I’m On My Way! (Part 5)

I’m On My Way! (Part 5)
And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. (Genesis 32:24-26)
Jacob is left alone, and is now in a wrestling match with God. This wrestling match went on until the breaking of day. This reminds me that no matter how long we wrestle, it won’t go on forever. This match brought Jacob to an invaluable place. Jacob came to understand that we must know that we serve a God who is greater than us, and we cannot conquer much of anything until He conquers us. Instead of giving out orders to God (something he had done on other occasions), He was now defeated by God. The scripture says in Hosea 12:3-5: "He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and in his strength he struggled with God. Yes, he struggled with the Angel and prevailed; he wept, and sought favor from Him…" He knew that he was defeated, but desperately wanted a blessing from this Superior One. Jacob sought this blessing with weeping. Sneaky, clever Jacob now had to rely on the blessing of God. He could no longer fight, he could only hold on!
Sometimes we pray prayers that we forget about, but God never forgets! In Genesis 32:9-12 Jacob prayed this prayer: “And then Jacob prayed, "God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, God who told me, 'Go back to your parents' homeland and I'll treat you well… When I left here and crossed the Jordan I only had the clothes on my back, and now look at me—two camps! Save me, please, from the violence of my brother, my angry brother! I'm afraid he'll come and attack us all, me, the mothers and the children. You yourself said, "I will treat you well; I'll make your descendants like the sands of the sea, far too many to count." (Message Bible) God is answering Jacob’s prayer, but before God can deliver him from his brother, he had to deliver him from his own self-will and self-reliance! Yes, you may be on your way to becoming all that God has for you to be, but God will have to deal with your "self" first. God wrestles with you to get this mess out of you, so that you are free to move in the arena of real blessings that God had for you all along. God always hears the cry of his people. God will answer us, deal with our stuff first, then send the blessing.
I can recall going through such a time of major hurt and offense. I prayed that God would deliver me. When God did answer that prayer, the first thing he dealt with was my jealousy, insecurity, and selfishness (I made it all about me), because these were the things that opened the door for the offense in the first place. After God wrestled me to the ground, and I came to understand that He was winning, it was then that I really grabbed a hold on God. With tears, I said: "I will not let you go unless you bless me!" God did just that…He blessed me! I am now on my way, to receiving every thing that God has for me. What God has for me, it is for me!

Send this message to a Friend, and go take charge of the day!