Genesis 32:28 – “He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but ^[a]Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”

The thought of wrestling with God gripped my heart.  In Genesis 32, Jacob was returning home but knew Esau was coming.  He envisioned destruction because he knew his deception and Esau’s hatred.  

In the night, all alone, he encountered God and wrestled with Him.  The Lord or the Angel said, “Let me go, for the night is over, and daybreak has come.”  Jacob refused.  Persistence and a thirst for answers, assurance, protection, peace, and power drove him to persist.  Jacob said, “No way!  I won’t quit unless or until you answer my prayer.” Verse 28 contains a truth or revelation often overlooked. 

Here, we encounter his name or character change.  But what about the statement, “You have proved your strength wrestling with an angel and with man and have prevailed.”  He had Laban behind him, Esau in front of Him, and God or His angel in the present.  He prevailed!  

Proved his strength to whom?  Not God’s, He knows.  Not Esau’s.  Not Laban’s.   Whose Strength?  It was Jacob’s!  He learned the power of persistence.

In Hebrews 10:38 – “BUT the righteous shall live by MY faith…”

If we determine that nothing will be acceptable or that the only acceptable thing is God’s answer, peace, power, provision, protection, and person, we, too, will prevail and learn to live in His faith.  Nothing will deter us.  We will be who He says we are.  Who are we?

Wrestling with God is not to change God’s mind but our view of God, life, and ourselves.   As Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, it is those times that we overcome all obstacles in the spirit realm so that we can see God’s purposes in the seen realm.

On a personal note, we had hail the other morning, and I felt directed to command it to stop.  As I did, I sensed the angels closing the door of the storehouse of hail.   It stopped!  That is not to promote me but to reveal that sometimes we just need to exercise the authority God has given us as believers!

God will do that in everything you encounter.   Wrestling with God is for us and enhances our spiritual authority and power.  It is a confidence builder.  We may, like Jacob, walk with a limp, but we will be changed and see His protection and provision.

May God bless you richly as you pursue Him!