Blessed Is He Who Fights With God If you haven t learned to fight with God, you are missing out on a better relationship with Him. This goes against the grain of initial logic and the romantic idea of maintaining a calm, peaceful spirit that is supposed to reveal one s spiritual maturity. Someone might ask, Why should anyone fight with God? After all, He is all- wise, knows what is best for us, makes no mistakes and does only good. Isn t fighting condemned in the Bible? And if fighting means that one is displeased, disappointed or angry with God, how can anyone rightly be so? What is the point of fighting with the All Mighty? You can t win and you will always be wrong. THE CHRISTIAN S USE OF DEFENSE MECHANISMS No one reads the Bible without having some serious trouble understanding its meaning at various points. If he is honest with himself, no one reads the Bible without having difficulty with some things God said or did. Many prefer not to deeply entertain and hold on to those questions, doubts and troubles until they have satisfying answers. The temptation is strong for people to ignore, avoid and/or distort incoming information, all in favor of maintaining one s peace, faith and comfort. Anxiety and fear of losing confidence in God, the Bible or one s faith are threats often managed by the use of certain human defense mechanisms, such as: Denial (it doesn t exist) Suppression (it is known, but not okay to think about) Rationalization (self-deceptive reasoning) Projection (attributing unacceptable thoughts or feelings to others) To understand the use of these defenses consider the following. A person believes he or she should always, unconditionally forgive everyone for everything, no matter what the attitude of the offender (repentant or not). When countering scriptures are read, such as Revelation 6:10 (saints in heaven, who were slain during the end times, are eager for God to take vengeance upon the offenders
and do not forgive or ask God to do so) a person might say the verse can t mean forgiveness is sometimes conditional. (This is denial.) Another response is when a person feels disturbed, but tries to ignore it (suppression). Or, one who believes God has His exceptions and His own reasoning and we are not meant to understand them in this life (rationalization should not be an excuse to give up searching for answers). Finally, people angry with themselves for having threatening doubts and frightening, unanswered questions cut off and direct their anger toward and reject others who remind them of themselves (projection). Those rejected people are projected upon because they asked unorthodox questions or expressed unorthodox beliefs that raised eyebrows in their circle of Christian friends and church, such as those who believe forgiveness is sometimes conditional. These and other defenses trouble the soul and leave a clear, visible and felt disturbance in people s relationships. Giving in to defense provides immediate relief from anxiety and fear, but does not allow people to fight with scripture or God. This greatly compromises their personal growth and stymies the chance of having a deep and feel good connection with God. Jesus was tempted in all ways as we are, so He was likely tempted to defend against His troubled thoughts and feelings. Rather than give in, He wrestled with God, going three times before Him in the Garden of Gethsemane to plead that the experience He was about to undergo could be somehow sidestepped. All the while, He was sweating blood (hematidrosis) because of the severe stress of the idea of His impending torture, humiliation and death (Luke 22:44). Add His feeling of abandonment by God during His crucifixion My God, My God, Why have You forsaken me? (Mark 15:34) and we begin to understand Jesus strength and determination to hold on to the truth within Himself and avoid defensive self-deception. These are but two examples of Jesus fighting for what He wants answers and solutions for His extreme emotional and physical pain. Jesus fully faced up to and spoke the truth of His experience and wishes to God. He did not rationalize His thoughts or feelings away, but repeatedly asked God for another way. He was not worried that His communication was going to disturb His relationship with God because the true disturbance happens when one avoids truth and keeps it to himself. The following short list of scriptures may disturb the peace of some believers: God hardens the Pharaoh s heart (Exodus 11:10). No one, or only some, has the ability or right to choose? What about free will? In the end times, God sends people a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false (2 Thessalonians 2:11). The Lord said, Who will entice Ahab? Then a spirit said, I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. Then He [God] said, You are to entice him Go and do so (1 Kings 22:19-23). God said to Noah, When the bow [rainbow] is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth (Genesis 9:16). Why does God need a reminder? Further, why did He destroy all the animals in the flood (Genesis 9:2)? Isn t that animal cruelty? Moses tells the people to kill every male [Midianite] among the little ones and kill every woman who has known man intimately (Numbers
