Finding faith between a rock and a hard place

Between a rock and a hard place—that’s where we often find God. Not that we don’t encounter Him other “places” in life, or enjoy His presence on an ongoing basis.

But when we feel like we’re hemmed in on all sides, we’re often more likely to look up and seek Him.

Case in point: Jacob.

Jacob spent two decades (Genesis 31:38) laboring under a deceitful and fickle father-in-law. When he finally sensed it was time to return to his homeland, he slipped away without telling Laban, who set out after him in hot pursuit (fueled, at least in part, by the fact that Rachel had absconded with his household gods).

In essence, he was a man on the run from an angry father-in-law.

Toward what? 

A hostile brother. 

Years prior, after scheming with his mother to “steal” Esau’s blessing (which was endowed to him by God anyway), Jacob left his parents’ home to escape Esau’s plot to kill him (Genesis 27:41) and to find a wife. When he prepared to return home, Jacob sent word ahead to Esau in hopes of securing a warm welcome. Esau responded by saddling up an army of 400 men (Genesis 32:6) and riding out to meet Jacob. (Nothing says “welcome home” like an army, eh?)

Jacob found himself between the proverbial rock and hard place–an angry father-in-law and a hostile brother.

And yet…

That’s when he met God in a poignant way. He’d had an encounter with the God previously, but on this night Jacob—alone in his camp after setting his family apart—wrestled with “a man” all night. As dawn broke, the “man” touched Jacob’s hip and renamed him Israel. 

“Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.”

Genesis 32:28 NLT

Jacob was changed. Forever. 

God was gracious to Jacob; neither the encounter with Laban nor Esau escalated. Even if that weren’t true (and it won’t always be for us), Jacob was transformed by his encounter with the Living God.  

If you find yourself between a rock and a hard place right now (COVID has put “tension” into so many aspects of our lives as we try to balance physical, emotional, and financial health, among other things), do as Jacob did: find some time alone with God. Wrestle out your thoughts and emotions in light of Scripture. In my experience, He doesn’t make a regular practice of dislocating hips, but He may dislocate your doubts, frustrations, and fears. 

And that just might be a good thing. It might be the transformation we need to walk in faith between that rock and hard place.