Bear Hug for a Stinker
When We Wrestle with God
Genesis 32; Hebrews 11:21
God Loves Stinkers
My Tennessee grandaddy would have called Jacob a “stinker”—a youngster you couldn’t help but love, despite his exasperating behavior. I imagine God feels that way about a lot of us, a lot of the time.
If you’ve ever read the story in Genesis, Jacob schemes for his own benefit in every scene. At birth, he grabs his twin brother’s heel, lunging toward the prize of the firstborn. From then on, Jacob never ceases to manipulate or lie to gain the advantage. He doesn’t hesitate to trick his dying father or rob his hungry brother. He flaunts favoritism among his wives and sons. He strives to land on top—a brash stinker by nature. Yet, he is also clever and strong and resilient.
Jacob learns life lessons the hard way. The wreckage of his plots piles up until his cheated brother responds with an army. Jacob begs God to save him, but he still wrestles to get his way. Literally. With God. All night.
“God has bigger plans than getting Jacob out of a tough spot. God loves him more than that.”
God Wrestles Us to Bless Us
God patiently indulges Jacob’s brawl but ends the rough-housing when the rooster crows. With a touch, he wrenches the hip of the man he created from dust and gets his attention. Even then, Jacob still pants through gritted teeth, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” He doesn’t recognize God intended a blessing from the get-go. God has bigger plans than getting Jacob out of a tough spot. God loves him more than that. He calls Jacob to a better life with a new name: Israel, the promise of the nation he will become.
Jacob limped for the rest of his life, a reminder of when God pulled his exasperating stinker into a bear hug and set him straight. I can relate. Foolish choices and stubborn pride have left permanent marks on me, as well as others in my path. Self-serving relationships, cutting words, stepping on others—my stinking wreckage piles up. But when I surrender to God, even with my flailing emotions and limping from consequences, he binds me up and gives me a blessing I didn’t expect. He calls me into a better future, just like he did for Jacob.
Growing from Struggle to Faith
The book of Hebrews reveals the final scene in Jacob’s drama: “By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and worshipped as he leaned on the top of his staff. Jacob had grown from struggle into faith. He learned to offer blessings rather than grab them. And although he leaned on a staff to bear the weight his brokenness could not, he worshipped. He had found the God who loved him enough to wrestle in order to heal.