‘A man wrestled with him till daybreak.’Genesis 32:24 NIV
In Genesis 32, we read about Jacob’s encounter with an angel. The Bible says: ‘A man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man’ (vv.24-25 NIV). Jacob was a self-made man with an independent attitude. We can be like that too. We can be tempted to think that we don’t need anyone, even God. But we need God and we should be depending on Him each day. By putting Jacob’s hip out of joint, the angel was making Jacob unable to do everything himself. We’re told that ‘the sun rose as he was leaving that place, and Jacob was limping because of his leg’ (Genesis 32:31 NCV). Now he would need to depend on God when he faced troubles and battles. Ever felt like you’ve been wrestling with God? Maybe you’re struggling to surrender control to Him or maybe you’re wrestling over something He’s told you to do. But God will wrestle with us until we stop making excuses and face the truth. God’s got great plans for each of us. What He has in mind is greater than anything we could ever plan or imagine. He doesn’t want us to waste our lives and miss opportunities to become all that He intends us to be. We need to stop and realise that God knows more than we do. We need to humble ourselves and admit that we need Him. The Bible says: ‘“God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God’ (James 4:6-7 NIVUK). So let’s submit to God and allow Him to be in control of our lives. What Now? Are you wrestling with God over something? Sit in silence for a while and surrender to Him. Allow Him to lead you forward into the amazing plans He has for you.
