Week Three: The Wrestling

A Word for the Way: Guiding Scripture for the Week "I will not let go unless you bless me." —Genesis 32:26

Lent brings us beyond quiet surrender into the raw honesty of wrestling—where faith meets doubt, certainty gives way to questions, and we discover the courage to hold on, even in uncertainty.

The wrestling is not punishment, nor is it failure. It is holy ground—a place where authenticity is born, where our true selves are revealed, where God meets us precisely in the tension we fear most.

Jacob wrestled through the night, refusing to let go without blessing. In the wrestling, he was wounded yet made whole. He was changed. Lent calls us now into this sacred struggle, inviting us to remain present to our questions, fears, and longings without quick resolutions or easy escapes.

This week we hold onto this truth:

Wrestling does not distance us from God. It draws us closer to the very heart of God.

A Pathway Through the Wrestling If your week is full, yet your heart still seeks the invitation of Lent, let this pathway guide you:

  • Lean into the tension—allowing questions to rise without rushing answers.

  • Name the struggle—speaking honestly about what feels unresolved or heavy.

  • Listen deeply—trusting that longing and resistance both reveal something true.

  • Hold fear alongside trust—letting them coexist without forcing resolution.

  • Release what you cling to tightly—opening yourself to what waits quietly beyond certainty.

This week, we do not resist the wrestling. We embrace it. We trust that something essential is happening in the struggle.

A Shared Moment On Thursday evening, wherever you are, pause intentionally at sunset. Step outside. Feel the fading warmth, notice the shifting colors, sense the moment between day and night.

Ask yourself:

  • Where have I resisted this wrestling?

  • What blessing might be hidden within the struggle?

Whisper aloud or silently in your heart:

"I will not let go unless you bless me."

Know that others stand in the same quiet space, holding their own struggles, whispering the same prayer.

A shared moment. A shared prayer. A gentle reminder that in the wrestling, we are not alone.

Weekly Scripture Genesis 32:24-28 (NIV) "So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, 'Let me go, for it is daybreak.' But Jacob replied, 'I will not let you go unless you bless me.' The man asked him, 'What is your name?' 'Jacob,' he answered. 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.'"

Lent does not offer easy paths. It leads us to the wrestling—to the places of honest struggle, where questions are confronted, fears are named, and transformation quietly begins.

This is not punishment. It is not failure. Wrestling is sacred space, where authenticity emerges, and we hold on long enough to be changed.

This week, we remember:

Wrestling is not distance from God. It is where God draws near.

Core Practice: The Prayer of Staying Each day this week, pause to acknowledge your internal struggles.

Close your eyes. Notice where tension or resistance is held in your body.

Place your hands gently on your lap, open and receptive.

Inhale slowly: "I do not have to rush."

Exhale gently: "I will stay."

Let this practice remind you that transformation comes through presence, not escape. It honors the wrestling as sacred and formative.

Additional Offering: A Guided Reflection – The River’s Edge Find a quiet moment. Close your eyes.

Imagine standing at the edge of a river as night falls.

Behind you is all you've carried—doubts, struggles, fears. Ahead lies uncertainty—a place of wrestling and unknown blessing.

There is no hurry to step forward.

Breathe deeply. Feel the earth beneath your feet, the quiet flow of the river.

Ask yourself gently: What struggle am I facing? What blessing might be hidden within it?

Allow silence to hold your questions without forcing answers.

When ready, imagine stepping into the river—not because you know the outcome, but because you trust the wrestling itself holds something sacred.

A Final Word for Those Walking This Pathway Wrestling is not a detour from faith—it is a deeper entry into it.

This Lent, allow yourself to stay with the struggle. Some days you'll confront hard questions bravely; other days, simply staying present will be enough.

Both are sacred. Both are forming you.

You are not alone in the wrestling. We walk this sacred path together.