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When a health crisis stripped away her sense of security overnight, this author found herself doing what Jacob did in Genesis 32 \u2014 wrestling with God until blessing came. With warmth and hard-won honesty, she explores how God meets us in our most desperate struggles and how the wounds we carry can become the very path to knowing Him more fully.<\/p>\n
This article originally appeared in the<\/em> Just Between Us Weekly Digital Magazine<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n By\u00a0Lori Ann Wood<\/p>\n It always starts with an interesting code word, \u201cTaco!\u201d\u00a0 \u201cQuesadilla!\u00a0 \u201cSzechuan!\u201d or \u201cSirracha!\u201d shouted out from a dead silence.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This caterwaul is followed by the pounding of half a dozen feet running overhead.\u00a0 Next comes the distinct thump of elbows and knees hitting the carpeted floor.\u00a0 At that point I know wrestling has begun.<\/p>\n \u00a0My husband has had a tradition of wrestling with our children since they were little.\u00a0 He was a wrestler in high school (still owns those pants), and he has taught them the holds and rules.\u00a0 So ever since they were four or five, our kids would wrestle with my husband before bedtime (sort of counter-acted my routine for their calming bathtime).\u00a0 I was not included in this wrestling, thankfully.\u00a0 I just listened from another room, and inevitably someone would get \u201churt.\u201d\u00a0 Nothing serious, and maybe it was more feelings hurt than bodies hurt, but I always heard that plea for help before they called a truce.\u00a0 Strange thing is, they always wanted to wrestle again the next night.<\/p>\n Genesis 32<\/a> tells of another wrestling night:\u00a0 the one Jacob spent wrestling with God.\u00a0 On his way home from a 20-year sojourn with his family, Jacob was not looking forward to the reunion with his brother Esau.\u00a0 Remembering Esau\u2019s death threat, Jacob must have assumed that old wounds could still be fresh from a past deception.\u00a0 Decades earlier, Jacob had tricked his father Isaac into giving him a blessing that was meant for his older brother Esau.\u00a0 Jacob surely thought that just as the incident visited him in his conscience, Esau had likely never forgotten.\u00a0 And most importantly, Esau may have never forgiven him.<\/p>\n Want more encouragement? Read the full article in<\/em> Just Between Us Magazine on Substack<\/em><\/a>\u2014your weekly source of biblical encouragement for women.<\/em><\/p>\n Read the Full Article in the Magazine \u2192<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n