Sensitivity Training

~Painted by French Master: Eugene Delacroix
Name meaning:  Noble Born of the Cross


Sensitivity Training

The play’s the thing

Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.

~Hamlet (Act 2, Scene 2) by William Shakespeare

In Elizabethan times, the theater played a very pivotal role in European society. Just as today we may cry through a sad movie, the Reformation era audience would react with great intensity to the actors on stage.  In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet was hoping that by re-enacting a murder on stage, he would be able to reveal, by the king’s reaction, if he had a guilty conscience.  The king’s guilt would be readily apparent if he had, indeed, murdered his own brother with poison and then married his widow.  He would have to publicly wrestle with his conscience. 

God has his own “Cosmic Drama” playing out on the World stage.  I am constantly amazed at how typecast we all are.  Just as history tends to repeat itself, so do particular character types.  Are you the black sheep of your family?  The wild and crazy one?  Maybe sadly, you are playing the part of the village idiot.

I believe the Bible was written partly to display the many colorful stories and characters that would help us to discern the individual roles God has called us to.  All of us can relate to the characters in the Bible who, as messy “screw ups,” persevered over their character flaws and were able to be greatly used by God. 

Jacob is one such example.  His encounter with the Angel is widely understood, through theological exegesis, to have been an example of a “Theophany” or a symbolic encounter with Christ.  Jacob’s very name means:  “Schemer, Cheater; One who grabs from behind”--Not exactly an auspicious beginning. 

Now why would the Bible give us a story about WRESTLING WITH CHRIST?  One would automatically assume this would be a BAD thing right?  I mean, can you imagine this scenario?—

“Brace yourself Jesus…I’m comin’ for ya.”

The ending of this drama shows that Jacob actually had Jesus (God Almighty!) in some sort of a spiritual wrestling hold at one point.

Then he (Christ manifested in a Theophany) said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” And he (Christ) said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

~Genesis 32: 26-28

Imagine the confidence to proclaim to God:  I WON’T LET YOU GO UNTIL YOU BLESS ME!  Wow…how bold of a performance is that?

It appears, by this Biblical account, that Jesus was actually pleased by Jacob’s wrestling.   It resulted in his name of “Schemer” being changed to “Israel” or “One who prevails with God.”  He won the match. 

I don’t presume to know the final umpire call for humanity.  There may be a large group of people that eventually make it into heaven by God’s Grace and Mercy.  But I think the "Kingdom of God" is a different concept altogether.  Clearly, there is a group of people who will RULE alongside with God.  These people MUST be overcomers.  They can't be wishy-washy, insipid, non-passionate quitters.   

If we endure, we will also reign with Him

~2 Timothy 2:12

Jacob PREVAILED and God changed his name to Israel (a shadow picture of those who become God's Elect).  We must TRIUMPH, we must be OVERCOMERS.  God WANTS us to "wrestle" with Him.  In other words, we need to wrap our minds around His Word, constantly challenging ourselves (and yes...even challenging Him in a good way) because He is not afraid to answer us when we have questions.  I believe we are encouraged to bring our doubts, questions, and fears to Him.  Too many times we are afraid to "wrestle" with the big questions thinking that deep in our hearts, maybe we won't like the answers or God won't measure up. 

Interestingly the Hebrew word for "wrestle" in Strong's Concordance means: "grappled, get dusty, pound small, DISTILL"...we become DISTILLED when we wrestle w/ God.  CONCENTRATED PURITY! 

God wants us to "wrestle" with Him (have familiar relations with Him), get stirred up mentally and aroused in our spirits until we have our minds meditating on His insights.  The scripture also mentions wrestling until the "dawn"---as when new insights "dawn on us."  Jacob wrestled until the "dawn"--until he saw the Light!

Don't let go of God until He blesses you with this!  Let Him touch the "hollow of your thigh”...which also means "striking a nerve."  

If evil people can be stubborn and resolute in their wickedness, how much MORE SO, should we, as God’s people, be steadfast and resolute in purity perseverance?   

The more I journey onward with God...the more I realize that we bring NOTHING to this drama.  He provides it all...we simply bring an empty vessel.  And even that is only useful when it is smashed into pieces. 

Interestingly, alabaster, when smashed, turns into a powdery dust.  We are like Mary Magdalene’s alabaster jar.  We need to be smashed into dust before we can release the sweet perfume aroma of Christ! Prepare for a “dust up”, a tussle with Christ.   

At the conclusion of this drama, Christ apparently had to break Jacob’s thigh bone in order to get released from his hold.  This is believed to mean symbolically that he touched him in a very sensitive area in order to release him.  In essence…

HE SENSITIZED HIM.

So, what mission or role has God called you to play in the Grand Drama?  Are you a Mary Magdalene…a devoted, loyal, faithful friend of God?  Are you a Peter...an initial failure who went on to become the symbolic foundation of the Christian faith?  

Perhaps you are Joseph…shepherding the Church (Mary) in her time of travail.  Don’t woodenly walk through your lines or overact with insincerity.  Deliver your part with true passion, using the Passion of Christ as your role model! 

Whatever part God has called you to play, do it with gusto, feeling and sensitivity.  In the parlance of the stage, go and…

Break a Leg

He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He does not take pleasure in the legs of a man.

~Psalms 147:10

_______________________________________________________

~Dedicated to our Christian brothers & sisters in FRANCE

On the Dawning of their New Day:

National Day of Repentance:  FRANCE, November 7^th-8^th, 2014

~Posted by permission of Pastor Jeffrey N. Daly

Pastor Jeffrey N. Daly is the author of Repentance—God’s Strategy to Bless a Nation and Zeal to Repent!—A Key to Personal and National Restoration 

–Both are available for FREE at The National Day of Repentance website: www.dayofrepentance.org

or by emailing him at

jdalylaw@aol.com