Struggling with God

Genesis 32:22-32

22 The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children,[a] and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. 24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 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. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel,[b] for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 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. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel,[c]saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob's hip on the sinew of the thigh.

I started a new 2 week devotional called Men's Devotional - By Men for Men.  The first scripture in the series is from Genesis 32:22-32.  This is when Jacob was heading back to a reunion with his brother Esau.  Jacob was scared silly because he had stolen his brother's birthright (inheritance and place in the family).  He thought that Esau would hate him and take revenge on him.  Worst case scenario in Jacob's mind, was certain death.  Jacob had sent everything and everyone on ahead of him and stayed one last night by himself.  That night, he wrestled physically with God.  The interesting thing is that God saw that He was not winning this wrestling match.  God told Jacob to let Him go.  Jacob's answer is both brazen and telling.  He said "Not until you bless me."  What perseverance!  Sometimes in life, we need to be stubborn and persevere just like Jacob.  I know that when I was on my road trip with just God for a companion, I did a lot of praying.  Every sermon I heard was on perseverance and overcoming.  In fact, when God gave me a promise, one of the conditions was for me to persevere, to keep struggling and fighting tooth and nail for Him.  Only when we don't give up, is when He can step up and bless us.  He will give us the strength to keep up the good fight. 

Another thing that I notice, is that Jacob was so bound and determined to win his struggle with God, that God had to knock Jacob's hip out of joint to get his attention. Remember, God was NOT gaining any ground with Jacob in this wrestling match.  Only after Jacob's hip was dislocated, when God spoke to Jacob, was he able to hear God and answer Him.  I think that there is a case of being too focused on getting what we want, that we can forget what we are fighting and even realize that we are focusing our struggles on the wrong person.  Jacob wanted a blessing from God.  He got a blessing.  His name was changed from Jacob, to Israel.  How is that a blessing?  We realize that it is a blessing, when we understand that the name Jacob means deceiver.  Israel means father of many nations.  Names were indicative (in those times) of a person's character.  By changing Jacob's name to Israel, God was telling Jacob that his character had changed from that of a deceiver, to one who would be a leader and patriarch.  God recognized Jacob's perseverance and rewarded him with the honor and responsibility of being a patriarch to many nations. God will use our struggling and perseverance to change our very nature (as evidenced by Jacob's name change). However, we need to understand what we are struggling against, and make sure that it is not God, but our very nature.  We need to not give up until we get that blessing we need from God.