I’ve played nearly every popular sport that the average American girl chooses to play. Baseball, soccer, basketball, volleyball – I’ve tried them all. But even with all of that incredible experience to my name (I’ll never forget that my baseball coach used to congratulate me for “making contact with the ball”), I’ve never considered taking up wrestling. It’s too violent, too difficult, too scary for my taste. But the story of Jacob sparked an interest in this high-intensity sport.

Two years ago, I listened to a powerful sermon by Pastor John Lindell of James River Church. (You can listen to it yourself here.) He shared the story of Jacob and how it was only when Jacob wrestled with God that he was able to receive God’s blessing.

Jacob was a rascal, and his wrestling stemmed from his own patterns of deceit. Born the second of twins, his life was marked by a desperate striving for what God had already promised him. He tricked his way into stealing the blessing and birthright from his brother, Esau. As he ran from his brother’s wrath, his deceit and its consequences followed him to the home of his uncle Laban. After marrying Laban’s daughters and serving his uncle for many years, Jacob and his growing family departed, returning to his homeland.

Here Jacob’s story begins to be redefined. On the journey home, Jacob heard that his brother Esau was coming to meet him and his family. He was terrified; but while he prepared to face his greatest fear, God met him in the wilderness.

All that night, Jacob wrestled with an angel of the Lord. There was no clear victor until the angel touched Jacob’s hip socket, asking Jacob to let him go. However, Jacob refused (stubborn guy), replying, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” In response, the angel did something significant: he asked Jacob his name.

I imagine that this simple question froze Jacob in his tracks. Perhaps for the first time, he admitted to himself what God already knew. He was a deceiver, a sinner, and a failure who had fallen far short of his grandfather’s legacy of faith and bravery. There, in the presence of God, he admitted who he was.

Instead of agreeing with Jacob, the angel did something unexpected; he changed Jacob’s name. “Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome’” (Gen. 32:28). When Jacob submitted to God, he made it possible for God to use him.

Only wrestling with God can free us from ourselves. So often, we lived trapped in cages made of culture’s expectations, our own dreams, our sin and its habits, and a lack of understanding of God’s love. But in wrestling we come face to face with the Lord of Hosts. No area of our lives can remain unaffected. We find that our perspectives, our desires, our attitudes, and our dreams are broken in His presence. This fierce exercise redefines who we are as it makes us aware of who He is.

Wrestling with God is never a one-time fix or an easy answer; it’s place we have to come to again and again. Every time we come face-to-face with our own lack, we must come into His presence and let Him wrestle things out of us. We must let Him redefine us, refusing to let go until we experience His blessing.

How do we reach this place of wrestling? Sometimes we arrive out of a place of fear or desperation, as Jacob did, or from a place of hurt and confusion (I highly recommend you listen to Pastor Craig Groeschel’s Hope in the Dark message series for more on this topic). Other times, it is birthed from personal struggle or deep-rooted desires. As we grow spiritually, wrestling also begins to stem from a desire for holiness.

Whatever your reason, be encouraged: You don’t have to be a heavyweight professional to benefit from a wrestling match with God. The blessing of wrestling is not in the results, but in the encounter with the One we’re wrestling.

I hope that as we make this journey together – as we wrestle with God and His grace, as we let Him redefine the very core of our beings – that you receive the blessing of His presence. For as I am learning in my own wrestling, “in His presence there is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11, MEV).

Welcome to the wrestling.