Day 7: The Wrestling

When was the last time God got you alone?

Slowed you down long enough to catch His words?

Stripped away everything you’ve attached to your identity, forcing you to confront yourself?

If we do not deliberately decelerate, life will do it for us. Maybe with a phone call in the middle of the night. A visit to the emergency room. A family crisis. A financial setback. A serious illness or an unfavorable doctor’s report. Anything that breaks into our routine and forces us to stop and pay attention. Like Jacob did, we often encounter God in places we never thought to look. He is where we did not expect Him to be. We find Him in places where we wouldn’t normally seek Him out.

What is the area where you find it hardest to put your trust in God? Where do you feel you lack faith? Which aspect of your life do you feel the most in control of? Can you identify an area of your life where you’ve become too self-sufficient? What about too self-reliant? Our faith is often shaken when we feel like we’ve lost control, and God meets us right there.

In biblical times, people granted blessings to one another. Being blessed was not a feeling, sensation, or assumption. Instead, there was always concrete indication, or a material transaction made to represent one’s favor.

Jacob said, “I won’t let go until you bless me.” I find this interesting, considering that the Lord had already blessed him—in the traditional way, at least. He had made Jacob and all those around him wealthy. But remember, Jacob left his family and livestock on the other side of the river. I think that action symbolized that there must be more to blessing than wealth and accumulation. There must be more to our identities than what we do and what we possess. Thus, it is possible that Jacob’s words were not an insistence on acquiring more material things, but a plea for a spiritual blessing. Jacob had received blessings inherited from and bestowed by his father, but now he was seeking a blessing from God directly—a blessing that would run deep.

The blessing Jacob prevailed for did not come in the form he expected. Scripture is vague about what it entailed. All we know is that it was a physically altering, name-changing blessing.

It’s easy to overlook the true meaning of generational blessing for utility, limiting it to what we have to show for rather than who we are. What Jacob realized was that the blessing of most importance wasn’t the natural one spoken by his father, Isaac, for the firstborn. The birthright and material possessions didn’t contain it. It was contained within the spiritual inheritance and impartation he received while wrestling. The true blessing extended beyond the wells. It was not the tangible wealth given by humans, but the intangible inheritance bestowed by God.

Jacob’s journey and his wrestling with God were not for him, but for the tribes to come. Similarly, your journey and the wrestling along the way have more to do with those coming after you.

Reflection Questions:

1. What have you wrestled with on your faith journey?

2. Have you considered that God’s blessing may come in a way you are not expecting?

3. How can you embrace difficulties in your faith rather than avoiding or denying them?