Faith in tough times - a personal reflection

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

When Paul says “all things” in that verse, does he really mean all things? Even the bad things? Even the painful things? The wrong things? The sins, even?

How do you answer that question?

Romans 8:28 is a wonderful verse. But it suffers a little through being almost too quotable – it’s one of those verses it’s easy to trot out without really thinking about it. And that can lead us to be rather complacent: “Oh well, if God really does work everything for good for those who love him, it doesn’t matter much what I do, or don’t do, does it? – he’s promised to put it right, or at least to bring good out of it…”

(I suspect too that it can have the effect of really annoying our non-Christian friends if we quote it too glibly: “There you go, you Christians, so shallow, so trite, talking as if all the pains and troubles of this life really don’t matter. Can all these things be airily dismissed by quoting a few words from the Bible? Isn’t this just ‘pie in the sky when you die’?” Let’s be careful how we witness!)

Well, I don’t doubt that Romans 8:28 is true. If God really is the Lord of all creation, and the Lord of history, how can things not work out for good for those who belong to him? (And yes, that includes our sins; even they, if truly repented of, can be midwives to new virtues coming to birth.)

With the current pandemic continuing, I’m sure all of us have derived comfort from various Bible verses akin to Romans 8:28: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear…” (Psalm 46) is a classic example. But again, words which are easy to quote may be difficult to get a strong and practical grip on.

So I find myself asking: Do such words really make a difference to me, apart from offering what might be called a passing comfort-fix?

What I’m leading up to is this: that I as an individual can cancel the truth of Romans 8:28 if my attitude is wrong. How is the pandemic going to work out for good if I slip into a complacent and even fatalistic attitude?

I realised that I had to make a choice between two opposing mind-sets: the positive and the negative.

Either I view the situation simply as an ordeal that I must endure – that’s the negative; or I view it as a challenge through which I can grow – that’s the positive. Yes, it certainly is an ordeal I must endure; but can I, by faith, make is something else too?

In John 11 we read how Jesus raised his friend Lazarus from the dead. The disciples found it hard to believe that he would allow him to die, but, mincing no words, “he told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead’…” Whereupon Thomas – “Doubting Thomas” – responded, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (John 11:14-16).

There’s a perfect example (if the word “perfect” is appropriate!) of a negative attitude: you can almost see Thomas shrugging his shoulders in hopelessness.

And the fact is that, however sincere our faith may be, we too can slip into that kind of attitude. Oh yes, we believe in theory that Romans 8:28 is true; but it makes no practical difference to the way we are.

So (I continued to ask myself) what can I do to ensure that my faith does in fact result in something positive through the coming weeks? To which the answer could only be: By making up my mind every day, even every hour, that I will look for and expect to see the presence, the power and the love of Jesus at work in, through and around me.

When I get to the end of this difficult time (assuming I do – I make no assumptions!), my prayer is that I will be a more Christlike person than I was at the beginning: a more faithful Christian; a better husband; a more loving family member; a more responsible member of society; a more thoughtful friend and neighbour – to highlight just the most obvious weaknesses.

My circumstances may be very different (and probably a lot easier) than yours. But if that prayer is answered, then and only then will Romans 8:28 have been fulfilled for me. But if it happens for me… well, why shouldn’t it also happen for you?

God really does work in all things for the good of those who love him. Lord, help us believe it, and to “trace the rainbow through the rain”!

O joy that seekest me through pain,/ I cannot close my heart to Thee;/ I trace the rainbow through the rain,/ And feel the promise is not vain/ That morn shall tearless be. Amen.

George Matheson, 1842-1906

Who needs music?

Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and pipes. Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. Genesis 4:21-22

Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him. 1 Samuel 16:23

When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Matthew 26:30

What is it about music!

I remember some years ago walking through St Pancras railway station in London. It was organised chaos: hundreds of people wheeling suitcases, struggling with ticket machines, talking anxiously into their phones. And then: the sound of… a piano.

I couldn’t quite believe it at first – it didn’t sound like piped music, not professional enough for that. But it was good, and I looked around to see where it could possibly be coming from. And then I saw him: a man sitting at an upright piano right in the middle of the concourse, and playing beautifully.

I shook my head in amazement. What a wonderful idea somebody had thought of! That man could have been playing purely for his own enjoyment, but people were gathering round to listen. And – the great thing – everyone was smiling.

