Commentators say that Jacob was about 100 years old when he wrestled with God and won. I know you must be thinking, how can a mere man win a wrestling match with God? “So he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Jacob.’ And he said, ‘Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.’”(Gen. 32:27-28) Hmmm! How could that be? Well to understand this scripture, we must understand something about Jacob. He and Esau were twin sons born to Isaac and Rebekah. And although his brother Esau was actually born first, Jacob reached out and grabbed the heel of Esau. Thus, his name Jacob means “heel catcher” or one who would supplant or come into position over another by deception.

Throughout his entire life, he lived up to his name. He was a deceiver who tempted his brother Esau into selling his birthright for a pot of stew. Consequently, he fled from his homeland with his mother promising to call him back when his brother’s anger cooled in a few days. The few days lasted twenty years. And as it happened, Jacob was deceived into laboring twenty years for a man named Laban. The story goes on to say that he outwitted Laban through deception, acquired most of Laban’s livestock, and became prosperous. However, during that time, two significant things happened. The first was that the Lord told him his descendents would fill the earth. The second was that he would return to the land he was running from and the Lord would be with him. I wondered why God would give Jacob that kind of promise considering what kind of person he was.

Anyway, Jacob flees from Laban and heads for home. The problem was that Esau was still living there and he concluded that since his mother had not called for him in twenty years, his brother’s anger did not subside. So Jacob (true to his name) decides to bribe Esau. In the meantime, he finds out that Esau was on his way with 400 men to meet him. Jacob then went into survival mode figuring that Esau is coming to kill him. So he sends his family safely over the river into the Promised Land and decides not to cross over with his family. Jacob was at a pivotal point of his life where he could risk returning to the Promised Land or run from it.

Much like Jacob, we find ourselves at a point in life where we stand on one side of a bridge knowing God’s promises are on the other side. The problem is we are filled with regrets of the past and wonder how we could possibly get to the other side where God’s promised fulfillment, abundance, and fruitfulness await us. We can be so close and yet so far. The thing I love about the Bible is that it frames the question and the problem and then gives us an answer. In the end, Jacob prevailed not in the physical sense where he beat up the angel of God, but that he prevailed in the sense that he won over the heart of God.

God saw something in Jacob that He had to wrestle away from him. Then Jacob would be ready to step over to the other side and meet up with Esau as a different person. The story continues and we find that Jacob actually found favor with Esau, went on to became the patriarch of the twelve tribes of Israel, and God’s promises were fulfilled. Thus when we prevail with God, He stands with us. So the question for us is how do we prevail with God? Here is the first of three points that will help us do that.

1.    BE WILLING TO ADMIT YOUR INADEQUACIES.

In other words, it is confessing that we don’t have it all together. A key lesson to learn from Jacob’s life is that we need to humble the spiritual things of our life to appreciate and enjoy His blessings or God will humble us in a physical way. “Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. And when he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him.” (Gen. 32:24-25) You see the enemy wasn’t attacking him. It was God wrestling with him not to destroy him, but to humble him. It’s not to say that Satan isn’t out there plotting ways to stand in our way because it is a reality that does happen. However, sometimes it may be that we have to rid ourselves of the junk in our lives. That’s why God will at times wrestle things out of our lives that shouldn’t be there. He will humble us in order that we will be in position to fully appreciate the blessings He has for us. “Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time.” (1 Pet. 5:6) If God sees we are not ready to be exalted, He will stand in our way. God will reserve blessings from us until He work those things that keep us from God’s best.

The Scripture says that Jacob wrestled with the angel till daybreak – that’s a long time. We wonder why things seem to take forever. Often it is us holding on to stuff we have to let go of and not admitting to the Lord that we need help. Humility is more than dealing with pride and evil. I define humility as releasing anything of myself that will get in the way of God whether it is past hurts or a refusal to come under spiritual authority.

“For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Rom. 8:6-8) God loves us so much that He will wrestle us to the ground in order to rip those fleshly things out of your hands. And the reason it hurts is because we hold on to it. So the first point to remember is to admit we need God’s help. The next principle is to…

2.    ADAPT, NOT JUST ADOPT TO THE WAYS OF GOD.

There’s a big difference between the two. When we adapt, we go through changes that allow us to live in a new environment. It is…

ADAPT: SUBSTANTIVE CHANGE

An internal change – an inside out kind of process!

ADOPT: APPARENT CHANGE

An external change – our outward appearance, our environment!

