When people hear the word “wrestle,” the sport usually comes to mind. Let’s examine that for a moment. Wrestling is where two people fight and try to pin their opponent down before they get pinned down themselves. Once they’ve pinned their opponent, they’ve won. However, I want to look at wrestling in a different light today. I want to talk about that unsettled feeling in your heart when you’re in the midst of a situation. When you feel like you should be doing, or not doing something, that you shouldn’t, or should be, respectively. This comes when our flesh is fighting with the Holy Spirit.
“For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.” (Galatians 5:17)
Paul, in this letter, is saying that we have two natures in us. We have our original nature, born of sin, which is our flesh, or our sinful nature, and we have the Holy Spirit, which was given to us when we were born again in Christ. Because the Holy Spirit is the third person in the Trinity, and because it is perfect as God and Jesus are perfect, it wants us to do what God wants us to do, and what is obedient to what the Scriptures say. However, since we are still in a fallen world, our sinful nature still tries to bring us away from God and into sin. When we are faced with a decision, we often have our sinful nature puling our left arm, while the Holy Spirit gently taps the right arm. Our sinful nature will always be more aggressive, because God doesn’t force us to do anything. Force isn’t love, and God is love, so He leaves the decisions up to us. However, it is best when faced with a situation to pray about it, and line it up with the Word of God.
If you’re feeling like you’re wrestling with something, it’s likely because you’re listening to more than one voice. You’re listen often to what you want, and also what God wants for your life.
There is a different kind of wrestling though, not all are about current situations, but sometimes it can be about future plans. You have to be careful to have your life planned out according to what you want. I have found that if your life plan isn’t God’s life plan for you, then He will change it at any cost. Is this force? Absolutely not! God may turn the world upside down to get you to follow what He has for you, but it’s ultimately up to you to decide if you are to follow what He wants. If you’re feeling unsure about the future, or wrestling with a decision with a time limit, trust that God’s timing is perfect. Don’t listen to your sinful nature telling you to rush and become anxious-that doesn’t come from God either. Pray and trust that the Lord knows what He’s doing for your life. As long as you are listening to what He is telling you to do, you are in His will for your life, and you’ll be just fine!
When you’re wrestling, the best thing to do is line up your emotions, your situations, and your possibilities with the Bible. Get to know what sort of things and emotions come from God, but also become aware of things that are from the devil. The devil likes to play disguise sometimes and make you think that something is coming from God, when it’s really from the evil one. Pray for discernment to be able to distinguish God and Satan.
When you find out what is from God, and you become familiar with how God would react in your situation, you can then stop wrestling and understand that He is perfect, His timing is perfect, and His plans for you are perfect! Don’t fight in a battle that has already been won for you!
Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for the Bible so that I can read about You and get to know you more. I pray that when I’m faced with situations that I don’t know how to handle, or I don’t know what to do, I will come to you and make my decisions based on what You want me to do, and not what I want to do, nor what my sinful nature wants me to do. I love You, in Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.
Scripture Reflections:
John 7:24- “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” (ESV)
1 Corinthians 14:33- “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” (ESV)
Galatians 5:16- “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (ESV)
Philippians 4:6- ”Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
As always, glory to God! Please share and let me know if this helped you! Feel free to connect with me on the "contact me" page of via twitter @stephaniejtay.
Until next time!
Stephanie