If you’re on Facebook you might have seen a similar thing a few days ago: an elderly man playing “Somewhere over the rainbow”. A young woman came and stood next to him, and started to sing, resting her hand on his shoulder. It was simply beautiful – I’m tempted to use the word “magical”.

You might also have seen a video from Italy. Right in the middle of the corona virus crisis – and it’s pretty grim over there – dozens of madcrazy Italians were standing on their balconies, even on the flat roofs of their apartment blocks, and singing, belting out their music and jigging about. You couldn’t help but smile: the sheer exuberance! the sheer determination to not be downcast!

I’ve no idea how music “works” – why it is that those humanly arranged sounds and maybe words can move us to tears, perhaps of joy, perhaps of sorrow. Just little black marks on paper, after all! Something to do with the nervous system, I suppose. All I know is that it happens, and it’s wonderful.

I find myself thinking of shepherd boy David strumming his harp to tease King Saul out of one of his dark moods – what the Bible calls “an evil spirit from the Lord”.

I think too of Jesus and his disciples after celebrating the Last Supper: “when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives”. I wonder what hymn it was: a psalm, probably. What were their voices like? Simon Peter a booming bass? Jesus a rich tenor?

For many of us, while music might be quite important, it’s probably on the fringes of our lives: a luxury rather than a necessity.

But then I thought of Jubal (all right, I had to check on his name first). Right in the earliest days of human life on earth this man is described as “the father of all who play stringed instruments and pipes”. The remarkable thing is that his name is sandwiched between that of Jabal, the first farmer and livestock-breeder, and that of Tubal-Cain, the first craftsman and tool-maker.

Farming and tool-making are pretty important activities – yet music-making is right up there with them. Which can only mean, surely, that it is important in the eyes of God, indeed a true gift from God.

God’s people, both Old and New Testament, have always been a singing, music-making people: my Bible concordance offers some two hundred references to people singing, some organised into big choirs, some simply singing alone. A favourite of mine is Acts 16:25, where we read that Paul and Silas, confined to a dungeon with their feet in the stocks, “were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them” (what a witness!).

It may be that music isn’t your thing, and that’s no sin. (I knew a woman once who, when I became her pastor, felt she had to explain to me why she never sang in services: “Don’t think I’m a hard-hearted sinner – I’m just tone-deaf”.) But those uplifting experiences I’ve described reminded me that, for most people, music can have a powerful effect, and that God is pleased to use it for our blessing.

So I encourage us all to remember the people who write our songs and hymns, those who compose the music, and those who play it. How dull and flat life in general and church life in particular would be without this great gift.

And at a time when many of us are unable to come together to sing, well, we can always do so on our own. After all, it only takes one person to “make a joyful noise to the Lord”.

Dear Father, thank you for the wonderful gift of music. Please continue to inspire those who have musical gifts, in writing, in composing and in playing. And please bring me to that day when I will join the heavenly choir singing “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honour and glory and power, for ever and ever!” Amen.

When everything's uncertain...

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15

James the brother of Jesus was nothing if not a practical man; his letter – just five chapters – is full of down-to-earth teaching. And nowhere is this more so than in these few verses at the end of chapter 4.

He addresses people who are good at planning ahead. He seems to have trades people particularly in mind; but what he says is relevant to anyone who imagines they have a strong handle on the future: “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow!”

Among other things, this is a warning against arrogance and self-centredness. It reinforces the teaching of Jesus in his story of “the rich fool” (Luke 12:16-21); it also echoes the words of various Old Testament passages, such as Proverbs 27:1: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring”.

But most of all, it reminds us that the future is uncertain. And I couldn’t get it out of my mind as coverage of the coronavirus keeps unfolding.

Like many of us, I am used to making plans and expecting them, generally speaking, to happen. But suddenly that is just no longer the case. Sports events I was looking forward to… meetings I expected to attend… people I was hoping to see… responsibilities I was due to fulfil… little treats I felt I was entitled to… suddenly all these things are shrouded in uncertainty. And I don’t like it very much!

In all my life, this is something I have never experienced before. Just yesterday people over seventy were asked to “self-isolate”. I vaguely thought to myself, “Oh well, yes, I suppose that might be a good precaution to take”. And then I thought, like a four-year-old told he can’t go to the park, “Hang on a minute – that means me! Boo-hoo, not fair”. Again, I didn’t like it very much…!

