Listen

But Jacob stayed apart by himself, and a man wrestled with him until dawn broke. When the man saw that he couldn’t defeat Jacob, he grabbed Jacob’s thigh and tore a muscle in Jacob’s thigh as he wrestled with him. The man said, “Let me go because the dawn is breaking.”

But Jacob said, “I won’t let you go until you bless me.”

He said to Jacob, “What’s your name?” and he said, “Jacob.”

Jacob named the place Peniel, “because I’ve seen God face-to-face, and my life has been saved.” The sun rose as Jacob passed Penuel, limping because of his thigh.

Genesis 32:24–27, 30–31

Think

Our scripture for today is one of the strangest passages I’ve come across while reading Genesis. Do we have to struggle with God to receive a blessing? If we recall the story of Jacob, we see that his way of life consisted of fighting. He fought with his twin brother while still in their mother’s womb. Later, together with his mother, he schemed to obtain his brother Esau’s birthright. Later, he wrestles with his father-in-law Laban, who pays Jacob back with his own trickery.

The interesting thing is that God had already decided that Jacob would receive a blessing. In God’s sovereignty, it had already been established that the older brother would serve the younger. But instead of trusting God, Jacob tried to forcefully take what God wanted to give him by grace. In the struggle with God, the blessing takes on a different meaning. God gives Jacob the blessing of a wound: a mark that leads him to depend on God and, ultimately, to receive what God had promised him from the beginning.

Gabriela Martínez Seda

Question to Ponder:

Are you trying to forcefully take what God wants to give you by grace?

Pray

God, the world has taught me that I have to struggle and fight to get what I want. And perhaps sometimes I bring that same mindset into my relationship with you. Help me to let go of the struggle and embrace the blessing of depending on you. Amen.

Go

May your life be a reflection of God’s kingdom:

May others see in you what a life under the blessing of God’s presence and provision looks like.

Love, respond, and serve from the abundance of Jesus.