Wrestling with The Almighty

After 14 years in exile, Jacob wrestled with someone all night before meeting again with his estranged brother Esau whom he had connived out of a blessing all those years earlier.

Various suggestions have been made as to his opponent. Some teach that it was actually Esau himself wrestling with Jacob, but Jacob concluded that he had seen God "face to face" and his life had been spared. (Genesis 32:40)

Been wrestling myself; several nights. No Esau in my life. No one I have defrauded or stolen a blessing from, just a restless spirit that comes from waiting on God's blessing. For, as you may remember, it was after Jacob "wrestled" with God that he was truly blessed. Spiritual interest that had been promised to him actually started to accrue after that famous confrontation with the Almighty.

Several things come to my mind about wrestling with God.

*A confrontation with the Almighty is tantamount to facing the fact that you are weak. I don't mean by this that God is a bully. He wasn't pushing Jacob around that night; neither does He manhandle us. But before we receive the great blessings that God has for us we do need to update our status as created ones and God as Creator; God the blessor and we the blessees; He as Heaven's Hulk (I won't say Hogan) and we as earth's dust.

*We get ahead spiritually, not by our conniving, but by heaven's blessing. How easy to make Jacob's characteristic mistake of trying to manipulate the circumstances (and others) toward an outcome that casts a good light on us. But God needed to train Jacob into receiving a blessing via prayer - versus his lifelong habit of stealing blessings by human duplicity.

*We need not fear the future if we are walking with God; even if that walk is with a limp. Yes Jacob would have a reminder within him until the day he died of that night God keep him all night - a hip joint out of socket, or something of that sort, that would, with every step he took, remind him of his need to rely upon God instead of himself. It is when we take every step with God that we have true security - and not one moment until then.

I'm anticipating some good blessings of God, not only because I've been wrestling with God, but because I'm limping. But its okay because I'm also still learning.

Don't take this the wrong way, but I hope you're limping too.