Two main thoughts came to mind.

First, this is exactly how it has been for untold millions of people down through the centuries – and how it still is for vast numbers today. Those of us who have enjoyed the luxury of filling our diaries in confident expectation that those entries will be fulfilled are in a very small and privileged minority.

Without in any way making light of the present crisis, that thought helped me to get it into perspective. This is a time for clear, calm faith in God –  and for practical action to respond to what’s happening, especially for those most at risk. And not for feelings of self-pity! I have no entitlement to that luxurious way of life I have unthinkingly enjoyed.

My second thought was to wonder just how much, in reality, God is generally involved in my planning.

It isn’t wrong to plan, of course – I don’t think James is suggesting that. Indeed, it may be irresponsible not to. But it is wrong to plan as if we are the lords of our own lives. If we are Christians, we aren’t: Jesus is Lord (as we perhaps rather glibly sing). And that means that if we make our plans without reference to him we are saying one thing with our lips but something else with our actions. Which means we are hypocrites.

As James puts it: we ought to say, “if it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this and that”. We are not to take anything for granted.

Like everyone else I very much hope that the present emergency will be short-lived and more limited in its effects than we are being led to fear. Our chief thoughts must be for the sick, the frail, those who suffer with depression and other mental health issues. Of course.

But having said that, I think it’s right to add this: surely, in the long run, it’s no bad thing for us all to be reminded of the uncertainty and shortness of life. Still more, if a situation like the present one has the effect of driving us afresh into the arms of God, that can only be good.

I started with a no-nonsense word from James. Perhaps it’s appropriate to finish with a reassuring word from the psalmist: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging… The Lord Almighty is with us” – Psalm 46.

And something like this seems a reasonable prayer to pray…

Dear Father, please help me in this difficult time to be a trusting believer, a calming presence, a responsible citizen, and a good neighbour. Have mercy upon our world – and in the coming weeks may many make that life-changing journey from fear to faith as they reach out to Jesus, who died and rose again. Amen.

Meet a friend...

The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded. He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin…” When Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage... 2 Chronicles 15

I suspect that, since you are reading this Bible-based blog, you will know quite a bit about many Bible characters – Old Testament figures such as Abraham and Moses, Hannah, Elijah and Isaiah, David and Solomon, and New Testament ones like Mary, Peter, Paul and Stephen.

But I wonder if the name of Azariah son of Oded means anything to you?

To be honest, Bible figures don’t come much more obscure than him. He pops up out of nowhere, appears for just seven verses, and then sinks back into the mists of time. We know his father’s name – Oded – but that’s about it. To add insult to injury, he is just one of some twenty (!) Azariahs in the Old Testament.

But I like him. He has been like a friend to me for many years. So, just in case you have never met him before, I want to introduce him to you. (To get the full story it doesn’t take long to read the whole of 2 Chronicles 15 – just nineteen verses.)

He was a prophet who spoke to Asa King of Judah when he was returning from victory in battle. In essence, he gave Asa a threefold message, each aspect of which we can still take and apply to ourselves.

First, there is a challenge and a warning (verse 2): “The Lord is with you when you are with him…”. Note that “when”… implying: only make sure you stay close to God, Asa, or it will be the worse for you!

Second, there is a potted history lesson in verses 3-6: Learn from the past, Asa, because even though God loves you, he is not to be trifled with!

And third, there is a word of encouragement (verse 7): “Be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded”. Again, note the proviso. No resting on your laurels, Asa.

There are two main reasons I warm to Azariah son of Oded.

First, he shows great courage.

Prophets who dared to confront kings could come to a sticky end, and often did. But see how bold Azariah is in addressing Asa: “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Jerusalem…” There’s no mincing of words there, is there? The Spirit of God was in his heart, and the word of God was on his lips – and that’s a pretty powerful combination.

Whether we are prophets or preachers or neither, God needs people like that today in a world where so many are indifferent to him at best and hostile to him at worst. He needs men and women of stature and authority, people who are like that not because they hold any particular position in life, but simply because of their Christlike character. Is that you? Is it me? In our workplaces? In our neighbourhoods?

The message is simple: get to know God and his word well, and be filled daily with the Holy Spirit. The spiritual stature and authority will follow.

And let’s never forget the many thousands of such people around the world today who don’t get such a favourable response as Azariah got from Asa; people  who are stuck in prisons, or made to suffer in other ways (take a look at Hebrews 13:3). They need our daily prayers.

