[Discoveries] 03-24-08 Wrestling -- Genesis 32:24

[Inspiration in Your Inbox]

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/*So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. -- 
Genesis 32:24*/

If ever Jacob needed a word of encouragement, now was the time. His 
brother Esau was coming to meet him with 400 men. That could mean only 
one thing, Jacob was in great danger. Everything he had worked for in 
the last twenty years could be gone in a few hours. His wives and his 
children could be taken from him, and he would be powerless to prevent it.

My two boys -- then ages 8 and 11 -- were fighting one day. There were 
angry words and tears and more angry words. I suppose I could have sat 
them down and said, "Now, boys, this is how you should be nice to each 
other." But, somehow, I didn't think that would work.

So I told them both to come here, that I was going to beat some sense 
into them. (Of course I didn't actually beat them. I just wrestled with 
them a bit.) Then the three of us sat down on the couch - one on each 
side of me - and we looked at a book I got from the library on military 
aircraft. There we sat for fifteen minutes or so looking at Tomcats and 
Harriers and cargo planes. At first they were both pretty sullen, but it 
wasn't long before all three of us got lost in figuring out how big 
these planes were, how fast they flew, what they carried and who flew them.

After fifteen (or was it twenty-five?) minutes, I looked at them and 
asked, "If I let you guys go, do you think you can figure out how to get 
along with each other?"

The younger one got up and hugged the older one. Then the older one 
stood up and hugged the younger one. Then they both walked back into 
their world.

I honestly don't know if that's good parenting or not. It just seemed 
like the right thing to do.

And here God meets with Jacob, but he doesn't say a word. All He does is 
wrestle with him. What must have been going through Jacob's mind? 
Everything Jacob had was on the line -- his own survival was a major 
question mark. And now this.

Yet, at the end of the night, something changed. Jacob discovered 
something about God he could find out no other way. And God gave him a 
new name to show him that you can wrestle with God and with men and 
prevail.

Be encouraged!
Dwight

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