The Struggle of Faith

Genesis 31-33

            Nothing is ever as simple as it seems. Yesterday, Jacob resorted to magic to grow his flocks; today he acknowledges that it was the Lord the whole time. Today, Jacob is in abject fear of his father-in-law and his brother, but he also remembers God’s promise. At the same time he recalls that the Lord had made promises to him, Jacob refuses to call the Lord his God; it’s always the God of my father.

            Faith is not binary; it’s not on or off. We walk by faith and sometimes we walk with confidence in that faith; we walk by faith and sometimes we walk in that faith with fear and trembling. This is the normal walk of faith, and Jacob is no different.

            No wonder, then, that the Lord names Jacob Israel. No wonder the name Israel stuck to His chosen people. No wonder the New Testament describes the church as the new Israel. For we all struggle with God. In some seasons of life, His promises are right before us and we feel blessed; in other season, we wonder where that promised blessing is.

            Two great verses to consider in this regard are Hebrew 11:1, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see,” and Romans 8:24-25, “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

            This “now/not yet” shows in the climactic story of Jacob’s life, wrestling with God on the banks of the Jabbok. On the one hand, Jacob is tenacious: even after his hip is wrenched, he refuses to let go. On the other hand, he is marked, presumably for the rest of his life, with the resulting limp. To me, this is a fitting metaphor for faith, holding tenaciously to God’s promises and bearing the mark of the struggle.