Second, I like Azariah because his obscurity didn’t limit his usefulness.

He reminds us that even “little” people – people who might be dismissed as anonymous non-entities – can make a great impact. It’s not too much to say that Azariah changed the course of history. Even though Asa was basically a good king, there was still a lot for him to do. And after the encounter with Azariah didn’t he just do it!

He initiated what I can only call a spiritual spring-clean (verse 8) – he brought about a revival in the nation of Judah. This is beautifully summed up in verse 12: the whole nation “entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul.” Granted, later on the nation slipped back into their bad old ways, and even Asa, sadly, rather lost his way. But that wasn’t Azariah’s fault.

What matters is this: Azariah did what God called him to do, and he did it without fear or favour. I hope the same can be said of us.

So… I invite you to reflect on the ministry of this little-known man; may he be an inspiration to you, as he has been to me.

Father, thank you for the immense variety of people who make up your church – not only the few whose names we know, but also the “little people” who make such a massive contribution. Whatever the role you have for me, help me to fulfil it with discipline, faith and courage – even in the spirit of Azariah son of Oded. Amen.

An unsung virtue

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23

There are people who sometimes get described as “unsung heroes”. They don’t hit the headlines or make a big impact, but they do make a big contribution to the success of the things they are involved in. They are far more important than they might seem.

I think too there are qualities that could be described as “unsung virtues”, and I want to focus on one.

I imagine we all know Paul’s great list of “the fruit of the Spirit” here in Galatians 5. Just reading it through again has a bracing, challenging, cleansing effect: oh to be more like this! Quite likely we tend to linger on the first three – “love, joy, peace” –  perhaps because, subconsciously, we like the fact that they are each just one syllable, unlike the others, and therefore easier to get our heads round.

But what’s this at number four? The New International Version has “forbearance”, the New Revised Standard Version, the Good News  Bible and the English Standard Version all have “patience”, The Message has “a willingness to stick with things”, while the King James Version has the old-fashioned word, “long-suffering”. Other possible translations might be “perseverance”, “endurance”, “persistence”, even “steadfastness”.

Various shades of meaning, and in the New Testament there is a cluster of Greek words which are used to convey the general idea. And what I’m leading up to is that they are far more common, and more important, than we might imagine.

In Romans 5 Paul has not so much a list as a chain: “… we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (verses 3-4). The key word there is “character”, highlighting the fact that what matters about us isn’t so much the gifts we have as the personal qualities we demonstrate: what kind of people are we? And character, says Paul, is the slow, gradual outgrowth of perseverance.

Let me focus on three main aspects of perseverance…

First, “patience”.

To me, this is simply the willingness to quietly get on with the everyday, routine duties and responsibilities of the Christian life. Which can be hard, because (changing the image) the Christian life is a marathon rather than a sprint. Starting is easy enough; what matters is to keep going. It’s in this sense that I rather like “stickability”.

We shouldn’t mistake this for what might be called “flogging a dead horse”; there are times to recognise that the moment has come to call a halt. How many man- and woman-hours are wasted – how much precious energy expended – in refusing to recognise that such a time has come? I heard recently about a pastor who refused to accept that his church had, in effect, ceased to exist – even though often he was the only person who turned up.

No. Perseverance in this sense is the cheerful determination not to give up just because it’s hard. Remember Jesus’ word of warning: “No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).

Second, “endurance”.

This is, if you like, patience-plus – patience in the teeth of real problems and hardships. It applies particularly, of course, to the experience of persecution, and figures several times in the Book of Revelation. Jesus commends the church of Philadelphia because, he says, “you have kept my command to endure patiently” (Revelation 3:10).

As I write, just after International Women’s Day, I have in mind Asia Bibi, a wife and mother who was recently released from nearly ten years in captivity on charges of blasphemy under Pakistani law. Also Leah Sharibu, a 16-year-old girl kidnapped two years go in her home country of Nigeria, and refusing to accept release at the cost of denying Jesus. What endurance! – and, of course, these two women represent thousands of others whose names we don’t know.

Pray for all who have to exercise such endurance!

Third, “forbearance” or “long-suffering”.

This has been defined as “putting up with people you would like to put down”. That’s quite clever, and we may find ourselves grimly smiling: our fellow-Christians aren’t always easy to get on with!

