My boys love to wrestle me. They create names like Captain Thunder and Tiger Ninja. Adrenaline peaking, they attack me with yells, a flurry of boy-energy and with hopes that this time—this time—they will take me down. I toss them for a while, even feigning desperation so as not to crush their dream prematurely. However, I eventually lock them in a stranglehold until they cry for mercy.
Jacob, returning home after years of hiding out from his brother Esau, had always been able to scheme his way in or out of any situation. Jacob’s name meant “supplanter,” and he had earned a reputation for his deceptive ways. He swindled Esau out of his birthright and tricked his blind father Isaac into giving him the firstborn blessing (Genesis 25, 27). He even manipulated to gain control of his father-in-law’s cattle and wealth (Genesis 31:1). Whatever Jacob wanted, he got.
But then Jacob finally ran into a situation he couldn’t escape. His servants brought the startling news that Esau was rushing their way with 400 warriors. And “Jacob was terrified at the news” (Genesis 32:7). After years of scheming, Jacob’s skill and manipulation would do him no good. Wanting to be alone, he walked into the night. And “a man” (later we discover he was a manifestation of God—perhaps even Jesus Himself) leaped out of the darkness, tackling Jacob (Genesis 32:24).
And the two fought throughout the night. Near the end, the being “touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket” (Genesis 32:25). All Jacob could do was hang on, a desperate man in need of mercy. And God gave him mercy. Before Jacob returned home to the extraordinary life God had called him to, he first needed to be broken. Then, empty of himself, he could be strong in God.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Acts 13:1-12
More:
Look back over the passage. Why do you think Jacob kept asking for the angel's name? Why do you think he refuses? What connection does this have with the new name Jacob receives?
Next:
In what situations do you feel most self-sufficient, and in what situations do you find it most difficult to believe God is sufficient?
roxanne robbins on October 28, 2011 at 2:31 am
Our Lord is merciful to intervene when we place confidence in our own flesh and abilities rather than in Him.
winn collier on October 28, 2011 at 7:16 am
a severe mercy, that’s right.
sowharvest on October 28, 2011 at 10:29 am
Winn
Isn’t it funny[not really]how the Lord God must take us down to the bear bones.. Strip us of all the things we think make us great. Because when are on our last leg and without any strength or ability to do a thing about our situations—–WE ARE EXACTLY WHERE WE NEED TO BE: calling and relying on Jesus. Like blind Bartimaeus “Jesus! Jesus”.
Excellent post Winn. May grace of GOD be with you.
winn collier on October 30, 2011 at 12:17 am
and grace to you, thank you.
lindagrace on October 29, 2011 at 6:45 am
When we fight all we can and feel like giving up thats when we God shows himself as mighty.
rickmorganwwjd on November 7, 2011 at 11:45 am
It can be difficult to trust somebody else to take care of us, even if it is God, but he always comes through.
daisymarygoldr on November 8, 2011 at 4:11 pm
The lesson to learn from the story of Jacob and the wrestling angel is: Do not wrestle with God. If wrestling with questions or doubts, we need to humbly take them to the Lord in prayer. It will do us no good to shake our fists in fits of rage and rail against God. That is a sure sign of superficial faith which inevitably will end in a dark night crisis.
When we are willful and bent on having our own way, God will wrestle and bend us to His way. And if we dare to continue and fight against God, then we will be left limping for the rest of life. Through much brokenness and pain, Jacob learned the hard way that God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness.
Oswald Chambers in “My Utmost for His Highest” observes: “If you grab hold of God and wrestle with Him, as Jacob did, simply because He is working in a way that doesn’t meet with your approval, you force Him to put you out of joint (Genesis 32:24-25). Don’t become a cripple by wrestling with the ways of God…”
The Bible says we wrestle against forces and powers of darkness in the spiritual world. Wisdom therefore, is to be on the Lord’s side and not have Him as our adversary. There is no point in being stubborn and struggle all throughout our lives with endless whys. A wise child of God will meekly surrender to God’s will—and seek His blessing with weeping and pleading (Hosea 12:4).