Note: On Tuesdays and some Sundays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
The wrestling between Jacob and the man (generally interpreted as angel) described in Genesis 32 had gone on for hours, had continued even after the dislocation of 
Jacob’s hip. Still, Jacob refused to stop struggling without a blessing. The reading goes on to say Jacob, to be known henceforth as Israel, named the place Peniel, “Because I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.”
Difficult and yet heady stuff at the same time. Imagine Jacob’s pain. Imagine his exhaustion. Still he knew, he knew, there was some God to be had in the experience. And he was right.
May we remember that as we deal with the minor and major annoyances life throws at us: a less than favorable medical diagnosis. The loss of a loved one. The aggravation of driving or public transportation or poor customer service. Any sort of unwelcome change we did or didn’t introduce into our day-to-day. God doesn’t cause the bad things in our lives. But if we have faith in our struggle, He will bless us. Just don’t let go.
