Genesis 31-32

January 10

Genesis 31-32

We do not know Jacob’s motives, though based on his past we can assume he was looking out for himself. God told him to go back to his homeland and God would go with him. When Jacob heard that Esau was coming to meet him with four hundred men, Jacob had to be concerned. Esau had promised to kill him, perhaps this was the time.

Jacob took his four women and his eleven sons and strategically placed them across the river along with all his possessions. Jacob went back and stayed on the other side of the river. If Esau attacked, Jacob had the river between him and Esau. He protected himself by putting his family between Esau and himself.

A man showed up and wrestled with Jacob all night long. It ended up the “man” was God. As daylight was coming, the man told Jacob to let him go. Jacob in return asked for a blessing. God renamed Jacob and gave him the name Israel telling him he had wrestled with man and with God and had overcome.

How often do we wrestle with God? We know what he wants us to do, but we resist. We know how he wants us to live, but it makes us uncomfortable. We know how He wants to use us, but we want to lead our own lives. If we wrestle with God long enough we will come away with a new name, a new description of who we are, and possibly a limp. Jacob is no longer Jacob the heel grabber; he is now Israel the wrestler who overcomes.

Through our relationship with Jesus we are all overcomers. We have the power to overcome the obstacles that we struggle within our lives. When God goes with us we can’t help but be changed.