Wrestling With God

This last Monday night youth group, the topic of the message was wrestling with God. We discussed the passage of Scripture where Jacob wrestled with God, and then talked about what it meant for us to wrestle with God. All too often, we feel guilty for having doubts or questions about God, His character, or what we believe in general. It isn't often discussed that it is okay to ask the hard questions; to pursue the doubts we might have. Wrestling can be a nasty process - you come out exhausted, sweaty, covered in your opponents sweat, and during the match you have to get way too up close and personal for anyone's comfort. It's never easy, there is a high risk for injury, and there is never a guarantee that you will win. Similarly, this is how wrestling with God feels (only He always wins, which can be very frustrating in the moment). When we wrestle with God, we must be willing to put in the effort, to experience exhaustion, to risk getting hurt, put in the time, and get up close and personal. We have to be willing to come out drenched in the sweat, or essence, of God. These wrestling matches are never enjoyable in the moment, but our faith will always be strengthened and grown through these experiences. But we have to be willing to ask the hard questions, and we have to be willing to receive the Truth.

At the end of the night, I left a white board in the back of the room, and invited anyone to write down things that they wrestle with regarding God. In return for their honesty, we will be addressing each of those issues throughout upcoming youth groups. Here's what they wrote:

Things we wrestle with/don't understand:
-Why does God send people to hell?
-Why do we experience emotional pain?
-How do you serve and unpredictable God?
-My dad passing away
-How can God sit by and watch His children suffer so much if He loves us?
-If God loves everyone, how can he not just keep them from eternal life, but condemn them to eternal torment in Hell?
-Nearly 1/3 of the world's population are "untouched" places, and if you don't believe in Christ, you go to Hell, but how can they believe in what they've never heard of? How is this just?
-Birth defects - what did the kids do?
-If Jesus says that His people were Jews, then why are we called Christians?

We certainly have our work cut out for us in the next several weeks as we address these topics. It is so exciting to see kids growing in their relationship with Christ. I hope that throughout the next several weeks they learn what it truly means to wrestle with God, and that through their experiences they become closer and closer to Him.

Please continue to pray for our ministry!