I often find comfort in reading other people’s stories. They remind me that I’m not the first one to struggle or doubt or question God. I’m not the first person to wonder if God is really going to come through on what He has promised.

Jacob is one such character whose story has encouraged me greatly over the last year.

I haven’t always liked him, though. Growing up in Sunday school and hearing how tricked his brother out of his birthright and convinced his blind father that Jacob was Esau so that Jacob could steal the blessing of the first born, I was convinced Jacob was just a bad dude. His story was more of a cautionary tale of what not to do.

As I’ve dug deeper into Jacob’s story, though, I’m finding, like so many other stories in Scripture, that his is about grace and redemption.

Jacob’s story assures me that God’s promises are trustworthy.

That same night Jacob whispers that prayer and asks for assurance, God comes in the form of a man and wrestles with Jacob until daybreak. Jacob leaves that match with a limp and a new name, both of them constant reminders that God is the one he is to lean on, not his own ability to make things happen. His limp reminds Jacob to lean into grace and trust God’s promises, and his new name, Israel, is a declaration of victory. Jacob is not the man he was when he left home, afraid for his life. He is new. He is the bearer of God’s covenant promise. His life is a testimony that God keeps His promises.

Read the full devotion at https://devotableapp.com/daily-devotion-genesis-32-gods-promises-are-trustworthy