Wrestling with God

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.” And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” (Genesis 32:22-30 ESV). It's interesting to look through the pages of Scripture and note how God came to various people in the way they needed Him to come. To Abraham the pilgrim, God came as a traveler. Remember those three visitors who came to his tent before the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah? One of them was the Lord himself. To Joshua the general, Jesus came as the Commander of the Lord's army, telling him to take off his sandals because he was standing on holy ground. Jacob, in turn, was a wrestler. Figuratively speaking, he was always wrestling with people: he wrestled with his father Isaac; he wrestled with his brother Esau; and, he wrestled with his father-in-law, Laban. As we see in our reading today, the Lord came to Jacob as a wrestler. Jacob had been left alone with God. He was always conniving, always scheming, always plotting, and always had an idea. So the Lord stripped everything away and said, "OK, I want you alone with Me." C. H. McIntosh said, "To be left alone with God is the only true way of arriving at a just knowledge of ourselves and our ways." The conniving, plotting, scheming Jacob was all alone with God, and they began to wrestle. What God wanted from Jacob was his surrender. But that wasn't going to happen until Jacob came to the end of his strength. So on it went throughout the night. Then a life-changing moment transpired for the scheming Jacob. Instead of fighting with God, He was clinging to Him. The Lord said, "Let Me go, for the day breaks." Jacob responded, "I will not let You go unless You bless me!" It was a valid response on Jacob's part in asking for this blessing, because in surrender to God's plan, he would find what he always wanted. Maybe you’re wrestling with God. Surrender! You won’t be disappointed with the victory you will receive.