The title of today’s sermon is “Wrestling with God.” It’s a story of Jacob going to the mat with God. It’s an odd story. And for some of us, the idea of wrestling with God seems disrespectful. The idea of questioning God, the idea of struggling with his will, the idea of struggling with why certain things happened, the idea of struggling with why the earthquake and the tsunami happened in Japan, why your father or mother died, why the relationship didn’t work out, or why things are so difficult, and the idea of confronting God in a raw way and going to the mat with God SEEMS SO AGAINST WHAT some of you have been taught about how to relate to God. You thought that when you came to church, the church is supposed to be all about submitting to God and nothing about questioning God or wrestling with God. But, I want to show you that God invites us to wrestle with him. We are going to read a passage that’s about Jacob’s wrestling with God.