2014/01/24

When You Stop Struggling


... for God has been very gracious to me. I have more than enough....  Genesis 33:9-11


Most people would have given up on Jacob, the scheming deceiver and manipulator. But not God.

One night, while attempting to appease the brother he had stolen from, Jacob met the Lord. He grabbed hold of the Lord and for hours tried to wrestle a blessing from His. What did the Lord do? He touched Jacob's hip socket and put it out of joint, so that Jacob wound up helpless before the Lord.

The Lord changed Jacob that night. He showed Jacob how it was only when Jacob's grabbing and wrestling finally stopped that His grace was able to flow. That night, God changed Jacob's name from "deceiver" to "prince" (Israel) and added to him blessings that were beyond his own efforts.

You see, we cannot try to wrestle blessings from God. It is when we give up on our scheming, deceiving and manipulating to get ahead in life and completely trust His grace alone that His provision flows unabated.