Written by Karen Robin Paul

Have you ever wrestled or contended with God over your worldly desires? Have you ever had moments where you’ve wanted to supress the Holy Spirit within you, just to ‘fit in’ with the world?

I know I have, and the aftermath has always left me feeling rather unpleasant.

Now there are different ways one can wrestle with God. We have the option to contend with him, against him or not at all.

Contending with the Creator

In scripture there a few places where people have contended with God and one famous story is where Jacob wrestles with God. In Genesis 32, we see Jacob preparing to meet Esau after many years, and he is terrified and full of fear. He decides to divide those who were with him into two camps as he was in distress of being attacked my Esau’s men. The night before Jacob meets Esau, he meets God in an unusual and unique way, in the form of a man, and he wrestles with him all night. The man, unable to overpower Jacob, touches his hip to end the match. But Jacob demands to be blessed by the man, and then he let him go.

Have you ever contended with your Creator through prayer? I think what Jacob went through physically is what God wants us to do spiritually. Sometimes we find ourselves in a spiritual struggle where we tell the Lord, just like Jacob, “I won’t let go unless you bless me”. We press in, determined to seek His presence until He grants us the wisdom, peace, contentment, or breakthrough we so deeply need. In these moments of wrestling—when we bring our questions, doubts, and fears before Him—we don’t grow distant; we grow closer. It’s through this honest pursuit that our relationship with the Lord deepens.

So, what are some other ways we can contend with our Creator? I believe we wrestle with God, not physically, but wanting to hear from him, through his word, prayer, meditating and memorising passages of scripture, and through the wisdom of those around us. As we listen to sermons, have meaningful conversations, and read insightful books, the Holy Spirit uses the voices of godly individuals to speak into our lives—offering truth, guidance, and wisdom for us to reflect on and put into practice.

Contending against the Creator

Though we contend with our Lord, we must try our best to avoid contending against him. One biblical character that comes to mind, is Jonah. We know that God had a purpose for Jonah, which was to go to Nineveh and bring the people back to repentance. But because Jonah did not want God to forgive the evil people of Nineveh, and he decides to run away from the purpose of the Lord.

After being thrown overboard during a storm and ending up in the belly of a huge fish for three days and three nights, Jonah realises his mistake, and asks his Lord for forgiveness.

Just like Jonah, we too at times contend against the will of God in our lives, trying to ‘blend/fit in’ with what the world does or what society’s norms are. Sometimes we can be unhappy with how things are unfolding in our lives and begin to resist God, pushing back and searching for an escape from His plans.

And sometimes the Lord allows us to go through our choices when we suppress His will. Perhaps the truth of God’s word puts us at crossroads with our colleagues, friends, and people that we love. So rather than wrestling with God to grasp how His love and truth can coexist with the hardships we face, we contend against Him and His authority. Instead of heeding to God’s plan for our lives, we try to take control, and in doing so, we distance ourselves from Him.

Not contending at all

Sometimes we may feel like not contending with the Lord at all, and that is dangerous. Take, for example, King Saul—the first king of Israel. He was entrusted with great responsibility by the Lord, yet as we see in 1 Samuel 12 and 13, his impatience, lack of faith, and disobedience led him to offer a sacrifice that he had no authority to make. This act directly violated God's command. Saul’s actions revealed a heart more concerned with power and self-glorification than with honouring the Lord. In contrast, David—though certainly not without flaws—was described as a man after God’s own heart, because he sought to align himself with God's will above his own.

When we have a ‘don’t care attitude’ towards God’s commands and purpose for our lives, we might as well be in sin, just like Saul. We miss out on the opportunities where God is willing to bless us when we contend with him.

So why don’t we contend with the Lord? Perhaps we know it may cost us our time, energy, and maybe our sense of independence and control—just like the wrestling match cost Jacob a limp. But the Lord blessed him for it!

Blessing comes when we contend with the Lord. In the midst of wrestling with the Lord, we may not always find Him to be comfortable or predictable—but we will always find Him to be good.