Jesus once asked his disciple Peter bluntly, “Who do you say that I am?” This is one of the most important questions we can answer as followers of Jesus, even today. As disciples of Jesus it is good for us to wrestle, question, critique, and struggle with the question of “who is God?” And we cannot be afraid to develop a response to that question. Many people shy away from these things because they are afraid such questions actually hurt their faith. Nothing could be further from the truth.
This past weekend at Real Life Church, we talked about God and the problem of evil. Particularly with instances of questioning evil and God’s role in the world when it comes to suffering, these can be some of the most important questions of our faith journey and our entire life. In Genesis 32, we read about Jacob “wrestling with God.” What is so odd and captivating about this story is that Jacob would even stand a chance. In fact, the text says that God couldn’t even “overpower” Jacob. Jacob wants a blessing and God gives it to him, in fact, this is where Jacob’s name is changed to Israel, or, “one who strives with God.”
Isn’t that the basis of any relationship? Wouldn’t you be proud of that namesake yourself? Think about the relationships in your life. Chances are, they all involve some kind of struggle or “wrestling” at some point or another. It would only make sense that our relationship with God is the same. Whether we are going through a tough time, developing some questions we’ve never thought of before, or what have you. God’s people wrestle with God, and God returns the favor so that we are constantly growing. This is the nature of faith itself. Faith is not simply “having all the answers,” it is being able to ask tough questions when you don’t have the answer and still be committed to the relationship.
Faith, itself, is always in the midst of a “covenant.” A covenant is simply an agreement between two or more parties that they’ll be committed to one another. God promises this to us. Covenant relationships don’t avoid conflict, they confront it. This type of honesty is what God has always had with his people and is what we are continually called into. With this committed and honest relationship, we can have peace that the truest thing about us, despite all the other questions we’re asking or any other type of pain or suffering we’re experiencing, is that God loves us dearly and, in fact, struggles with us. That’s who God is.