When Jacob and Esau were born, the Bible says that Jacob was holding onto Esau’s heel. His mom then gave him the name Jacob which meant “heel” or “deceiver”. People have asked, “What’s in a name?” Well, Jacob lived up to his. He was a heel to his brother and got him to trade his birthright for some food. Later, he deceived his own father in order to steal his brother’s blessing.
He was so afraid his brother was going to kill him over that last deception that he fled to the country of his ancestors. There he met his wives and stayed for twenty years. God spoke to him to return to the land He had given Abraham. He knew he had wronged his brother and was still afraid of him. On the night before they met, he was alone. An angel appeared and began to wrestle with him. Jacob held onto him the way he hung onto his brother’s heel. Finally, the angel gave up and blessed him, changing his name to Israel.
In Genesis 32:28 says, “‘Your name will no longer be Jacob,’ the man told him. ‘From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won’” (NLT). When his name changed, so did he. No longer was he the deceiver he had been. He was now a person that knew God and prayed to him often. He quit relying on his own wisdom and started trusting the God of his fathers.
Some of us wrestle with God trying to find out if He’s real. Some of us wrestle with Him in prayer over our loved ones. I love that it says, “He won.” If you’ve got something pressing in you, don’t let go of God until He answers. The more we wrestle with God, the more we are changed. God is not afraid to come to where you are. He wants to help you get to where you’re going and to become the person He’s called you to be. Don’t let go. Don’t give up in the struggle. Your blessing is waiting on the other side of the wrestling match.
Photo by Katerina Radvanska on Unsplash
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 