Ever wrestled with a 100+ lb know it all polar bear? 

 I sure have. She’s STRONG!!! My golly….

I had a good ol’ laugh with God when He led me to Genesis 32 where Jacob wrestled with God all night…Let me explain where I’m going with this… 

Great Pyrenees Polar Bears are known to be stubborn. I remember reading about that and being like “yah whatever, good training as a wee one and it’ll be fine…”. Well good training accounts for 90% of our joyful time together but alas that 10% of independent thinker arises in her and watch out…. she’s miraculously deaf and anything she does manage to hear from you is now in a foreign language. 

Which is all well and good until you’re wrestling with her because she managed to steal a knife out of the kitchen and is running around like a crazy bear completely unaware she’s about to seriously hurt herself. 

Oh yah…. I tackled her. And we wrestled. Not because I was mad at her, but because I love her and treasure her too much to watch her hurt herself. 

God reminded me of this incident… “how does it feel to love and adore someone so much that you can’t bear to watch them hurt themselves?”

I pondered the horror of watching Summer with a knife in her mouth… “I would have done anything to stop it! I did! I tackled her! We wrestled…. Ohhhhh…..”

He proceeded… “You’re wrestling me, Ashley. I’m being a good God, a perfect Father, a protector…and yet you keep wrestling with me”

Have you ever felt like you’re wrestling with God? Like a polar bear with a knife having no clue the very thing she wants to do could harm her severely, could God be wrestling with you as Divine Intervention?

The amazing thing about the story of Jacob is he demanded that God bless him after this wrestling match. Ahahahahaha!!! The chutzpah!!! 

But then again, I distinctly remember Summer begging me for a delicious frozen appendage to chew (raw bone) in my freezer after saving her from a blood bath. Kinda the same! 

Do you know what God did after Jacob demanded a blessing? God blessed him just like I gave Summer her bone. 

Why? Because we’re good parents. And wrestling was never about hurting but always about saving. And guess what…. we both were already going to bless our kiddos….Summer was always going to get her bone (that’s why I bought them for her!), just like God always intended to bless Jacob. 

Where are you flailing around with God? Maybe it’s time to be still, to listen, and let Him lead and let Him bless you. 

*No polar bear hips were harmed in the making of this post. But mine was a little bruised before God spoke to me.

(Read Genesis 32:25-33)

**This story of Jacob wrestling God was part of my Torah portion at my Bat Mitzvah. Parashat Vayishlach. Well played, God. Well played!