24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.25 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. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. 28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,[a]because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” 29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel,[b] saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.” 31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel,[c] and he was limping because of his hip. Genesis 32:22-32
Embrace the Change
Changes……we don’t like them.….or do we? We often pray about certain issues in our lives and when God replies we start fighting the answer. When we ask God to intervene and change our circumstances, God brings about that change as a reply to the prayer. We wrestle with God over that change. See change in our lives does not come easy. It has a price tag attached to it and simply we don’t want to pay the price of that change. Change bruises us at the beginning but is essential for our growth so we can be changed to what God has intended us to be.
One day, Jacob deceived his brother who swore to kill him after deceiving his blind father for taking his blessings. Jacob had to run for his life and literally ran all his life from his mischievous dealings. As a result he never saw his mother again and his family became torn by conflict. He lived in exile. The “deceiver” was deceived by his father in law. He has lived his life up to this point doing things his way, but came a moment where change looked him in the eye. How did he respond?
All his life it was all about him, his needs and his ways. But this night things would be different. Confronted with the pain of his past failures and deceit, Jacob found himself “Wrestling for a change.”
This change was an answer to his prayer earlier in Genesis 32. Jacob prayed to God and asked Him:
- Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau.
- Make me prosper
And so God took this prayer seriously and came with His answer. TO CHANGE YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES AND WHAT IS HAPPENING TO YOU……..You need to change.
Change is coming so be prepared to embrace the change that God is about to do even if it bruises.
But when does God do the changes?
