Scripture to Read: Genesis 32:22-32
In today's devotion, we see that Jacob comes face-to-face with God before he meets with his brother Esau. After Jacob sent the rest of his family ahead of him, he wrestled with a man. Jacob wrestled with no ordinary man, but he wrestled with God in the flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ. Jacob wrestled all night and seemed to have the upper hand until our LORD put Jacob's hip out of joint. This is a picture of what God had been doing with Jacob all along. Since the time Jacob fled from Esau, the LORD had been humbling Jacob. With one touch to his hip socket, God brought Jacob to a place of humility where Jacob could only turn to our LORD. Jacob could no longer use his deception nor the power of his bargaining. In humility, Jacob called out to our LORD to bless him (Genesis 32:26). Our LORD responded to Jacob by renaming him Israel. Jacob was no longer marked by deception and cheating but by the power of God. As Jacob realized what had occurred, he named the place Peniel to remember, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered" (Genesis 32:30), something that would be a reminder to others as well. While we may not wrestle God as Jacob did, we all have been at a place of wrestling with who God is and what He's doing. God calls us to humble ourselves before Him (James 4:6-7 and 1 Peter 5:5-7) so that we no longer wrestle but find our rest in Him.
Challenge & Application
1. What does Scripture tell us about those who come to God in humility? (See Proverbs 3:34, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5.)
2. How may God be humbling you right now and reminding you of who He is?
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!