I dislocated my shoulder during the week I was preparing to preach the Genesis story about Jacob’s encounter with God by the river Jabbok. That entire week, I was moving slowly with a fair amount of pain; all that week I was living with my own limp, so now I have much more sympathy for Jacob than I had ever had before.
As I studied Genesis 32, I kept thinking about the ways we all wrestle with God—at least the ways I know I wrestle with God.
- I struggled mightily with my call to ministry. It took me years to be able even to hear a call; then more years to know how to say “yes” to that call; then even more years to lean in wholeheartedly to God’s call to ministry.
- I struggle to understand why cancer, dementia, and hopelessness continue to be epidemic; why some babies are born much too early and some people die much too soon; why violence and arrogance and divisiveness seem to be valued in our society while compassion, cooperation, and humility are scorned.
- Sometimes I struggle to forgive; I struggle with insecurity; I struggle with discouragement.
It seems like I am always living my life with a limp and I imagine you have your own list. I’ve come to believe that if we are human then there will always be ways we wrestle with life; ways we wrestle with God.
Read more at Charlotte Vaughan Coyle. Living in The Story: A Year to Read the Bible and Ponder God’s Story of Love and Grace (pp. 93-94). Resource Publications. Kindle Edition.
Readings for Living in The Story Week 6
