Jacob and the Lord - Pt 2

The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” (Genesis 32:22-26 ESV). Yesterday we looked at Jacob’s experience with the Lord just prior to meeting with his brother, who he had wronged. The reading indicates he “wrestled” with the Lord. I am convinced, based on reading the rest of the passage, that Jacob had a one on one experience with the Living God. Jacob had a mission to meet his brother Esau for the first time in 20 years. He had been hiding all this time, and God wanted him to right the wrongs of the past. God had an appointment for Jacob that would mold his character forever. Jacob had come to this place, because he simply didn't know how to face the day he had ahead. Have you ever been in a place so desperate, where you needed an answer so bad that you felt like you couldn’t go forward in life until you had a peace or an answer? We want everything quick and easy, don't we? We don’t like the idea of a struggle. But sooner or later, something big will face us and we find out we’re way out of shape. Wrestling on our own has not prepared us for the really tough opponents of life. When we face a heavy weight problem we sometimes just aren't ready to battle, at least not on our own. Jacob was in trouble. He was desperate. He was wrestling with lifelong problems and patterns. He was wrestling with being on the run for twenty years. He was wrestling with the fear of meeting his brother, possibly even facing death. He needed answers, and in a most unusual fashion, God came down in a physical form to test his endurance and determination. They wrestled together all night long. It is a reminder to us that sometimes our problems in life cannot be solved on our own. We need that personal intervention, that personal touch from God. Jacob faced God so that he might show Jacob his need to depend on him alone. When the wrestling match was over, and Jacob realized whom he had been fighting, Jacob knew his life had really been spared. He came to know God in a more intimate way. Are you facing something difficult? Is your need great? How bad do you want it? There really isn’t any need for you to go on “wrestling.” God wants to show you the way. He wants t bless you. Yield to him today. The more you struggle, the more peace will elude you.