Gen. 32:9-12; Mt. 12:15-21, Embracing the Will of God

The prayer of Jacob in today’s passage is a truly great prayer.  He calls upon God and bolsters his faith in all the right ways.  He recognizes something special about God as the God of his fathers.  He comes in humility: I am not worthy.  He acknowledges his own weakness and inability to do anything about the problem: I fear him.  And twice he reminds God of what He, the LORD, said: You told me to come back here, and You promised to make my descendants numerous.

And yet, later, the same night, Jacob is wrestling with God.  Didn’t he already put this in God’s hands?  Didn’t he correctly understand the will of God?  Why is he still struggling with God (Hosea 12:3)?  And not only that, why is he still trying to appease Esau by his own methods (32:13-21)?

Let me ask the question again with another Person.  We have one of those situations is in today’s reading where Jesus told people not to tell others about His miracles.  Jesus knew why He had come to earth.  A little later in his ministry He would begin telling the Twelve that they would be going to Jerusalem where He would be mistreated, crucified and then raised.  When He told people not to testify to His greatness it seems He was acting on His understanding that He must be rejected by Israel in order for the gospel to reach the Gentiles.  That is what this passage says.  Jesus knew the will of God for Him in the incarnation.

If that is the case, and it is, what is all the agony about in the Garden of Gethsemane?  He was in such emotional distress that He sweat drops of blood.  Jesus struggled with His Father as the cross became imminent, even though He knew it was the plan He was to follow.

Can I just mention one other story?  In 1 Sam. 28 King Saul was fearful facing the Philistines.  He paid a visit to a witch who, by the permission of God, arranged a meeting of Saul with the dead prophet Samuel.  Samuel predicted Saul’s death, which left Saul in even greater fear.  His response, at the witch’s encouragement, was to eat a meal.  Then he went back to the camp, got up the next day, went to war and died.  There is no wrestling with God.  No agonizing prayer.  Just agony.  And then, seemingly, resignation to what he knew was God’s will.

Here is what I think makes sense in these stories.  It is never sufficient for me to just say “it’s my lot in life.”  Or even to say, “it’s the will of God.”  The will of God must be embraced, which is the best word at the moment I can find to express what it means to pursue God’s will by faith.  Jesus, after struggling in prayer, faced the mob and the Sanhedrin and Pilate in full confidence.  He had not only come to have the right knowledge for the moment; He had the right heart, if you will.  It’s what we all should understand about faith: it is not just accepting or receiving Jesus, and it is that.  But faith without works is dead.  Faith will express itself as we change our attitudes and actions to fit the confession we have made.