When God takes on us

Jacob’s encounter with God is none of this. Instead of coming to him in friendliest term, God comes to him in hostility. God takes on him. Out of the ordinary, God engages Jacob in a wrestling match.

A wrestling match is what Jacob needs the least in his time of crisis, in his solitude at night, totally vulnerable. He is exhausted by the ordeals of the day, devising plans to survive an impending threat to his life, family and entire belongings. Alone in the night, unprotected, what Jacob needs is a warm clasp in the hand, a tight hug, a tap at the back. What he needs is a friend who will offer him practical help, a helping hand.

But God does not give him any of these. Instead of coming to him as an ally, he comes to him as an enemy. Instead of hugging him tight, he wrestles him to his utmost strength. With Jacob not giving in, they wrestle till daybreak. Their match only ends when God defeats Jacob by wrenching his hip.

Before we think of God as acting “bad”, we are taught that the match, the struggle, is a divine initiative meant for good not evil. It is meant to teach Jacob a lesson in order for him to change for the best. It is meant to disable him, to stop him from depending on human strength and cling to God prayerfully instead. The “hip wrenching” aimed at this.

The narrative of Jacob’s struggle with God puts our idea of God’s presence in ambiguity. Our Friend-God obviously does not always come to us the way we expect Him to. He can come to us as an enemy, not always as a friend. He can harm us. He can cause us a crippling pain.

Nonetheless, we can rest assured that even such tension with God is meant for good. It is meant to make us, not to destroy us. Like Jacob, we need a debilitation in order for us to learn to become praying creatures, to learn to depend on divine strength rather than on human strength.

Like Jacob, maybe what we need is also a limp in order to be truly victorious.

Written by Millicent Guarin