Alone.
Jacob, sat by a dying campfire… alone. Behind him lay the broad highway of his devious schemings. He’d conspired with his mother, lied to his father, stolen from his brother, and left his father-in-law without saying goodbye.
Alone… he’d sent his family ahead. Alone… with only his memories. Alone… exactly where God wanted him. “Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak” (Genesis 32:24).
Out of the darkness an assailant attacked and the two wrestled through the night. Jacob defended himself, refusing to yield. As the sun peaked over the distant horizon, his yet-unknown opponent worked supernaturally. “He struck Jacob’s hip socket as they wrestled and dislocated his hip” (Genesis 32:25).
When did Jacob understand the identity of his adversary? That’s unclear, but Jacob requested a blessing, and Jacob faced a life-changing question. “What is your name? Who are you? What is your identity?” Jacob was forced to confess. “I’m Jacob, the schemer, the conniver, the deceiver.”
The supernatural visitor then bestowed upon Jacob a new name. “Your name will no longer be Jacob … It will be Israel because you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed” (Genesis 32:28).
Jacob was transformed. He had wrestled with Christ, confessed his wrongdoing, and trusted in God’s grace and mercy. He’d emptied himself of self-confidence and reliance upon his own cleverness. He learned to triumph through defeat and to be strong through weakness. He became “a new creation; the old passed away, and he was made new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
He’d “‘seen God face to face” (Genesis 32:30). Jacob, now Israel, was never the same.
I wonder… with our meetings, our activities, our busy business… do we need to get alone with God?
“… think on these things” (Philippians 4:8, KJV).
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