(For those who receive posts via e-mail, I apologize for this second post. I corrected a mistake, again!)
That night Jacob got up and took his wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let go of me for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me (Genesis 32:6).
Really?
God blesses those who wrestle with Him?
This story has always been intriguing to me. The fact that God loved Jacob and hated Essau from the moment they were born bothers me, but who am I to question God? God chose the deceptive Jacob. I have to believe there is more to the story, but maybe there isn’t. God chose the brother who would wrestle Him.
I’ve always been a little envious of people with tenacious personalities like Jacob. Those Mary Magdalenes who would risk sanity being questioned again as she desperately and tirelessly refused to stop searching for a dead Jesus. Mary bumped into a live Jesus due to her determination.
Jacob was blessed due to his.
Yet as I questioned God about this I was reminded of Jacob’s injury in the process, and I sensed the Lord say, “He already had my blessing. If he wouldn’t have wrestled me, he wouldn’t have walked away in need of a cane.”
I don’t think God so desired the wrestling, but Jacob needed it.
Why do we need to wrestle with God?
Despite my usually timid personality, I’ve wrestled with Him. And though it was painful, I believe it was necessary for me to know Him better. There is a limp in my gait; I will not be the same, but in the process, I’ve met with the Living Father who loves me and has good plans for me. For us.
Wrestle on my friends!
Much grace and peace,
andy
