Jacob Wrestles with God (Gen. 32:22-26)

 

SPIRITUAL DAIRY FOR 01-19-2007

 

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus:  Jacob meets with God

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                    Reference:  Genesis 32:22-26

 

            Message of the verses:  “22 Now he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two maids and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.

23 He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had.

24  Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

25 When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." But he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me.’”

           

            After Jacob’s wonderful prayer he still fears, as stated in the last SD, and so he sends his family and all that he has across the river at night and there he remains by himself.  It seems that Jacob did all of this out of fear, but is also seems somewhat dangerous to send his family across the river at night.

           

            Verses 24-27 tell of his encounter with God that night and how he and God were wrestling together.  Dr. Wiersbe points out that God came to wrestle with Jacob because Jacob was a wrestler, and so God meets Jacob at his own way of doing things.  Jacob would probably been in fairly good shape, but not good enough shape to wrestle with God, yet they did wrestle all night.  I suppose that in a sense that Jacob had been wrestling with God for a fairly long time, and now he will wrestle literally with Him.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It seems to me that one of the things that I can learn from this section of Scripture is that God meets us where we are and uses what we are to teach us what He wants us to be.  Jacob by nature was one who liked to wrestle, and so God wrestled with him.  I think that God meet me the way I was when He allowed our finances to fall apart so that I could completely trust and rely on Him.

 

The Word of God has been challenging and also it has been convicting to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to seek the Lord to teach me contentment, and to direct my path, trusting that if the Lord has another job for us to do with Tim that He will lead me in that direction.