There was no reason I should take the time to read a sermon just then. It wasn't even Sunday. But I did. A friend retold the story of Jacob wrestling all night with an angel, beside the river Jabbok. There were details that I had always known, but had not allowed to marinate in my brain.
Jacob demands a blessing from this strong stranger. The author speaks about a time in her life when she wrestled with a life altering illness, and went looking for the hidden blessing within her struggle. The angel asks Jacob's
name. Presumably, someone bringing a message from God would already know his opponent, but maybe the real question was whether Jacob could articulate who he was. The name Jacob refers to when he grabbed his brother's heel and later his inheritance. That was who Jacob was then. But the angel grants him a new name, Israel. The word means prince, and becomes the identity of a nation on a first name basis with their Creator.
When I reflect on who I was in my beginnings, I see less than lovely motivations. But later in my own story I begin to see qualities that were worth wrestling for. Resentments are slower to surface, and the desire to control my kids and husband have begun to wane. Maybe this is the result of the limp that comes after a lifetime of wrangling in the
dark.
"Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go, for the day is breaking." But Jacob said, "I
will not let you go unless you bless me." So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." Then the man said, "You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed. Then Jacob asked him, "Please, tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, (the face of God) saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved" (Genesis 32:23-32).
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