In this portion of the Word, we do not have an appearing of the God of glory; neither do we have a visitation from the Lord. To Abraham, the Lord firstly appeared as the God of glory (Acts 7:2). Later, in Genesis 18, the Lord visited him and shared a meal with him. But this experience of Jacob's was neither an appearance of God nor a visitation from the Lord; it was a dealing. When you were saved, the Lord appeared to you, and many times after that you have had sweet and pleasant visitations of the Lord. But besides the Lord's appearing at the time of our salvation and His visitation in moments of fellowship, there are times when the Lord deals with us. At the beginning of these dealings, we do not realize that the Lord is present. We think that our husband, our wife, or an elder is affording us a difficult time. Eventually, we realize that it is not a matter of our husband, our wife, or of one of the elders; it is God who is here dealing with us.

This gives us the answer to the first question concerning the Lord's wrestling with Jacob in the form of a man. God does not deal with us in an apparent way, appearing as the God of glory. At the beginning of every dealing, we always think that some person is wrestling with us. Often, the wrestling lasts a long time. With Jacob, it might have been six hours, but with us, it may be six weeks, six months, or even six years. Sisters, how long have you been wrestling with your husband? Perhaps you wrestle with him every day. You realize that, as a Christian, there can be no separation or divorce. But you certainly feel free to exchange words with him. Perhaps you say to yourself, "It is unfortunate that I married this man. Since I cannot divorce him, I can at least argue with him." Some wives have been wrestling with their husbands for a long time. The same, of course, is true with us husbands, for we also wrestle with our wives. With many of us, married life is a wrestling life. Although we may think that we are wrestling with our husband or wife, the other party is actually not our husband, our wife, an elder, or any circumstance, it is the Lord Himself who is wrestling with us. In our experience, we eventually realize that the Lord is here. For example, a sister may eventually say, "It is not my husband who is wrestling with me—it is the Lord."

If we understand the answer to the first question, we should be able to answer the other three questions. In His appearing for our salvation, the Lord reveals Himself as the Lord of glory, but in His dealings with us, He keeps Himself secret. Whenever we undergo a dealing, we think that it comes from a person or a situation; we do not consider it as coming from the Lord. But whenever a dealing comes, we must realize that the Lord is there. Do not ask His name. Frequently, sisters have asked me, "Brother Lee, why did the Lord give me such a husband?" And often brothers have said, "Brother Lee, doesn't the Lord know everything? Since He does, why doesn't He do something about my wife?" The answer is that the Lord's dealing is a secret. Through Jacob's experience we can realize the name of the One who is wrestling with us. For a sister, the Lord's name might be "husband," and for a brother, the Lord's name might be "wife." In some cases the name of the Lord might be "hard-dealing elder." If we would be honest and open, many would admit that they have questions about their marriage. Many have asked, "Why?" A brother may ask, "Of all the young sisters in the church, how did I happen to marry this one?" Whenever we are dealt with, we do not recognize at first that it is the Lord's doing. Sometimes we do realize it, but refuse to admit it. If we did admit it, we would certainly stop wrestling immediately. Therefore, we strive to the uttermost not to be subdued; rather we exert ourselves to subdue the other party, in most cases not realizing that we are actually wrestling with the Lord.

Let us now consider the second and third questions. If the Lord subdued us immediately, how would we ever be exposed? Some may ask, "I have been praying for my wife for years. Why doesn't the Lord answer me? Why does she never change?" The answer is that you need to be exposed. The Lord wrestled with Jacob in order to expose how natural he was. This exposure required at least half a night. We also need a long time of trouble. Many of us are still wrestling. The Lord is attempting to subdue you, but you are fighting to subdue your circumstances. Perhaps your wife is being used by the Lord to subdue you, but you exercise your strength to defeat her. Hence, the wrestling continues. I hope that in this message the light will shine upon you and that you will say, "Oh, now I see! For years I have been wrestling. Now I see that the purpose of this is to expose how natural I am. The problem is not with my wife—it is with my natural strength. I am still just a natural man."

What was wrong with Jacob that the Lord had to wrestle with him? There was nothing wrong. The reason the Lord wrestled with Jacob was because he was still so natural. Here the dealing is not with anything sinful; it is with the natural life, with the natural man. It takes a long time to expose our natural life. We need an extended period of wrestling before this can take place. Through this period of wrestling, our naturalness, like Jacob's, is utterly exposed. As we read chapters thirty-one, thirty-two, and thirty-three, we see how natural Jacob was. He had been dealt with and he had suffered a great deal, but, in chapter thirty-two, he was still natural. He did not trust in the Lord, and he was absolutely unable to express the Lord. He was natural, and his expression was full of himself.