But I think the words “putting up with” aren’t really right. For we are, after all, not only to put up with but actually to love even our enemies – how much more, then, our fellow-believers!

I heard of a church that regarded difficult and tiresome members as falling into the category of EGR – “extra grace required”. Perhaps that captures it better (as long as we keep in mind that, who knows, it might just be us that’s on somebody’s EGR list…).

Why not do a Bible search to see how important this notion is in the New Testament? It will help us to be truly grateful for those dear Christians who exemplify this quality – and hopefully also to inspire us to exemplify it ourselves.

And as you do so, keep in mind the words of CH Spurgeon: “By perseverance the snail reached the ark”.

Father, when things get tiresome and tough, help me to see this as an opportunity to develop the grace of perseverance and not to give up. Amen.

Wrestling with God (2)

Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Genesis 32:22-32

Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Jesus Christ, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you… Colossians 4:12

Last time, thinking about the story of Jacob wrestling with the stranger at Peniel, I only had space to reflect on the lead-up to the event and the event itself. But there’s a lot to think about also in what follows. So back to where we left off…

3 The aftermath of the encounter.

Morning dawns. The stranger has gone, and Jacob, no doubt shaken to the core, emerges to resume what we might call his “normal” life. But it will be very different from what it was like twelve hours earlier. Jacob has gained at least three very significant things…

First, a new blessing.

The stranger refuses to tell Jacob his name – it’s as if the mystery of God remains inviolate. But the writer nonetheless tells us: “Then he blessed him there” (verse 29).

If ever a person didn’t deserve God’s blessing, surely it was Jacob. So he stands for us as an example, right near the beginning of the Bible, of God’s grace – which essentially means God treating us exactly as we don’t deserve.

We aren’t told precisely what the blessing consisted of – perhaps it was mainly a  confirmation of the promise Jacob had received during the staircase-to-heaven vision: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac… Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go…” (Genesis 28:13-15). That’s quite a blessing!

Perhaps, in particular, Jacob had failed to grasp the significance of those words “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you…”, and God needed to hammer them home again. God blesses his people in order to make them a blessing to others. Is this how we view ourselves when we pray for blessing? – as channels, not simply recipients? There’s a big, big difference.

Second, a new identity.

Along with the blessing comes a new name. His birth name, “Jacob”, probably means “he grasps”, recalling his baby grip on his brother Esau at the moment of birth, and suggesting a cheat or a deceiver. His new name is “Israel” – the man who struggled with God. Struggled, yes; but also “overcame” (verse 28).

This is the kind of person God can take and use. We today, of course, take for granted the fact that Jacob’s new name was to become the name of a whole new nation, a name still in use in 2020. He didn’t know that. But we see God weaving this man into his eternal purposes.

And he wants to do exactly the same thing with us. We need to grasp that when we come to faith in Christ we too receive a new identity. All right, we may continue to bear the name we have always borne; but we are new people, born again by the power of the Holy Spirit and given a whole new destiny by God.

Here’s a question to ask ourselves: Do I live, day by day, true to my new identity in Christ? Or, in truth, am I still the old man, the old woman, living as if I had never met with God and experienced his grace?

Third, a new limp!

In some ways, stating the fact that Jacob’s hip “was wrenched as he wrestled with the man” seems rather odd. So what? Isn’t that the kind of thing that might be expected during a ferocious wrestling-match?

Well, maybe. But the writer seems to attach significance to it, for having mentioned it in verse 25, he then returns to it at the end of the story: “The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip” (verse 31). And even more: “To this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon” (verse 32).

If nothing else, we are reminded that a close encounter with God, while a wonderful thing, is not likely to be a comfortable thing! I suspect Simon Peter found this to be the case when Jesus called him “Satan”. Saul of Tarsus, too, as he was felled and blinded on the road to Damascus. And didn’t Jesus himself tell his followers to anticipate it? – even to the extent of taking up their cross.

Many fine Christians down the centuries have testified to the pain that often comes along with the blessing. If today you are finding the way painful, perhaps this can serve as an encouragement…

And – who knows? – perhaps one day Jacob/Israel will greet us with a smile: “It was better to hobble to heaven than stroll to hell, wasn’t it?”

Father, thank you that by faith in Jesus I am a new person in him. Give me determination and perseverance, whatever the pain and the cost, to live out my new identity until that day when I see him face to face. Amen.

