that impacts us all.
Peter denied the Lord and then came back to wrestle with the Lord alongside the shore of Galilee, while Judas ran away from God after his subterfuge. Peter was restored and commissioned with “feeding the Lord’s sheep” and Judas was so distraught on his own that he ended his life.
Paul gave us such wonderful words after his wrestling with the Lord, His strength is made perfect in our weakness…
The Lord calls me into His presence, where I meet Him face to face, where I journey/wrestle into His joy. Where He is first and everything else has its right place, that is in His right hand and He holds them for my pleasure. This is the path of LIFE. (Psalm 16:11)
Hebrews speaks of the “wrestle” to walk on this Lifepath - “So take a fresh grip on life and brace your trembling limbs. Don’t wander away from the path but forge steadily onward. On the right path the limping foot recovers strength and does not collapse.” (Hebrews 12:13 JB Phillips)
So what happens when I wrestle with my Lord?
It reduces me to seeing myself as He sees me.
He calms my chaos.
I’ve developed an affinity for His voice.
I’ve developed a natural rhythm of seeking Him.
I receive revelations from Him.
I receive His Peace that guards my heart and mind in Christ.
I find his yoke, I find my cross, I find his footprints.
I find healing for my heart.
I hear glimpses of the song He sings over me, where I see Him battling for me.
The Living Bible states Zephaniah 3:17 this way: “Cheer up, don’t be afraid. For the Lord your God has arrived to live among you. He is a mighty Savior. He will give you victory. He will rejoice over you with great gladness; he will love you and not accuse you. Is that a joyous choir I hear? No, It is the Lord himself exulting over you in happy song.”
So bring your cares, bring your questions, bring your disillusionments, your worries, your hurts to him so that you can, with Paul, state (2 Corinthians 4: 7-13):
“This priceless treasure we hold, so to speak, in a common earthenware jar - to show that the splendid power of it belongs to God and not us. We are handicapped on all sides, but we are never frustrated; we are puzzled, but never in despair. We are persecuted, but we never have to stand it alone; we may be knocked down, but we are never knocked out! Every day we experience something of the death of the Lord Jesus, so that we may also know the power of the life of Jesus in these bodies of ours. Yes, we who are living are always being exposed to death for Jesus’ sake, so the life of Jesus may be plainly seen in our mortal lives. We are always facing death, but this means that we know more and more of life.”
So wrestle until He blesses you…with His presence.
Lena Terry
Lena is from the Midwest, majored in Early Childhood Development at Kansas State University where she found answers to many questions regarding how to have a meaningful and challenging relationship with Jesus Christ. What does it mean to walk daily with the Lord; what does it mean to be “called into fellowship” with Him; what difference can Bible Study really make in one’s life? These questions were some of the ones that began to be answered in that Manhattan, Kansas, university town within one of the Christian student organizations on campus. Not only did Lena become a student of children but also a lifelong student of the Bible. Lena also met her future husband, David, at KSU. He became one of her ministry supporters as she moved to Ames, Iowa, to become an associate director in an ISU Christian student ministry for almost 4 years and then moved to Virginia to be with David as a new wife. David & Lena began an eight year friendship at KSU that, much to Lena’s surprise, evolved into their marriage of 44 years, residing mostly in Northern Virginia. She is a mother to three sons and three daughters-in-law and a grandmother to eleven grandchildren. Over the years she has been involved in educating children, then technology education, and also has been actively involved in her local church. But more importantly, Lena carved time to facilitate groups of women to study God’s word and see lives transformed by it.
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