The follower on the Way of Jesus cannot escape the power of
God. No place is beyond the reach of the Spirit. No relationship outside of the
hand of Christ. There is nowhere to go and so the follower must learn to
wrestle with and to rest within both the Real Presence and the felt absence.
This is the tension of the faith.
The same night [Jacob]
got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and
crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the
stream, and likewise everything that he had. Jacob was left alone; and a
man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the
man saw that he did not
prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip wasput
out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the
day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” So
he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”
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| By Talmoryair (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
Then the man said,
“You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God
and with humans, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell
me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he
blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen
God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” The sun rose upon him as
he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. (Genesis 32:22-31)
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