Blessed By God's Power
22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak."
But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
27 The man asked him, "What is your name?"
"Jacob," he answered.
28 Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, [j] because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."
29 Jacob said, "Please tell me your name."
But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, [k] saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."
31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, [l] and he was limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon. -Genesis 32: 22-32
This scripture has always been quite curious to me. I don't think every quite understood how Jacob, in being alone, came to wrestle with this man who turned out to be God. Why would God be wrestling with him in the first place? Did it have something to do with the gods that Rachel had hidden under her saddle? It feels like a few pages went missing here.
But the part that struck me this morning as I read it over several times is verses 26-29. First of all, Jacob must have an idea that this is no ordinary man, because he asks for a blessing. I don't know if it was customary to ask your adversary for a blessing in that time, but it wouldn't seem that way to me. Also, when Jacob asks for His name, God answers, "Why do you ask my name?" It seems apparent that Jacob knows it is God and that God knows it is Jacob. It is exactly this kind of situation that is so hard to explain. Why did I go to Brazil, for instance? I just... felt led there, or called there, or I knew it was right. When you just "know", it's hard to explain how or why... the answer is sometimes so much more than words can say, when the answer is God. That's why He is... The Great I Am.
Serving By God's Power
35Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. -Matthew 9:35-38
Many know that this is a verse that stands out to me every single time I read it and a verse that I thought of quite a lot this morning on my run. It seems to be a Catch 22. We can only be sent out to work in God's field by the Lord of the harvest. But, don't we have faith that if we put our lives in His hands, He will prepare us for the work He gives to us. What the Lord wants is obedient, willing, humble servants, and I believe that He will guide us and send us to His fields... but in order to allow His power to work through us, we must wholly give ourselves to Him.
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