Which do you think is tougher to bear? Adapting is more difficult because it is a process that doesn’t happen right away. God saw Jacob’s willingness to adapt to His ways. God knew about Jacob’s old ways, but he saw Jacob in this wrestling match give himself over to the Lord seeing the nature and humility of the Father begin to emerge. And when God saw that change, He opened up His blessings to Jacob. Let’s read a prophet’s prospective of Jacob: “In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his maturity he contended with God. Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed; he wept and sought His favor.” (Hos.12:304) Jacob was beginning to change on the inside so much so that God was pleased. As Christians, we are adopted into the family of God. By grace and by faith we are saved. Really there’s not much we have to do. On the other hand, adapting to the ways of God is not just changing our appearance, but changing on the inside -- things that are not obvious externally like patience, forgiveness, or grace. We can easily hide behind the outward appearance without changing the inside. God has a design or blueprint for our lives and we need to live His way. It’s not that complex. Sometimes we just make it harder than it really is. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom. 12:2) It’s not just taking on God’s name, but taking on God’s nature as well. He really wants to bless us.

The other day we were having dinner with my son Jared and Joy corrected him for doing something he shouldn’t. After several warnings, I scolded him. Soon there was complete silence and when I looked over at him his bottom lip began to quiver. So Joy reached over to pull him onto her lap and said you heard what daddy said. All of a sudden he said, “Sorry daddy”. It just melted my heart.

Sometimes when we experience God’s correction, we have to come before Him with humility and genuinely ask for forgiveness. What is God waiting for you to say to Him that shows an inner change? Once we realize that we are inadequate by ourselves and that we want to live our lives like Him…

3.    CLING TO THE PROMISES OF GOD.

“Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.’ But he said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’” (Gen. 32:26) The angel of God was saying let me go, but Jacob was hanging on and said, “You bless me first”. Consider this: Jacob was about 100 years old with a dislocated hip yet he had such a strong grip on this angel. And God just loved that persistence about Jacob. He not only believed and claimed the promises of God, he clung tightly to them.

Sometimes we claim the promises of God, but we don’t cling to them. We confess that we are inadequate and need God, yet we let go as soon as we hit a wall. Don’t just talk about His promises; don’t just believe it, but cling to it because sometimes it takes a while for the promises, blessings, and miracles to come to pass. “And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” (1 Jn. 5:14-15) We have this confident assurance and know that it will happen if we hold on.

I asked Joy if I could share this last story because it was a pivotal point in our relationship with our new son, Jared. We thought we had gone through the rejection phase and were done with that. Well this mother’s day was Joy’s first time to celebrate as a mother. I was so excited and I planned to a dinner and invited her family over. In fact I even wrote a poem for her. I just wanted it to be so special for her. But that weekend, Jared began to reject Joy, not wanting her around and wanting to go back to China. It was heartbreaking as his rejection affected her deeply. As the weekend went on, she became more aloof and even had thoughts that maybe it’s not worth the effort. She kept saying to me, “Maybe you should pray for me”. I just kept reminding her of God’s promises. Finally God said to me, “Listen to her and pray for her”. But I didn’t want to pray, I didn’t feel like it, yet yielded to Him anyway. And as I began to pray, it was like I was wrestling with God and as I submitted to Him, He began ripping away the things in my heart that needed to be cleared out. At the end of the night, Joy apologized and just hugged me. A couple of nights later out of the blue Jared said, “Jared no go China. Jared love mommy and daddy! Jared stay Hawaii.”

Oh Lord, I thank you that You are with us. Sometimes we are so close, but how do we get to the other side. We know His promises, but don’t know how to get to the Promised Land. God has a promise for all of us and we must cling to them because our lives depend on it. Don’t give up on God. Humble yourself before Him and admit that you are inadequate. Then take on the character and nature of the Father by adapting to His ways. No, not just changing your appearance externally, but transforming internally so that you begin looking more and more like your Father. And when you do sit back as He begins to pour out and unfold the miracles right before you.

Discussion Questions

1.      What keeps you from stepping into the Promised Land?

2.      How do we learn from Jacob’s life so that we can prevail with God?

3.      What are you holding onto in your life that you refuse to let go?

4.      Do you feel that you have transformed on the inside by living your life God’s way – not just by outward appearances but by genuinely changing on the inside?

5.      Do you tend to let go of God’s promises when faced with a challenge that seems impossible to overcome? What can you do to hang on as Jacob did until you realize His promises come to pass?

6.      What most impacted you about today’s lesson? How can you apply at least one point to your life this week?

Summarized by Robin Hart II