A Fighting Spirit - The One That Perseveres With God And Man
You ever feel like you’re in a continuous fight? Then you probably know what it’s like to wrestle with both man and God.
Some seasons it’s going to just be a fight, and that’s okay. Why? Because you come out on the other end blessed if you don’t give up. We learn this from our good friend, Jacob.
In Genesis 32, Jacob is getting ready to head back to his brother Esau and ask for peace after years of not seeing each other. What’s with the distance? Well, Jacob stole Esau’s birth right through manipulative means- a scheme devised by his mother so that he would be blessed. Esau is not blameless either- he gave his birth right up for some stew, which is a different topic for another day.
Years go by and in the process, Jacob has acquired two wives, two female servants, eleven sons, and hundreds of cattle. But it came a time when God told Jacob to go back to his father’s land and all will be well with him. That does not mean that Jacob forgot what he did, or that it was magically cleared. No- he remembered very well, to the point that he even tries to appease Esau on the way.
On the way there, with his entire family and possessions, Jacob sends messengers ahead of him to tell Esau that he is on the way. Esau has 400 men with him and this frightens Jacob. So Jacob being Jacob devises a plan and splits his camp into two, saying, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.” Isn’t is just like us that when we’re faced with trouble we revert to our old ways and come up with a plan to save ourselves? But that demonstrates the fighting spirit within Jacob and the fighting spirit within us.
Then Jacob prays. Far too often we devise the plan THEN pray, but that’s our human nature. Anyway, FOCUS Sandra.
Jacob says to God “O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant,
“For with only my staff, I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps”
Jacob remembers 1) What God said: return to your country that I may do you good. 2) Who God is: a God of steadfast love and faithfulness. 3) What God has done: enlarged his territory from just a man with a staff to a man with two camps. In your wrestle with God, do you remember his promises, his love, and his deliverance? You may be in the battle, in the thick of it, frightened for your life, but in those moments is when you need to hold on to the essence of God the most- a promise keeper, a redeemer, and a deliverer.
Jacobs goes on and asks God to deliver him from his brother Esau, remembering his promise to do him good. After this, Jacob takes a gift from what he owns. Now, God did not explicitly tell Jacob to give Esau a gift, but this may be divine movement after he prayed. Sometimes, the Holy Spirit stirs in you- you yourself don’t even know how, after praying. After this, Jacob sends the two camps ahead of him, but he stays behind and falls asleep. A man meets him there and starts to wrestle with him.
Imagine wrestling while you’re trying to sleep ahead of one of the biggest meetings of your life. Okay. But this was not any ordinary showdown; this was a life-changing interaction with God. The man wrestled with Jacob till daybreak. Imagine wrestling for that long. Jacob had a fighting spirit and was determined to not give up, to the point that the man had to touch the hip socket in order for the fight to end. And even then, the fight was not over. Jacob still had more in him. As the man asked Jacob to let him go, Jacob said “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Our good friend Jacob knows how to get his blessings. OKAY! First from his brother, and now through the Lord Almighty. It’s then that the Lord asks Jacob “What is your name?” And he answers him, “Jacob.” The man says “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
Wow wow wow wow wow. God sees your struggles. God sees how you wrestle day in and day out. God rewards a fighting spirit. Have you ever had fight after fight? And prevailed against them all? Jacob fought with his father-in-law, Laban. Laban tried to deceive him and give him Leah in marriage, when Jacob really wanted Rachel. How about Jacob fought to the point that he had both Leah AND Rachel. Jacob was not unfamiliar with fighting. He knew how to persevere to get what he wanted; he knew how to persevere to see the blessings of God. God saw this, and though Jacob was a manipulator and deceiver, he changed his destiny that day so that he was one was who prevails with God.
A fighting spirit is a winning spirit. This interaction was a turning point in Jacob’s life. Though this was the last of Jacob’s manipulation, this does not mean this was the last of his struggles. Even in the midst of his future struggles, he persevered and maintained within his heart God’s promises.
So I ask you today, do you have a fighting spirit? Are you currently in the thick of it, with what seems like a fight at every angle ? Take heart that God sees your struggles, he knows your struggles, and he desires to bless you, change your name, and change your destiny, if only you persevere. Take heart. Keep steady. And stay bold. God loves you and is wrestling right along with the fighter in you. Love you and keep fighting.
And that ladies and gentlemen is the 211.
