Learning To Trust God for the Help I Need

In review of Genesis 32:26 it says, “Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me’” (NLT).

Bottom Line:

We may wrestle with things for a while before a solution comes.

What this means to me:

God could have overpowered Jacob, but choose to wait and let Jacob wrestle with him. Things may not always get solved right away.

In Genesis 32 we see Jacob wrestling with God. It says that a man came and wrestled with Jacob until the dawn began to break. When the man saw that the match would not be won, he touched Jacob's hip and wrenched it out of its socket. Then the man said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!" But Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."

In this instance Jacob continued this wrestling match all night just to be blessed. He was persistent. I’m learning that God encourages persistence in all areas of my life, including the spiritual. Today I need to consider where in my spiritual life do I need more persistence? Strong character will develop as I struggle through tough conditions.

It’s obvious that when God and Jacob entered their wrestling match, God could have overpowered Jacob and ended things instantly. So why did God let the struggle go on?

Here’s what I can learn about this: When God allows a crisis into my life, he doesn’t solve it immediately. He lets it go on for a while because he wants to see if I’m really serious about seeking him. If God answered every prayer immediately, I’d begin to think God was a big vending machine: Put in a prayer, pull out whatever I need.

Back when I was in serious debt, all I wanted was for financial miracle to occur in my life. However, I didn’t get into debt miraculously. I had a history of poor financial habits that keep me stuck in debt. It was a result of foolish decisions. I spent more money than I was making. I didn’t save for the lean times. Overall I didn’t use my money wisely.

Given that, why should God just immediately bail me out of any crisis or problem? If God had just instantly bailed me out my financial crisis which was rooted in my poor choices, then I would just go out and overspend again. I wouldn’t learned discipline, money management, wisdom, or persistence. God is not just going to bail me out of the debt I got myself into; he will help me get out of debt, but he really wants to build my character in the process.

So for today’s crisis, I am to hang in there and not give up. I shouldn’t run from it or try to escape it. Most problems I experience didn’t get there overnight. I may have worked years getting myself into this mess. I have some ingrained patterns, bad responses, and wrong habits that have built up over the years. So God isn’t going to remove those all at once. It’s more like peeling an onion; he takes it off one layer at a time. But there’s the hope. God is with me and he is for me. When I ask God for help, and trust him to provide, I’ll experience the peace of his wisdom and blessing.

I’m thinking my current situation God is wanting me to work on my natural habit of procrastination and taking initiative. I need to push out of my comfort zone and take immediate action. Today I will trust God for the help I need.