Wrestling with God (1)

Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Genesis 32:22-32

Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Jesus Christ, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you… Colossians 4:12

“He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favour.”

That’s how the prophet Hosea describes the mysterious story of Jacob’s encounter with God at Peniel (Hosea 12:4). It captures the paradox of the story – Jacob’s strength in wrestling and overcoming; and his weakness in weeping and pleading.

Jacob might well qualify for that ugliest of descriptions, “a nasty piece of work”. From birth a trickster, liar and cheat, he is yet conscious that the hand of God is on him, and that he is intended for great things. Not even the awesome experience of Bethel (Genesis 28), when he saw the staircase to heaven and heard the voice of God, has succeeded in humbling him. Nor has his treatment at the hands of Laban (Genesis 29) – a splendid case of the biter bit. Still he pursues his devious way.

But now crisis point has come. He is about to meet his twin brother Esau after many years; and he knows that Esau has every right to harbour a pretty hefty grudge against him. Will he in fact kill him?

This is the background to Jacob’s night-time wrestling-match with the “man” of Genesis 32:22-32.

Various aspects are worth noticing…

1 The lead-up to the encounter.

For one thing, Jacob, perhaps for the first time in his life, offers God a humble and sincere prayer. Going back to 32:9-12 you find that he is thoroughly scared – and it shows. He takes elaborate precautions to protect himself, but most telling of all is his simple prayer of humility and helplessness: “O God… I am unworthy…”

It’s a fact that often our prayers only come alive and authentic when we are face to face with the bitter truth about ourselves and the kind of people we have allowed ourselves to become… I’m not really a very nice person at all: no, I have been selfish, jealous, vindictive and spiteful; I have thought only of myself and what I want; I have looked down on people who are far better than me…

God has to bring us low before he can lift us high; but the thing we may not learn until much later is that he does so out of love.

It’s worth noticing too that the encounter takes place in total solitude. Jacob has ferried his family across the brook Jabbok, as if sensing that something is about to happen that will change the course of his life. He needs to be alone.

Praying with others, as far as I am concerned, is one of the great joys of the Christian life, not least of course within marriage. But how much we need also to make time and space for solitude! How else can we expect God to cut through the blanket of noise and activity in which we wrap ourselves, in order to meet with us and re-channel our lives?

Jacob named the place of this encounter “Peniel” – “the face of God”. Are any of us overdue for a solitary, face-to-face session with God?

2 The encounter itself.

The image of two figures grimly wrestling is a powerful one. Can you see them? – grunting, sweating, straining. Could anything be more primal?

But a clinch, of course, can signify more than one thing: love as well as enmity, dependence as well as defiance. Jacob clings for dear life to the God he fears.

Isn’t this sometimes mirrored in our own experience of God? Sometimes we fear him and feel angry with him – even, perhaps (dare we admit it?), hate him. Yet who do we turn to in times of greatest need but to him? You think of a child bursting into tears of rage at its mother’s rebuke – only then to throw itself into that same mother’s arms for comfort. (A friend told me of a time when his little daughter had fallen out with her mother and decided to write her an angry letter: “Dear Mummy, I hate you. Love, Becky.”)

God can sometimes seem our direst enemy; in reality he is our dearest friend.

The truly striking thing is that Jacob is said to have overcome! He grapples with God and gets the victory, his desire for divine blessing so overmastering, so utterly intense, that even God cannot prevail. “I will not let you go unless you bless me” he breathes through gritted teeth (to my mind one of the most magnificent utterances in the Bible). And the stranger is forced to draw on supernatural resources of strength in order to get the better of him; with a touch he dislocates Jacob’s hip.

Do we ever think of “overcoming” God with the sheer intensity of our prayers? The very idea seems almost blasphemous. But perhaps this is exactly what God is waiting for – perhaps he prefers a holy boldness to a bland apathy.

I love Paul’s little comment about Epaphras (Colossians 4:12): he wrestled in prayer for the Colossian Christians.

Lord, teach me to pray!

As well as the lead-up to the encounter, and the encounter itself, I intended to reflect also on the aftermath of the encounter. But I’m afraid that will have to wait until next time…

Lord God, I know that I cannot have a personal Peniel to order, but I do pray that you will give me a greater desire for intimacy with yourself, and something of Jacob’s intensity in clinging to you until the blessing comes. Amen.