He Just Won’t Quit!

Have you ever met a person who would never give up?  Do you know someone where “determination” was their middle name and it annoyed the daylights out of you?  Some people just don’t know when to throw in the towel; they’re beat, they’re never going to achieve what they are after, but yet they just won’t give up.  As much as this characteristic can be ever so annoying, it can also be the thing that God loves about a person.  The art of determination is lost in a world of instant gratification.

I find the greatest inspiration to be those underdogs that should be knocked out of the race, but they refuse to give up.  One of my favorite superheroes now is Captain America (Steve Rogers) played by Chris Evans.  In the beginning of the movie, they portray him as a wimpy scrawny kid who was turned down time and time again from joining the army.  He enlisted and reenlisted, but nothing changed.  There was one scene where the government took him along with a bunch of other guys to see which one they were going to make into their super soldier.

The most inspiring scene for me, is when the drill sergeant challenged the recruits to get a flag off of a long pole—if they succeeded then they could ride back and didn’t have to run back to the barracks.  While everyone else thought of climbing the pole, Steve Rogers just pulled the pin on the base of the pole to release it so it could fall on the ground.  Everyone was dumbfounded as he unties the flag and nonchalantly hands it to the drill sergeants.   His heart found joy in riding back proving that there was more to him than what they saw.

Wrestling in The Dark

There was one man in the Bible who was known for not knowing when to give up either.  I have spoken about him before. His name is Jacob and you can find his whole story in Genesis 25-50.  Jacob was a man who was so focused on receiving the blessing of God in every way that he was willing to cheat, betray, lie, connive and wrestle his way to get what God had for him.

The part of his story I want to focus on is found in chapter 32.  There came a point in Jacob’s life when he knew that things needed to change and so did God.  Jacob was about to face his twin brother Esau for the first time in over 20 years.  The last time they saw each other he pretended to be Esau so that their blind father would bless Jacob instead of Esau.   He cheated Esau out of his blessing and he swindled him out of his birth right.  His brother promised to kill him when he got the chance and now Jacob was going to face him for the first time since then.  Before he would face his brother, Jacob was headed to a fight that he would never forget.

It was late one night when Jacob was alone that a man came behind him and started wrestling with him—out of nowhere!!  In Genesis 32:24

I have said it before, that the simplicity of an explanation can easily make the reader go over the struggle trying to be conveyed.  The wrestling between these two men was not a few minutes, but hours because it says they wrestled till daybreak.  Have you ever fought someone physically for hours?  Jacob did and was, surprisingly, winning.  This man could not over take Jacob.

²⁵ When the man saw that he could not overpower him (Jacob), he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.

Read that again, the man was not able to overpower Jacob so he cheated and sprained the part of his leg where the thigh bone is inserted.  The fight did not end because Jacob was now crippled.  Jacob continued to wrestle this man in his painful state.

The Man That Just Won’t Quit

Look at what the man says next,

²⁶ Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

The fight started out with the man attacking Jacob!! Now he wanted out??  Hours later the man is begging to be let go in the next verse.  Jacob responds,

“I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

Now let me tell you some things that I may not have said before.  The man with whom Jacob is wrestling is not just any man.  The Bible says that this was an angel of the Lord.  Now there is no way that God is being overpowered, truthfully, by a man. Nonetheless, God chooses to take on the strength of a normal human being for this wrestling match.

The second thing is that Jacob is over 100 years old in this scene.  YES 100!!  Are you as shocked as I am?  In 90% of the pictures of this iconic fight they have Jacob muscular and young, but sadly he was an old wrinkled man with a determination that could never be properly replicated by any mere photo.

Jacob asks for a blessing, but what the Angel asks next is interesting,

²⁷ The man asked him, “What is your name?”

Jacob’s name was very important.  His name translated: swindler, heel grabber.  He was everything his name said.  The next verse was life changing.

 ²⁸ Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

With his determination you would think that God would give him a long life, wealth or even protection from his enemies.  Instead, God gives him a brand new name?  Was this an even trade?  Absolutely!!  There is so much that we can learn from Jacob’s story.  Remember, his former name meant, supplanter, heel grabber and swindler.  For over 100 years whenever he was called they would say, “Swindler, Swindler come here.”  It wasn’t just his name. He lived up to it.  God knew that there was nothing he needed more than an identity change.

This swindler’s determination can teach us 5 things:

1. It is never too late to start over.
   1. Don’t think that God is intimidated by your age. He knows the inner strength in you; it’s not too late to start over, but there has to come a time when you make up in your mind not to allow your past to dictate your next move.
2. What you want from God may come when you least expect it.
   1. Jacob spent 100 years trying to manipulate God to bless him. He thought it was from the acceptance of his parents, the blessings of man, possessions and wealth.  Unfortunately, he was still gathering all of that over time and was still fighting for the real blessing.  What he was looking for didn’t come until he was alone and his guard was down.
3. Your biggest struggle may be with God.
   1. Sometimes we are so quick to blame others when struggles come up. However, there are some battles that come directly from God.  God will choose to take a weaker state to test our true determination.
4. Will you keep fighting even when God himself cripples you?
   1. Sometimes God will purposely take away the thing you need to win the fight, in order to see if your strength is in that thing, or in your relentless pursuit for change. Some people are strong as long as certain people are around, or as long as certain people are in my corner, or that they have the funds to do what they are fighting for.  But what happens when God touches it and leaves you crippled?  Will you still hold on to God?
5. God knows what your real blessing needs to be.
   1. What does God’s blessing really look like for you? Are you limiting your blessing to something that will fade away in time?  Are you looking for something that will make you happy, but will forget about after a day or two?  Or is you blessing bigger than you?  God’s blessing is bigger than what we could ever ask and hope for.  So whatever you think is a blessing will always be, at least, one step under God’s.  When his blessing does come it may not look like what you want, but it will be a legacy that will be spoken about for generations to come.  The nation of Israel continues to be a people that can never be snuffed out no matter what the challenges come to them.  That stems from the relentless, determination and perseverance of their father.

Weekly Challenge:

What are you fighting for that you won’t give up on?  It could be a relationship, maybe be for a healthy family, or even a healthy you.  Are you determined to never give up or are you one that would tap out when it gets to hard?  There is no way you can enter change without a fight.  Take out a journal and write out the thing/s that you are looking for.  Write about your fight and make some promises of never giving up.  Take some time to read Psalms 112:6-8.  God wants his people to be unmovable.  When things get too hard, you can trust in God to give you the strength to stand strong.

Also one of the most inspiring books that I have read is a book called, “In the Pit With A Lion On a Snowy Day” by Mark Batterson.  This book will give you the added kick you need to sink your heels into your dreams and aspirations.  If you are interested then go to our homepage for the link.

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