Life is not easy, especially for Christians. Perhaps it is because we are more sensitive to the evil around us; perhaps it is because we are more of a target of the enemy; or perhaps it is because sometimes we expect God to rescue us.
Any way you cut it, there are times when we struggle with life and in the midst of that struggle, we begin to wrestle with God.
The Prophet
Habakkuk once wrestled with God. He lived in a world just like ours today. As he described it the law was ignored, justice was perverted, and the wicked surrounded the righteous. It was a world of violence in which evil seemed to thrive.
Habakkuk was frustrated not only by the injustice around him, but also by God’s apparent failure to hear his cries. In Habakkuk 1:2 he pleads with God,
“How long, O Lord, will I call for help, and You will not hear?”
Evidently, the prophet had been wrestling with God for some time and yet God did not seem to respond.
What we learn in the book of Habakkuk was that God actually had heard the pleas of the prophet and did have a plan in place to deal with the problem. God’s plan was something that Habakkuk would never have expected and most likely would never have wanted. Essentially, God tells Habakkuk that things were going to get a lot worse before they got any better. In verse 5 of Habakkuk 1 God declares,
“Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days – you would not believe if you were told.”
God goes on to describe how He will use the fierce and evil Chaldeans as an instrument of justice. It will appear to Habakkuk that evil has increased its grip on the world but the truth will be that God will be at work. And His command to Habakkuk, who was going to have to live through the terrible times that were coming – be in AWE.
Habakkuk’s Faithful Response
By the end of the book of Habakkuk, that is exactly his response. Habakkuk’s final prayer is one of wonder and awe at the Work of God in the midst of suffering. As found in Habakkuk 3:17-19 :
“Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, and makes me walk on my high places.”
Habakkuk wrestled with God, God told him that things were going to get worse, and Habakkuk came to a point of acceptance of God’s will. That seems to be a theme in the Bible because it is exactly what happened to Jacob when he wrestled with God.
Jacob Wrestles with God
Jacob was about to face what he feared was to be his greatest challenge. His brother Esau was approaching with 400 armed men, and to the best of his knowledge, Esau was going to carry out his pledge to kill Jacob. Jacob decided to spend what might be his last night in prayer.
Instead of a peaceful time of prayer however, God appeared to Jacob and began wrestling with him. This was the real deal – it was not a struggle of minds or will – it was physical. Jacob found himself fighting God.
During the match, God touched Jacob’s leg and made him lame. So here was Jacob seeking God’s protection for the battle to come and instead of providing Jacob with confidence, power or authority, He weakens Jacob.
You might guess that Jacob would say to God, “Thanks a lot God, I came to you for help and all you do is make matters worse!” Which, when you think about it might have been Habakkuk’s response as well. But instead of complaining, Jacob held on and would not let go.
That is the ultimate lesson, when life gets tough it is all right to wrestle with God as long as we are committed to hold on to Him and never let go, no matter what happens.
Letting Go of God
I recently had the opportunity to watch this lesson play out in the life of a believer. My wife provides Biblical counseling for local prostitutes and addicts. One of them was recently arrested on drug charges.
The woman, who was a believer, decided to change her life and was hoping to be sentenced to drug rehab instead of jail. She asked my wife and I to pray for her to seek God’s leading in her life and specifically wanted to know if God intended her to go to prison rather than rehab.
Several people in our church prayed and all of us felt like God was going to send her to prison where He was going to use her in a mighty way. When she heard that, her first response was to give up on God. She told us she would follow the wiccans instead because they seemed to be getting out of jail.
Unlike Jacob and Habakkuk, she decided to let go because God was not doing what she wanted. While that was her initial response, she eventually decided to hold on to God and accept His will. We are confident, that like Jacob, she will be blessed. (It turns out she was used in a mighty way by God but that is for another post.)
No Matter What, Hold On!
When you wrestle with God there can be no expectation of winning, but you shouldn’t expect to lose either. In fact, what both Jacob and Habakkuk teach us is that the only way to lose is to give up. If you hold on and accept God’s will, you will prevail because you will be able to see God work in amazing ways.
And therein lies the ultimate victory. So when life becomes a challenge, go ahead and wrestle with God but be prepared to hold on until the very end because you will be in for the ride of your life.
Richard Spillman
Richard Spillman is a retired computer scientist who typically writes Christian non-fiction (The Passion of Job and Do What Jesus Did, both available on Amazon). His latest passion, however, is Christian fiction. His first novel, The Awakened, also available on Amazon, asks the question: “What if Lazarus didn’t die a second time?” He was led to write it after avoiding being kidnapped by ISIS in the Philippines, and then receiving death threats (to behead him in standard ISIS fashion) during the rest of his missionary service there.
Sir, thank you for this msg this is very accurate and im in the midst of this experience, nearly i gave up on my calling seeing continuous injustice, intimidation, ungratefulness ,accusing,all thru my life till this second, its like im in a whirlwind, so i told the LORD if this is going to be the case i might as well give up doing the work alloted for me, this happened yesterday, Sir this comparison of Habakuk &Jacob is perfect, sometimes to accept GOD’s worst takes a lot of courage its like a mirror broken in 1000 pieces, im a single mother for 23 yrs one dotr but even she is against me after all i have gone thru, no one is there like jacob literally my hip broken but miraculously healed in 4months yet still need someone to be at my side but i see my dotr is wanting to leave or can i say GOD wants me to let her go im going numb, makes no sense, Sir i ask you &your wife to pray for me dat i hold on to GOD. Thank you