Is God Calling You To Wrestle With Him Right Now?
Have you ever been tormented by the labels of your past? Do you want freedom and victory so that you can move forward?
Wrestling With God and Receiving a Blessing
So Jacob was left alone, and a Man [came and] wrestled with him until daybreak. When the Man saw that He had not prevailed against Jacob, He touched his hip joint; and Jacob's hip was dislocated as he wrestled with Him. Then He said, "Let Me go, for day is breaking." But Jacob said, "I will not let You go unless You declare a blessing on me. (Genesis 32:24-26, AMP)
In Genesis 32, Jacob was in mental turmoil. He was about to see his brother Esau again for the first time since he cheated him out of his birthright several years prior. Esau was fueled with so much anger that when their father passed away, he had planned to kill Jacob (Gen 27:41). The next 20 years or so, Jacob goes on his own journey and gets a taste of his own medicine by learning what it is like to be manipulated and lied to. Later, his character begins to shift from being a deceiver to wanting to grab on to what God had promised him. Esau is not aware of this new change in his brother and Jacob is terrified that his past actions will have deadly consequences. He takes his fears to God in prayer reminding God of His promised protection, but shortly afterward, he takes matters into his own hands by trying to smooth things over with his brother by sending him gifts. Later, he gets alone by himself and wrestles with a “Man” all night long until He breaks Jacob’s hip out of its socket, but Jacob holds onto him and asks for a blessing. Jacob leaves with a new name, Israel, to describe his new life and as a reminder that he fought with God and man and won (Genesis 32:28, NLT).
The point of this intense wrestling match was to break Jacob and remind him of who God was so that he would have confidence in Him alone even while anticipating the dread of coming face to face with Esau. Jacob saw Esau as his problem, but really the root of his issues stemmed from himself. He struggled to fully trust God for protection even after He had promised to give it to Jacob. Jacob was still being self-reliant and holding on to his past label of being a deceiver and for a moment he started slipping back into his old habits.
Sometimes in life, we are confronted with the skeletons in our closet and labels from our past. This can affect how we perceive ourselves and how we take action in our daily lives, projecting our deep fears that our children will become how we once were. So instead of putting it into God's hand, we try to strategize in our own strength to make sure history doesn't repeat itself. At other times, we start to think that maybe we truly haven't changed at all.
Instead of nursing your old wounds, remove distractions and get alone with God so that he can deal with the issues in your heart. The internal battles within you might rise up as you seek the Lord in prayer and through his word, but eventually something inside you will break, and humbly you’ll realize that you can do nothing apart from God. This breaking point is where true freedom and deliverance begins.
Rather than fighting and resisting God, you’ll end up clinging and delighting in him with all your might. You will no longer have to hold onto a label that was never yours to keep and you don't have to stress or worry that it will be passed on to your children. When we come out of the battle ring, we come out with a new title blessed, victorious, and redeemed!
Are you currently in a wrestling match with God? How can your life look different after you surrender to Him and claim your new identity?
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