“Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip.”

I sit here with my ankle hurting tonight. It is swollen and painful to walk on it. Why? Medically speaking it is hurting. I don’t know why or what is causing it. Spiritually is a different story… Wrestling with G-D is not a wise thing to do, yet I still think I can win. I think if I wrestle long enough maybe He will disqualify me because I am afraid to meet my Esau tomorrow. In my heart do I want to be disqualified… no… am I afraid of what tomorrow holds? In some respects, yes. Jacob was also apprehensive about tomorrow. So he wrestled all night with G-D, all night long and finely in the morning, walked with a limp the rest of his life.

Do you feel that the L-RD has you in a place where your way over your head? Are we trying to wrestle your way out of the situations He has us in? Are you willing to walk with a limp the rest of your life – whether it be a physical one, emotional one or a spiritual one? Jacob was in Mahanaim or “two camps”. Joshua said to the children of Israel, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the L-RD”.

My wrestling, your wrestling are actually wrestlings for the lordship of our lives. May we come to our Penuel, to the place where we “face G-D”, confess our sins, come under His lordship and finally have our hearts changed and names changed as we finally stop wrestling and realize “God prevails” (Israel).