Is your person wearing a hat? Does your person have white hair? Is your person wearing glasses? Is your person young? Is your person (fill in the blank)? Those are the type of questions you might ask when you play the game Guess Who. The object of the game is to guess the mystery person on your opponents card by asking one question each turn, and eliminating any game board faces that don’t fit the mystery person’s description.
As we read through the book of Genesis we are introduced to people like Adam, Eve, Cain, Able, Noah, Abram, Lot, Hagar, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, Joseph and many others. There is one particular portion of scripture that you will come across in Genesis 32:22-32 that introduces us to a man, a man who wrestled with Jacob. Unlike the game of Guess Who, we don’t have a physical description of who he is, we are only told that he was a man. Within the context of these verses we are given some clues that point us to the identity of the unknown wrestler. Verse 28 reads “you have struggled with God”, in verse 30 Jacob says “I saw God face to face”. Jacob wrestled with God, let that sink in for a minute… From nightfall to daybreak this indescribable wrestling match took place between Jacob and God, how can this be? God, through his divine power has revealed himself to Jacob and brought to him a blessing and renewed hope of the promise that He will always be with him.
Throughout scripture and particularly in Genesis chapter one we are introduced to the Bible’s main character – God. There should be no “Guess Who” questions or surprises when we come to knowing who God is through His word. We often read the bible with “blinders” on, this causes us to wrestle with and question who God is. The narrative of Genesis reveals God as our creator, it describes the work of the Holy Spirit and reveals the promise of His Son who will come one day to walk among us and save us from our sins. As we grow in our faith, as we wrestle with might seem like endless questions of who God is, we must remember that God is all things; hope, joy, love, peace, patience, kindness and more. Yes, Jacob wrestled with God, the text tells us that he did not let go of Him until he received his blessing. I “guess” we have to do the same. No matter what, we must hold on to the promises of God. Never let go. Take God with you everywhere you go, trust in Him, live for Him.
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