Rest & be Blessed
Genesis 32:24–29 NLT “This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break……he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket.…..”Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel……Then he blessed Jacob there.”
In today’s society most of us would have given up on Jacob, because he was a serial schemer, deceiver and manipulator, But God’s Love and Grace is relentless.
Eventually Jacob met face to face with the Lord. He grabbed hold of the Lord and tried to wrestle a blessing from Him. The Lord simply touched Jacob’s hip socket and put it out of joint, so that Jacob was rendered helpless before the Lord.
(see Psalm 23)
That night everything changed for Jacob, the Lord showed Jacob how it was only when Jacob’s grabbing and wrestling finally stopped that His grace was able to flow. That night, God changed Jacob’s name from “deceiver” to “prince” (Israel), and added to him blessings that were beyond his own efforts.
So often we try hard in our own ability and strength to get ahead and achieve things or to please the Lord and get a blessing from God, but when we just surrender our own efforts at trying to get ahead in life, and Believe his Love for us and completely trust His grace alone, His wisdom and provision begins to flow unhindered!
*adapted from a J.Prince teaching.
Blessings