Wrestling with God

Read Genesis 32.

The journey home continued and the drama increased.  "The angels of God met him" (v.1).  There is no further explanation, but it is a reminder that Jacob was never alone.  Jacob was acting on God's clear instructions and was in the middle of God's will.  However, his attempts to gain an assessment of a peaceful meeting with his twin brother only turned to greater fear of attack.

Most of the great prayers of the Bible come as a result of life-threatening stress.  Humbling oneself before the Lord and casting total dependence upon Him is exactly where God wants us.  James states, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."  God helps those who cannot help themselves.

In his prayer, Jacob reminded God of His promise (v.12).  This is not because God forgot, but it formed the basis of his plea.  He also took action.  Jacob set in motion a very, well-thought out three step plan, complete with the wording, to do everything he could to appease his brother.  Now, he would wait...alone.  But he was not alone.

That night he literally wrestled with God until morning (v.30).  This is a strange passage describing a physical striving with the LORD.  How does a man hold on to God and not let go?  In verse 25, Jacob prevailed.  How does a man say to God, "I will not let go unless you bless me"?  In the struggle God moved Jacob's hip out of joint and changed Jacob's walk for the rest of his life.  Further, as a result, God changed Jacob's name to Israel, which could mean "he strives with God or God fights".  Here is a man who fought with God for a blessing.  But every time his name was given from then on it would be a reminder that God would fight for him and his descendants called by his name.

This incident took Jacob's faith and calling to a new level.  In the book Acts, believers in Jesus were called by a new name for the first time.  It was Christ-ian.  This originally was meant to be a derogatory labeling.  Then, along the way, there are those times of great stress and challenge when our faith is stretched to the limit.  We do not go looking for them.  God knows when to allow them or bring them along for our growth.  As a result, some even live with a bit of limp from then on-physically, emotionally, or relationally.  This becomes part of their life story.  Such an encounter with God changes the way we live from then on.  If we respond correctly, our relationship with God will grow deeper and our usefulness to God in the lives of others will grow to a new level.