{"id":407,"date":"2011-10-26T11:13:11","date_gmt":"2011-10-26T11:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/?p=407"},"modified":"2018-07-20T21:05:44","modified_gmt":"2018-07-20T21:05:44","slug":"walking-with-a-limp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/2011\/10\/walking-with-a-limp.html","title":{"rendered":"Walking With A Limp"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob\u2019s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. \u00a0Then he said, \u201cLet me go, for the day is breaking.\u201d But Jacob said, \u201cI will not let you go, unless you bless me.\u201d \u00a0So he said to him, \u201cWhat is your name?\u201d And he said, \u201cJacob.\u201d \u00a0Then the man said, \u201cYou shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.\u201d \u00a0Then Jacob asked him, \u201cPlease tell me your name.\u201d But he said, \u201cWhy is it that you ask my name?\u201d And there he blessed him. \u00a0So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, \u201cFor I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.\u201d \u00a0The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. \u00a0<\/em>Genesis 32:24-31<\/p>\n

Last year when in a few weeks my world turned upside down and I found myself in a deep depression, a wise friend told me this: “From now on you will choose as your friends the ones who walk with a limp.”<\/p>\n

I didn’t know entirely what he meant at the time. \u00a0But these days I’ve been thinking once again about his words. This time because my hip has been aching- and it would be disingenuous to claim that I have been wrestling with angels.<\/p>\n

Unless wrestling with my four-year-old son qualifies. \u00a0A favorite activity these days is to body slam mommy on the bed in some sort of primordial, male-bonding ritual that leaves me feeling as beaten up as the Mickey Rourke character in the last episode of the movie, “The Wrestler.”<\/p>\n

But these days, when my hip aches I think I understand a bit more what my friend was trying to tell me. It has to do with the blessing of our wounds. \u00a0Jacob asked God to bless him and God gave him a sore hip that made him limp. \u00a0(Maybe we need to be careful what we ask for!)<\/p>\n

These days when the pain in my hip acts up and I find myself hobbling, I remember a five-year-old boy, Trey, who loves playing sports. \u00a0Just about every kind. \u00a0Recently his parents noticed that he was limping at T-ball practice. Then one day Trey said he didn’t want to go to T-ball practice anymore. \u00a0Because his legs were hurting. So his parents took him to the doctor. \u00a0The doctor found a cyst. \u00a0Now they are doing more tests. They say that little Trey most likely has a degenerative bone disease.<\/p>\n

When the pain in my hip starts, I remember Trey. \u00a0And I ask God to heal this little boy with the great, big smile and even bigger love of sports, so that he can play T-ball again. \u00a0I ask God to comfort Trey and his family and to strengthen them in all manner of grace.<\/p>\n

Our wounds, whatever they may be, can serve as a gateway to entering into God’s compassion for ourselves and our world. \u00a0Our pain can become a sacred meeting place with God. \u00a0Our fragility? \u00a0A reminder of the times when we have wrestled with God and prevailed- when God, in the very act of contending with us, is actually closest to us. Locked in an embrace that will forever change us.<\/p>\n

In our own and others’ woundedness we have an opportunity to experience in small part the very woundedness of God Himself. \u00a0If God is Love, then God is wounded. \u00a0Love cannot exist apart from woundedness.<\/p>\n

The Bible affirms this truth. \u00a0\u00a0God is One who was “wounded for our transgressions” (Isaiah 53:5). \u00a0The great mystery and bitter-sweet miracle of the Good News is that only in God’s being “bruised by our iniquities” are we healed. \u00a0Jesus on the cross is the clearest picture of this divine love.<\/p>\n

So my friend was right: there is a whole lot that our wounds and other “walking wounded” can teach us. About God. \u00a0About ourselves. \u00a0About what it means to love and be loved. \u00a0From now on I will walk with those who limp.<\/p>\n

Read more funny kids’ prayers here:\u00a0http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/JesusDaily\/Features\/Funny-Prayers-From-Kids.aspx?p=8#ixzz1bsfP3O5m<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.\u00a0\u00a0When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob\u2019s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. \u00a0Then he said, \u201cLet me go, for the day is breaking.\u201d But Jacob…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":461,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,69,43,130,65],"tags":[170,172,173,174],"class_list":["post-407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-god","category-good-news","category-humor","category-suffering","category-the-bible","tag-funny-kids-prayers","tag-genesis-3224-31","tag-jacob-wrestles-with-god","tag-problem-of-pain"],"yoast_head":"\nWalking With A Limp - Fellowship of Saints and Sinners<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Walking With A Limp - 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