Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+32.22-31

Scripture

Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob but Israel, for you have struggled with God and with men and prevailed.”

Observation

Jacob sends his wives, children and possessions across the river. He spends the night alone. A man comes in the night and wrestles with him. It happens that the man is God.

Jacob demands that the man bless him. The man says that having struggled with God and men, his name will no longer be Jacob but Israel. Jacob’s hip is put out of joint and he walks with a limp from that day forward.

Application

There are two ways to wrestle with God. You can wrestle in rebellion or you can wrestle in faith.

When we wrestle with God in rebellion, our motivation is to get our own way, to defeat God and to show Him that we are in control of our life.

When we wrestle with God in faith, our motivation is to come to obedience, to defeat our own sinful nature and to show ourselves that God is in control.

The attitude of rebellion is “I shall not.” The attitude of faith is, “I shall, but only by your grace.”

When we wrestle with God, we are changed one way or the other. Jacob received a new name. He was changed from “Trickster” to “Prevails with God.” His walk was changed because God marked his hip.

No longer would Jacob struggle to overcome others by cunning. From now on he was to prevail with God,

Prayer

Father I ask you for the grace to prevail with you. May I always walk in humble dependence on you. Amen.