“But as he considered these things …an angel of the Lord appeared to him saying…do not fear to take Mary as your wife.”  -Matthew 1:20

When was the last time you truly wrestled with God?

Wrestling with God is a sign you are making a habit of encountering Him.  Here is the process we continually walk through with God. We encounter Him in life when conviction, call, or crisis comes.  It’s in the midst of these things He reveals Himself, His plans, and His invitation to follow Him.  If we commit to walking in obedience we will experience His presence in powerful ways as this process of encountering, engaging, and experiencing God repeats itself.

The problem, for most of us, is we are not willing to intentionally engage Him.  Engaging God is the great wrestling match that takes place when we realize that every encounter reveals a necessary change.  Change costs us.  It may cost us our comfortable life as we take steps of faith, it may cost us a change in a behavior that we didn’t realize was not pleasing to the Lord.  It may cost us honest humility and forgiveness in order to repair a broken relationship.  Regardless of what it costs us, there is always a wrestling match that takes place before we are truly ready to walk in obedience.

Engaging God is asking God the types of questions Moses asked after he realized what God was calling him to…

“Who am I that I should…”  (Exodus 3:11)  or “…what shall I say to them?”  (Exodus 3:13)

These are the questions people ask when they wrestle with God.  They are the questions people ask as they are processing how much faith they have to exercise in God’s ability to accomplish what they cannot accomplish on their own.  These are the questions people ask when they are encountering God and seeking to experience His power in their lives.  I believe these are the questions God wants us to ask.  They allow Him to continue to conform us to His image.  They are the questions that reveal our commitment to discipleship!

Joseph encountered God in Crisis, and as he made critical life decisions we see Him wrestling with God.  So what are some things God has been speaking to you about?  What are the encounters that reveal some things need to change?  The correcting work of His word?  The convicting work of His Spirit?  The constant work of His call to be used by Him?  There are only two responses to an encounter with God.

1. You can harden your heart and walk away.
2. You can engage Him, wrestling intensely, till He brings you to a place of submission and surrender.

Every believer wants to be blessed.  Every believer wants to experience God’s power.  However, not every believer is willing to engage God to the point of surrender.

Remember Jacob, wrestling with the Lord.  He was the “heal catcher”  He knew how to get what he wanted through deceit.  What he really wanted was to be blessed by God.  So He wrestled with the Lord.  He wrestled with the Lord all night as he cried out, “Bless Me!”  However it wasn’t till the Lord wounded Him that He blessed him.  Then God gave him favor and changed his name to Israel.  Then God made him into a man who truly knew the favor of God in his life.  Do you want to experience God this way?  Engage him!

God’s power isn’t found in our self-sufficiency.  It’s found in our complete and total surrender.  So, when God speaks to you, engage with Him.  Wrestle with him until you are exhausted and the only thing you can do is walk in obedience in order to receive His blessing and favor for His glory.