Found in the FightНамуна

A New Name

Jacob’s wrestling match with God goes on and on, until daybreak. Sagging in God’s grip, Jacob won’t let Him go. God wants Jacob to surrender to Him everything standing between him and true destiny. Finally, God asks Jacob, ‘What is your name?’

The contestants are usually announced at the start of a wrestling match, as they enter the arena to deafening music and applause. In the fight between God and Jacob, there’s no such spectacle, and the naming occurs at the end. God wants to get Jacob all alone to ensure Jacob’s absolute honesty and ultimate dependence on only Him. And God works this way with us too. To truly understand who we are in God’s eyes, we must be willing to wrestle with Him alone and in secret. We often don’t know it at the time, but after our wrestling we’re able to see that God was doing His greatest work during the struggle, orchestrating circumstances so we could mature and experience complete transformation.

God asks Jacob the same question his dad did, years before: ‘What is your name?’ That time, Jacob lied to get Isaac’s blessing. Now, he wants God’s blessing, and he answers honestly. God pinpoints the very lie that sealed Jacob’s past deceptive victories. But this time, Jacob, weak and tired, from both running and wrestling, strips off the façade. He answers, ‘Jacob,’ finally admitting to himself and to God who he is: a deceiver. He’s all out of schemes. God has overpowered and outmanoeuvred him. Perhaps you can relate because you’ve encountered the presence of God so powerfully that what was hidden in your life was suddenly laid bare. How did the experience transform your identity?

God’s response to Jacob is astonishing: ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.’ (Genesis 32:28) In this pivotal moment, Jacob breaks away from the old and enters the new. His past no longer defines him. He’s no longer Jacob – the one who grasps at the heel – but Israel – the one who grasps at God. If God has spoken a fresh word over your life as you’ve come honestly before Him, what did you need to lay down, or admit to, in order to receive that blessing?

In his renaming, God is saying to Jacob: ‘You only prevail in defeat. It’s when you’re weak that you are strong. It’s when you recognise your dependence on God that you will flourish after the fight.’ Jacob is now ready to inherit what’s coming to Him. As he cools off after the most strenuous fight of his life, Jacob renames the place where it happened as a testament to the staggering experience of seeing God and living to tell the tale. In a moment of cosmic poetic justice, the sun rises as he limps with newfound freedom, security, and joy towards reconciliation with Esau, and his future. For Jacob it’s quite literally a new day. He’s tasting true identity, and true satisfaction, through total surrender. If a weakened body has left you with a strengthened faith, thank God for that! Praise Him for how your physical suffering or spiritual wrestling has realigned your priorities. May you experience close encounters with God that mark you forever, and may you too be found in the fight.

This plan was adapted from the series, Found in the Fight, on RightNow Media. To find out more, visit: https://www.rightnowmedia.org/uk/get-access