Plans, Purposes, & Pursuits Week 4
Day 3
“The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, ‘Why is this happening to me?’ So she went to inquire of the Lord.” - Genesis 25:22
We prayed for breakthrough, so why does it feel like things got more complicated instead of better?
That’s a tension most people don’t expect.
We assume that when God finally moves, everything will feel clear, peaceful, and resolved. But Rebekah’s story confronts that assumption head-on. She prayed. God answered. She became pregnant. The promise started unfolding.
And then, conflict.
Not outside her. Inside her.
The very thing she longed for became the very thing that confused her.
“Why is this happening to me?”
That question is raw. It’s not polished faith. It’s not rehearsed theology. It’s honest tension.
And if we’re honest, we’ve all been there.
We prayed for a relationship to be restored… but now the conversations are harder than ever
We believed for financial breakthrough… but the pressure increased before it lifted
We asked God to grow your faith… and suddenly you’re walking through a season that requires more faith than you feel ready for
This is why obedience is hard.
Because we often expect God’s promises to remove tension, when in reality, they often introduce a new level of it.
Not because God is inconsistent.
But because growth requires stretching.
Rebekah wasn’t being punished, she was being positioned.
Inside her were two nations, two destinies, two futures that would shape generations. But in the moment, all she felt was discomfort and confusion.
And here’s what we need to understand:
Just because something feels chaotic doesn’t mean God isn’t in it.
Sometimes the evidence that God is working is not ease, it’s movement.
And movement can feel like disruption before it feels like clarity.
But there’s another layer to this tension that is brought out in this story clearly, spiritual resistance.
The enemy understood something about this family that they couldn’t fully see yet. The promise on Abraham’s line wasn’t just about family, it was about redemption. It was about the coming Messiah.
So there was opposition.
Not random.
Not accidental.
Targeted.
And the same principle applies to our lives.
The areas where we experience the most resistance are often the areas that carry the most purpose.
The enemy doesn’t waste time attacking what doesn’t matter.
So when we feel pressure, delay, or tension, don’t immediately assume we’re off track.
We might be standing right in the middle of something significant.
But here’s where the tension gets even more personal.
Because it’s not just external resistance that makes this hard, it’s internal struggle.
Over time, unresolved tension has a way of reshaping how we see ourselves.
We saw this with Sarah.
She didn’t just struggle with infertility, she began to internalize it. She described herself as “used up.” Worn out. No longer useful. That wasn’t just a circumstance, that became an identity.
And this is where many people quietly lose the battle.
Not when the situation gets hard, but when the situation starts defining who they are.
We start thinking:
“This is just my story now”
“This is as good as it’s going to get”
“I’ve waited too long for anything to change”
And without realizing it, we stop expecting God to move.
We adjust our lives around the disappointment instead of continuing to contend for the promise.
That’s why this is hard.
Because faith requires us to hold two realities at the same time:
What God has said
And what you are currently experiencing
And those two things don’t always match, at least not yet.
That gap is where the wrestling happens.
And here’s the key truth this story highlights:
The wrestling is not a sign of failure, it’s a sign of engagement.
Rebekah didn’t shut down in confusion, she sought the Lord.
She brought her tension to God.
And that’s the turning point.
Because we sometimes wrestle internally, but never bring that wrestling into the presence of God.
We:
Overthink instead of pray
Withdraw instead of inquire
Numb instead of engage
But the breakthrough didn’t come from avoiding the tension, it came from bringing it to God.
And when she did, God spoke.
He gave her perspective she could not have discovered on her own. He revealed that what felt like chaos actually had purpose. That what felt confusing was part of something much bigger than she could see.
That’s what God does in the middle of our tension.
He doesn’t always remove it immediately, but He reframes it.
He shows us:
There is purpose in this
There is movement in this
There is something being formed in us and through us
So today, instead of asking, “Why is this happening to me?” and stopping there, take the next step Rebekah took.
Inquire of the Lord.
Let’s bring Him:
Our frustration
Our confusion
Our disappointment
Our unanswered questions
Because what we discover in His presence will anchor us in ways our circumstances never could.
And don’t miss this:
Rebekah’s wrestling didn’t disqualify her, it positioned her to receive revelation.
She understood her children’s destiny because she stayed engaged in the process.
And the same is true for us.
This tension we feel?
This internal conflict?
This gap between promise and reality?
It’s not the end of our story.
It’s the place where our faith is being deepened, our identity is being refined, and our dependence on God is being strengthened.
So don’t run from the wrestling.
Don’t numb it.
Don’t ignore it.
Bring it to God.
Because sometimes the very thing that feels like it’s pulling us apart…
Is actually what God is using to draw us closer to Him than we’ve ever been before.
