Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
He was alone. Or so he thought.
Jacob was concerned about the meeting with his brother Esau—as well he should have been. After all, he’d tricked the man out of his birthright.
Then a being appeared out of nowhere and the wrestling match was on. We might infer the issue was Jacob’s lack of confidence that God would be with him at the meeting. Or maybe it was guilt over his original trickery. Or maybe it was something else. Regardless, 
the match went on and on and on. The being was ready to go; not even dislocating Jacob’s hip had given him the upper hand. But then Jacob said those ten words that should put shivers down your spine and hope in your soul:
“I will not let you go until you bless me.” Genesis 32:27, NABRE)
And the being does, giving Jacob the new name of Israel in recognition of the struggle.
Who among us has not been fearful of the consequences of something we’ve done? The immediate outcome may not be sunshine and lollipops, rainbows and unicorns. People may turn away from us forever. We may lose our jobs, our belongings, our freedom, perhaps our earthly lives as a result of what we’ve done, regardless of whether our original action found favor with the Lord. We may be injured in ways that hurt even more than a dislocated hip.
But here’s the thing. We are not alone. When we realize that, and stop struggling with God over our lack of trust that He’ll take care of us, we let go… and are blessed. All we have to do is stop wrestling.
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