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
The Fight of the Night
Before talking about the other side of the breaking point, we need to know more details about that specific night where the wrestling happened and the nature of the fight. Note and study the following:
- There was a fight: See change is a struggle but necessary for us to grow, proceed and get a level up. Change is hard but it is needed to break the unchanging old nature, the customs and old thoughts and the old me to bring forth the new me. To change there must be a fight.
- It was between two people only. Not an army against an army. There was the potter and the clay. The change was in the hands of the potter and was performing that change on the clay.(Jeremiah 18 )
- Jacob did not initiate the fight. The Scriptures say that a man came and wrestled with him. Imagine that you are sleeping and before going to sleep you were thinking about your situation and fear is filling your heart. You fall asleep because you are tired. Maybe you are dreaming that somebody out there is coming to get you. And all of the sudden a man grabs you and starts fighting with you. This tells you that we rarely want to change.
- The fight happened suddenly. Out of nowhere it began. Change happens suddenly.
- Jacob fought the man back. It is a terrifying experience and that is why at first we fight it back. We fight the change.
- The man that came at night was waiting all along to come into his life and do the changes needed but was waiting for the right moment. He was watching Jacob all along and was ready always to do the change but Jacob was not. We need to be ready for the change to take place.
- The fight took all night. Change is a process and needs time to take effect and for the change to happen in our lives.
- The fight went for hours in silence. WOW…….Notice no words were spoken for most of the fight. See when change happens, you might not understand at the beginning what is happening. God does not explain the change to you at the beginning.
- But at the end there must be a surrender for the change to take place.
I encourage you to study the above again and pray that God helps you to be ready for the change that is about to happen in your life.
