A Wrestling Night
Scripture: Genesis 32:22-31
Jacob is afraid that all of his schemes are coming back to haunt him. He is on the move after reconciling with Laban but knowing he cannot go back that way receives the news that his twin brother Esau is on his way to meet Jacob. Esau has a group of 400 men with him, and Jacob does not know if Esau intends to harm him or welcome him. This is the same brother that Jacob bartered for his birthright and stole his blessing, and now Esau is coming toward Jacob with 400 men.
Jacob decides in this case that he will try to ease the tensions of the moment by sending gifts and sending his family ahead of him. He is hoping to pacify Esau and not have him be so angry with him. Jacob sends his family and gifts ahead hoping to be received well by Esau. Jacob did not go yet, but he himself spent the night in the camp.
We never really outrun our past and Jacob not only will have to deal with Esau but will also have to deal with God. We can never outrun God. Again Jacob attempted to spend the night but God had something else in mind.
That night Jacob sent his wives, family, servants, and possessions across the ford of the Jabbok. And so Jacob was left alone (or so he thought) and then wrestled with a man till daybreak. It is in this moment that Jacob is still struggling, sometimes our struggles are not so much with or against God but with ourselves. It’s as if we just can’t help ourselves. The answer is that we can try all we want but we just can’t help ourselves.
We struggle with our desires each day and we struggle often to do what we want rather than what God desires. We think we know what’s best and either God’s plans, or God’s methods, or God’s timing is not right. So struggling against God is really like struggling against what is really best for us. It is like trying to prove that the best blessings can come apart from God.
We want blessing, but too often we try to get them our own way. Often what we are given we do not appreciate, because we believe that we have to earn it. Jacob struggled with Esau in the womb, he has struggled his whole life. He goes into the night wrestling and comes out on the other side with a new name and a new identity.
The man who Jacob struggled with told Jacob to let go of him for it is nearly daybreak. Jacob responded that he would not let go unless he blessed him. There are times in our lives where we let go too soon to see the blessings, so hold on and trust God. Jacob wanted to know the name of the man, which the man does not give. To name something is to have power over it. In giving Jacob a new name Israel, the blessing was a new identity, a renewal of covenant promises, a reminder that God has power over his life, and that God also gives us freedom to begin again with a new name.
The Bowtie Pastor 