Do you ever wonder what it means to wrestle with God?
I’m sure you have heard the phrase “no man can win
against God”. I have too, but the scriptures teach something different.
Do you know you can actually wrestle with God and come
out victorious?
Friend the truth is, neither devil nor any of his agents
can win against God. But as a child of God, you have what it takes to wrestle
with Him and come out victorious.
One of the reason I believe this is possible is
because of the fact that as children of God, our victory is His victory.
What does it mean to wrestle?
The word wrestle in the Hebrew language is spelt
“abaq” and it’s pronounced aw-bak’. It means to bedust .i.e. to grapple.
The word grapple means to engage in a close fight or
struggle without any weapon such as knife, gun etc.
Therefore to wrestle with God is to engage in a struggle
or a close fight with Him (spiritually) not with the intention of harming Him
physically, (of-course that’s not possible because God is Spirit). But to
wrestle with Him so as to prevail on Him to overturn His judgement on
certain issue He had already passed judgement on. This truth can been seen in
the case of King Hezekiah in Isaiah 38 and the story of the woman from Canaan
according to Matthew 15:22. They both wrestled with God and prevailed just as
Jacob did.
King Hezekiah was sick and the prophet Isaiah was sent
to tell him that the LORD said he should put his house together, for he
will surely die.
Friend you need to understand something here. God’s
word does not return to Him void (Isaiah 55:11, Lamentation 3:37).
For instance, if the devil comes to me and say; Tony
you’re going to die tomorrow. Do you know that I will not panic?
The least I would do is to tell him to keep quit and order him to get out
of my sight (rebuke him). The reason I will not panic is simple. Firstly, I
know he is lying because that’s his language. Secondly, he doesn’t have such
authority over my life, and thirdly God doesn’t send the devil to
go and announce the death of his children to them. But if God were say to me,
you are dying tomorrow; O boy, I will do exactly what King Hezekiah did,
because He is the author of life and that includes mine. Hezekiah wrestled with
Him in prayer. He reminded God of his good deeds and future plans to keep
praising and upholding His name. And while he was still on his face, the same
prophet Isaiah was sent to bring him a new message;
“Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus
saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have
seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.
The next question is, how do we wrestle with God?
By the use of our faith and words, too many times
believers give up and quit fighting too quickly. And one of the famous
line often used is; “ it’s the will of God”, Even when it’s obvious that
it’s the devil trying to steal from us something, someone God has ordained to
be a blessing to us.
God loves it when we wrestle with Him regarding issues
we really think should be decided in our favour. But what do we do most of the
times? We pack up and head for home.
I don’t know where you’re reading this from,
I don’t know exactly what it is that you‘re facing But I
believe with all my heart that God will want me to tell you this; “If you
will wrestle with Me ( God) about it, I will make sure you come out victorious.
I can see that it’s the devil that’s coming against you. Don’t bother about
him, he doesn’t have the keys of hades and death anymore. I took them away
from him when I descended to hell after I gave up Myself on the cross. He is
just bluffing. How can he open the gate of death for you when he doesn’t have
the keys?
“I am he that liveth, and was
dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and
of death. Rev 1:18
Friend do not quit on any issue until you have
wrestled with God about it. Your victory is God’s victory, therefore God will
not have a problem changing His mind regarding something that seems obvious, I
know that the doctors have decided on it and signed it off. But remember
that Lazarus was already dead for four days before Jesus showed up and called
him out of the tomb.
As I meditate on this subject, the picture that comes
to mine mind is that of a little boy and his Dad on the long tennis court,
competing against each other.
As the game commenced, the Father noticed the desire
and desperation in the heart of His child to win and at the same time He
realized his advantage over him which makes it impossible for His child to win
the game. Then as the game lingers the Father noticed that His child is not
giving up on his faith to win the game even with his knowledge of the fact that
his Dad is more skilled and stronger than him. And immediately, the Father
stopped playing like He would normally play if He were to be playing against a
real competitor. And eventually, the child won the game.
This is exactly what happens every time a child of God
persists and refuses to give up on any situation, even when God has said no
previously.
This is what happens to men and women who decide to
wrestle with God rather than quit in the face of danger.
Chose to wrestle with Him today regarding that issue
and He will give you the victory