31:17). In other Old Testament references, God directed Israel to kill all their enemies every man, woman, child and animal. Do you truly have a deep and satisfying answer to the questions raised by these verses? If not, what did you think and feel and what did you do with those thoughts and emotions put them away, or hold on to them with the intention of searching them out? BIBLICAL EXAMPLES OF GOD FIGHTERS Many Bible characters that took a stand with God discovered He changed His plans in accord with their wishes. Consider Jonah, Jeremiah and Jacob. Jonah Jonah became very angry with God for desiring to offer forgiveness and salvation to a brutal and godless people, the Ninevites, and asking him to deliver His message. As a prophet, his anger may also have come from the knowledge that about 70 years hence, these same people would take Israel captive. Therefore, he headed in the opposite direct of Nineveh that is, until he relented after nearly dying in the sea and the belly of a large fish. God was not upset (or surprised) by Jonah s anger or perhaps even his turning away from Him, He was concerned about his unwillingness to talk. In Jonah 4:1, after Jonah had at last gone to Nineveh, preached God s message and seen the whole city repent, the writer tells us about Jonah s suppressed anger at God and his wish for death (4:3). Yet Jonah refuses to talk to God about his thoughts or feelings. In 4:4, God asks Jonah if he has good reason to be angry, but He receives no response. So God grows a plant to give shade to Jonah and then takes the plant s life. Jonah wants to die once again. A second time God asks him if he has good reason to be angry. And finally Jonah opens up to God s repeated invitation and admits to being angry, even to death (4:9). God wanted Jonah to speak the truth, even if it meant open disagreement or a fight. If God didn t ignore or avoid this, but invited Jonah to participate, He s big enough to handle our negative feelings and disgruntled disposition. Jeremiah This great prophet lived with considerable pain for following God s direction. His people emotionally tortured and threatened his life for preaching bad news regarding their sin. As a result, Jeremiah openly struggled with God. Jeremiah says to Him, Cursed be the day when I was born... Why did I ever come forth from the womb to look on trouble and sorrow...? (Jeremiah 20:14-18). He blames God for his miserable existence when he says, O Lord, You have deceived me [in Hebrew, in a sinister way, deluded] and I was deceived; You have overcome [bound, restrained and conquered] me and prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long (20:7). Jeremiah offers no apology for what he feels or says, nor does God chastise him. Jeremiah does not play a typically submissive role to God (i.e., Whatever You think, You know best... ), but instead fights for what he wants, unashamedly pleading for very specific vengeance against the Israelites. He does not take the position many Christians today feel they must take in asking God to forgive them for having negative feelings about others and to forgive the other s trespasses, no
matter what. Jeremiah does not wait for God to act, but takes the reins and prays a brutal and vengeful prayer (18:21-23), all of which God approves and brings to completion in chapter 19. Jacob The Genesis 32 story of Jacob is a superb example of a person fighting with God, literally. Contrary to some people s expectation of God being offended, He responded favorably. Jacob wanted to be blessed by someone the passages refer to as a man (32:24) and God (32:30). Some commentators and pastors say He was Jesus Christ who took on flesh. Jacob knew this was no ordinary man. Yet, he did not hesitate to grab hold of Him and wrestle him to the ground. After some lengthy time (for wrestling) the dawn approached and God put Jacob s hip out of joint. He wrestled through the night, though He had the power to end it immediately. Why not simply dislocate all his joints, put him to sleep or make his muscles limp at the beginning of the fight? God wanted to see Jacob s determination, but even more, He wanted to wrestle with him. Despite the pain, Jacob emphatically refused to let go until he received a blessing. God gave way. The blessing he earned is a name change Israel, which refers to one who strives, wrestles or fights with God. Though God ostensibly lost, He does not down play the incident, but recorded it in His Word for all posterity. He actually rewarded (blessed) Jacob for fighting with Him. If God didn t want people to wrestle with Him, He would not have renamed Jacob. ARE YOU READY TO FIGHT WITH GOD? T There are numerous other biblical stories of those who fought with God. Moses did not want to be God s mouthpiece and free the Hebrews (Exodus 4:1-13). Because of Moses arguing with God (and because of His grace), God listened to him and assigned Aaron to speak for Moses (Exodus 4:14-18). Most biblical characters who wrestled with God discovered He changed His plans in accord with their good and reasonable wishes. The same applies to us: He always listens, but He sometimes changes and may even relent when we wrestle! This can happen when we appeal to a different characteristic of God His mercy when He is set on seeking justice. As with Jacob, God wants and expects His people to fight or wrestle with Him. Working out any relationship even with God requires two individuals to negotiate the ins and outs and set up mutual boundaries in which it operates. Each gives his or her input into when and how it will work. I take Philippians 2:12 literally,... work out your salvation... In Greek it means to toil, labor commit and engage with God to develop our saving, healthy relationship (salvation) with Him. All relationships are meant to be unique. He does not want a cardboard copy of a relationship any more than we do, but one that is exclusive and in a class by itself that is mutually determined by both persons.
The biblical characters presented in this article were open and possessed and expressed a healthy self-determinism with God. To do so keeps us from avoiding small and large issues that can negatively impact the joy and felt connection with God, like Jonah experienced in trying to dodge his anger and doubt. God s people are to be wrestlers with God. So, risk, step out and completely reveal yourself to Him, including your doubts, questions and troubled feelings. He can take it, and in fact welcomes the honesty; He already knows about them anyway. Respectfully, grab hold of God and do not let go. In so doing, you will find His kind acceptance and unconditional love and be intimately connected or reconnected to the One your heart desires above all. It seems our wrestling brings a smile to God s face.