Jacob is the only person to wrestle with God literally. But countless others have wrestled with God, figuratively speaking. Have you? If God seems silent, or seems to be saying no, DON’T GIVE UP! Keep praying! Don’t quit until the Holy Spirit tells you to quit.
“A certain woman … heard of Jesus and came and fell at His feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenecian by nation, and she besought Him that He would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. But Jesus said unto her, ‘Let the children [the Jews] first be filled. For it is not meet to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs.’
And she answered and said unto Him, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.’
And He said unto her, ‘For this saying, go thy way. The devil is gone out of thy daughter.’ And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed” Mark 7:25-30.
Do you see what happened? This young mother, a woman and a Gentile, mustered up the courage to approach a Jewish rabbi and beg Him to heal her daughter, but He said no.
And she ARGUED! She argued with Jesus! She wrestled with God, like Jacob: I’M NOT LETTING YOU GO UNTIL YOU BLESS ME!
And Jesus was PLEASED! And He gave her what she asked for. He blessed her, just as God blessed Jacob simply because he fought for it.
God WELCOMES your arguments. When He seems to say no, maybe He’s just waiting to hear you argue back to Him. Jesus actually told the woman “For this saying, go thy way, the devil is gone out of thy daughter.” He LIKED her answer! He liked her argument! In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus compliments the woman for her great faith, 15:28.
It takes FAITH to argue with God. Why? Because He said no, but you have enough faith to see His heart of love, and FAITH convinces you that you can argue, plead, grapple, wrestle with God. He welcomes your arguments! Don’t give up.
“Pray without ceasing” 1 Thessalonians 5:17. “You have not because you ask not” James 4:2.
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