Have you ever been so focused on one problem that you didn’t even realize your real problem? We might pray to God, “Help me with my job” or “Bring healing to my loved one.” While these are important issues, they might not be the primary ones that God wants us to address. Often our most significant need is our relationship with God. We have not yielded to Him.

In Genesis 32, Jacob was focused on a problem: He would reunite with Esau. He had thought hard about how to manage the relationship. He even prayed to God for help. Jacob had been given his name because he came out of the womb grabbing his brother’s heel (Gen. 25:26). He had been wrestling with people ever since. He had stolen Esau’s blessing, and then struggled with his uncle Laban for 20 years. After Jacob stole Esau’s blessing, Esau exclaimed, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob?”

In verse 24, Jacob wrestled with a mysterious man all night. God had come in the form of an angel to grapple with Jacob (Hos. 12:4). After God dislocated his hip, Jacob still would not give up (v. 25). He clung to God and begged for a blessing (v. 26). God then changed Jacob’s name to Israel, declaring that he had “struggled with God and with humans” and overcome (v. 28). But this was a different kind of overcoming. Jacob had turned to God in weakness and desperation.

Every time we fight with God, we can only win by losing. This is not just the story of one man’s spiritual transformation. It is the story of the founding of a new nation. Israel’s namesake is one who overcame through defeat. Every time Jacob would take a step for the rest of his life, he would be reminded of his dependence upon the Lord and upon God’s severe mercy.

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