He Wrestled Alone!

Ge 32:24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.

In this blog I just want to take a moment to encourage those who may be, "wrestling alone." It is true in life there are some paths that only allow one person at a time. Think of a dangerous mountain pass, only a few feet wide and you will get a mental picture of the type of road I am talking about. There are times in life that family and friends can only walk with you to the edge of the woods and from there for a season you must walk on alone into that dark and scary place.

Jacob wasn't simply alone, he was wrestling alone! Being alone is one thing, being alone in a fight is whole 'nother level of difficulty. Some battles you have to fight with none on your right hand and none on your left. Let me show you some examples from scripture, so you can see this is neither rare nor a strange occurrence in the life of a believer. Paul was arrested, and had to go to trial, speaking of that time he said: 2Ti 4:16 At my preliminary hearing no one stood by me. They all ran like scared rabbits. But it doesn’t matter—"

Samson was in a vineyard most likely picking and eating grapes: Jud 14:5 "Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him." The text says he was with mom and dad, but if you read a little further they were with him, but somehow on the trip he had gone off on his own, and was attacked by a lion. A lion isn't something you want to face alone, and yet everyone will have a day (or a few) like this on your journey.

Jesus went to the wilderness by Himself, and was tempted of the devil. David describing his time alone speaks of being attacked by enemies and abandoned by his dearest friends :

Ps 31:11 To my enemies I’m a monster; I’m ridiculed by the neighbors. My friends are horrified; they cross the street to avoid me.
Ps 31:12 They want to blot me from memory, forget me like a corpse in a grave, discard me like a broken dish in the trash.

So we see there are times friends will forsake you, family will abandon you, and to top it off you will be attacked by vicious enemies, and you will have to go through it all alone.  Most times you are forsaken it is not intentional on their part, it is just that God has decided you must walk this mountain path alone. And yet you are not alone. When the lion sneak attacked Samson something wonderful happened:

Jud 14:6 The Spirit of GOD came on him powerfully and he ripped it open barehanded, like tearing a young goat. But he didn’t tell his parents what he had done.

When you walk the road alone, you are never alone. One of the reasons for private battles is to develop private strength. Those whom God would use to tame lions, must get in the cage with the lion alone, and learn that to tame the beast, you must first learn to tame your own fears. You must develop your own lion taming abilities. The first day of Kindergarten is just as hard on the parents as it is on the child, but they must learn to venture out into the world on their own. Samson must learn he needs no help other than God to defeat the lion. Your faith is a weak one, if it cannot stand alone from other human help. There comes a time a child must swim without floaties, the bike must be ridden without training wheels, the teenager must drive in the dark alone and without a coach. This is not to torment them, but to help them become strong and mature adults.

My prayer is that when you next find yourself wrestling alone, you can say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Keep your fire burning.