Each of us has a struggle with God on some level. We stagnate in growth until we lose it in a blessed way. In those moments, we find out that our ideas about what it means to follow God have been distorted so far.
In God's school, it's not the same as studying or being an apprentice of a craft. It won't help only to know more, try harder, overtake others, jump the bar. The key is a change in the force that pulled us forward. Instead of my own ability it means to receive Christ's spiritual power, instead of selfishness the AGAPÉ. We achieve this (similarly to Jacob) by experience, not by mere knowledge.