04/12/2024 – Fight for God, not Against Him
| Genesis 32: 24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. 26 And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” 27 So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” 28 And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” 31 Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip |
God had chosen Jacob to be the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. God had decided, determined indeed to pour out His blessings on the life of Jacob. But Jacob did not know it. He lived his entire life unaware of his identity and behaving as one who was not blessed by God. His decisions and his actions up to this point only served to bring trouble and conflict to his life- not blessing. They moved him away, not closer, to the purpose of God.
He had seen a vision from God and surely had been told by his father Isaac about the miracle on Mount Moriah and the wonders of God in the lives of Abraham and Isaac. But the turning point in his life came when Jacob encountered God face to face.
An encounter with God is transforming. It is the most challenging and difficult situation for any person. It is the encounter of the holy with the unholy. God manifested in the form of a man appeared to Jacob when he was alone and began to struggle with him. How great is God’s love for us that He is willing to fight with us to save us, to bless us. The blessings we have from God, including the great blessing of our salvation, we received not because we deserved them or worked for them. God had to fight us to provide them to us.
Christ did not only have to fight the devil and the world. He had to struggle with you to save you. We all have been or know someone who has been in a situation of danger in the water. And we know that when a person is drowning, anyone who tries to save them is also at risk. The savior often must overpower the drowning person. In some cases, even knock them out to bring them to safety.
God says to you today: if you only knew where I want to take you, how I want to bless you, you would stop fighting me. What more can I do to convince you of my love for you and to get you to trust me?