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The Wrestling Match
In the last
couple of years, the Lord has really been moving in this body of believers to
become pure and holy before Him. There is a work to be done that requires us to
be willing and obedient to leave behind anything from our past including
separating emotional ties with it. For most people that is a difficult thing to
do, but if we will simply trust Him to help us, we will complete the work that
is set before us and finish the race capturing the prize our King longs to give
us!
Jacob was a
man that loved God and honored Him. Unfortunately, he was given a name that he
heard every day and that name meant: supplanter, schemer, trickster, swindler.
That is how Jacob lived his life at times. Let’s take one instance to
illustrate the point I wish to convey. Jacob tricked his father into believing
he was his brother Esau and as a result swindled Esau out of his birthright. The
choice he made in that moment caused him to live in fear of his brother for a
good portion of his life and make choices rooted in fear.
Now the time
has come that he must face his brother and he doesn't know what to do, so he
seeks God for an answer. Go to Genesis 32 to read about this. Verse 7 tells us
that Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. In Verse 12 God assured him that
he would prevail. Now with God telling him that, it would seem like he could
relax and listen to how God wanted to go about restoring their relationship.
But Jacob is really no different than most of us.
Being
motivated by fear, Jacob decides to come up with his own plan on how to soften
Esau’s heart before he faces him. Isn't that like our flesh? We tend to take
things into our own hands instead of taking time to listen to God’s solution
for our problems.
Jacob ends
up in a Wrestling Match with God because he was too stubborn to listen and
change. God ultimately had to put him in a position in order for him to listen
and quit fighting Him. God was not his enemy, but just like Jacob that’s how
many people view Him.
Jacob’s mindset of what had been spoken over
him daily had to be changed in order for God to get through to him. Once he
realized that, released the fear and listened to God, God gave him a new name,
Israel….one that spoke blessing over him the rest of his life.
Oh…the end
of this story goes…God restored Israel’s relationship with his brother Esau.
If only he would have listened in the first
place and trusted God completely, he could have saved himself so much
heartache.
So…Are you
wrestling with God about something? It’s time to repent, release it and move
forward as God shows you.
He has your solution. Seek Him and when He
answers you…do it!
