Wrestling with the LORD (03/23/2024)

Yesterday I shared the story of a student who opted to go without a second donut so his classmates could have one. It wasn’t that he didn’t want a second donut; it was that he chose to pass that pleasure so others could have more. He wrestled with what he could have and wanted; he chose love of others over self-gratification.

A reader shared with me the story of her son who earned a special award for his completion of The Crucible, the grueling yet transformative exercise that must be completed to earn the title of a US Marine. With little food left, her son chose to give the fruit of the orange to his companions, and he ate the peel. It wasn’t that he didn’t long to eat the fruit himself; he wrestled and chose the love of others over self-gratification.

We modern sojourners frequently misunderstand our own day to day trials as we traverse our own crucibles. It isn’t that it is meant to be easy. It is that we learn that while we will wrestle with what we want over what can be when love is applied, in the end, we let the LORD prevail.

Remember the story from scriptures (Genesis 32:23-33) of Jacob wrestling with the LORD? In the course of that struggle, the LORD gave Jacob a new name – ISRAEL – “Let God prevail.” The LORD gave us a free will. The LORD expects us to use it. It requires choices.

The LORD knows we will wrestle with our choices. The saints whose images grace our churches and whose examples we admire weren’t robots without choice; these women and men who wrestled as you and I do, but at the end of the day, let God prevail.

One of the most popular saints of today is Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Have you ever read her story? Mother Teresa shares her own struggles, her own wrestling. Goodness does not come without cost, without sacrifice, without wrestling. It’s called free-will for a reason.

We are entering the final week of Lent. Tomorrow we remember Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem as He is hailed as “He who comes in the name of the LORD.”  The people laid down palm branches in His path and shouted “Hosanna” – literally “save us.” And Jesus did just that. And Jesus wrestled with what He felt called to do and what He’d rather do. But in the end, Jesus chose love of us over self; Jesus wrestled with His calling, but He chose the will of the Father. And His choice saved us.

We all wrestle with ourselves and love of the LORD and one another that is woven within us. As we continue our journey, let us realize that we will be judged not by an absence of wrestling but by whether or not, ultimately, we let God prevail.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.