A True Father Who Loses to God

 

Genesis 32:3-31

Jacob Wrestles with God

20 years ago, Jacob cheated Esau of his birthright and the blessing of their father. Esau said that he wanted to kill Jacob to settle the grudge that he had against his brother (27:41). As a result, Jacob had no choice but to flee his own home to Paddan Aram, the home of his uncle. He later built a home there.

However, the life Jacob had wasn’t a smooth one, because his uncle and his uncle’s children envied the wealth that Jacob had accumulated. In the end, Jacob decided to leave Paddan Aram and go back to his home with his wives, servants and livestock.

Jacob and company were finally going to meet Esau after a long time. Great danger awaited them. Jacob sent his servants ahead of him to his brother Esau in the country of Edom, to greet him and to say hello.

Verses 3-5: Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. He instructed them: “This is what you are to say to my lord Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now. I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favour in your eyes.’”

Jacob’s purpose of doing this was to first try to get some news about his brother and secondly to indicate that he was willing to submit to his brother. Jacob stood low, calling Esau as lord.

Esau responded by bringing along 400 men to meet with Jacob (v.6). Esau was bearing down on Jacob menacingly, as if he wanted to punish Jacob for, he had done. How should Jacob deal with this?

Prayer and Action Carried Out Simultaneously

Jacob feared that Esau came with bad intentions. He exercised fully the spirit of caution and strives; he split his people and property into two groups, sending one group ahead as a sign of goodwill towards Esau in order to win his heart. If one group were to be attacked, the other group would be able to escape.

At the same time, Jacob did not forget to pray to God. He prayed for God’s protection over him. In his prayer, Jacob reminded God of the promise to make him prosper and his descendants numerous.

Verses 9-12, Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’”

Jacob did not just sit still and do nothing; he also did not panic due to fear. He planned for the worst-case scenario, which is the best plan a person could do. Jacob did his part as a man, then looked to God and prayed, maintaining a close and good relationship with God through prayer. When man has a good relationship with God, he can look forward to resolving conflicts with men.

Are we facing dilemmas, crises and challenges in our lives today? What do we mean when we say we should look to God?

To “Look to God” means to do all we can to the best of our ability to solve a problem. When we have done all, we can, we will realize that there are some areas that cannot be done by the hands of man. It is at this point that we call out to God, asking God to give us grace to fill in where we lack.

Today, many pray, but do not act. This is just an excuse to not do anything. Many people, after measuring their own ability, feel that they will fail; therefore, they do not act. This is not the correct attitude because we do not know how to look to God.

If we only go ahead start launching a project after we consider a project thoroughly, making sure it is 100% feasible, then would God still have room to work?

We should do our part and also pray to God; these two aspects must occur simultaneously. Our correct attitude should be acknowledging that we are incompetent, yet stepping out in faith and looking to God for help. Moreover, when we maintain a close relationship with God, many difficulties and conflicts will resolve by themselves.

As the story continued to develop, we see that Jacob was safe and sound, being forgiven and accepted by his brother.

33:4 says, “But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.”

It is surprising to see that Esau’s attitude towards Jacob had totally changed. He treasured and loved Jacob and welcomed him back. Esau’s change of heart was not due to Jacob’s scheming, but rather Jacob’s prayer to God. God changed Esau’s heart that he may be satisfied with all that he had and not plunder Jacob. God’s work is indeed wonderful!

Do you still remember God’s call and promises to you? Are you worrisome and uneasy when you face difficulties today?

Do not give up, do not be discouraged, but rely and pray to God. Entrust your problems to God and rely on God to move forward. Your difficulties are no more serious than the crisis that Jacob encountered!

Hold On to God, the Night will Pass

Now, it’s night time. Jacob would meet Esau early the next morning. Jacob had sent his family and all his possessions across the stream at the ford of Jabbok, but he stayed behind. Why did Jacob want to be left alone?

Did he want to have quiet meditation and continue to pray to God? Or did he want to calm himself and think of a counter strategy? Or is he trying to flee when the opportune moment comes?

20 years ago, he crossed the Jordan alone with his staff. Now, he had family, possessions, and wealth. Could he leave everything behind as easily as before?

Even in his mother’s womb, Jacob was already fighting with Esau. He wanted to fight for the family wealth, the authority to lead, honour, and his father’s love and blessings.

Jacob’s pursuits and struggles reflected the competitive mentality of today’s people. When morning comes, Jacob’s life would come to a turning point. He might lose everything he had. Life, in the end, is always empty.

It was a long night. Jacob was confused and dispirited. He was alone, without family, without his possessions, without any protection. He had to face life and death alone. At a moment like this, God appeared!

A mysterious man suddenly appeared before Jacob. It was very dark, and Jacob without first identifying the mysterious person lunged forward and wrestled with him until daybreak.

Jacob could have imagined his opponent as the difficulties and forces that act against him in his life. These included his brother Esau. Through wrestling and physical exertion, Jacob released the fear, anxiety and the stagnation of his heart.

Dawn was fast approaching and the first rays of the sun could be seen over the horizon. “Night” represented the darkness and struggles of Jacob’s life, while “Dawn” foretold of Jacob’s healing and release from his suffering and challenges. Jacobs’s problems resolved by themselves!

Jacob felt that his opponent came from God, so he held on to him, refusing to let go until the person gave him a blessing.

Verses 26-28 say, Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

From struggle and wrestling, Jacob transitioned to prayer. All his pursuits and struggles could not bring him true happiness and satisfaction. Only by holding on to God tightly that life can be safe and steady; that life can be satisfied.

The blessing that the mysterious man gave Jacob – his new name – Israel signified a new life from God. That he might step out with boldness to confront his problems and overcome them.

Today, we might struggle with others all the time, like Jacob. By hook or by crook, we struggle for wealth, relationships, career, honour, authority, and so on. To desire and go after these things is not wrong. What’s wrong is we think that we can find happiness, satisfaction, purpose and fulfilment if we managed to obtain these things.

These must not be our ultimate goal. We will eventually find that life is transient and these things will not give us the satisfaction and purpose that we seek for. We will suddenly fall into “Night”. We will face difficulties. We will struggle and panic.

This is the moment when God comes and meet with us. He will guide us and bless us, giving us the strength to face our challenges.

Let us wrestle with God in our prayers, worship and serving. Hold on to God; persevere in seeking Him, trusting Him, until He blesses us. If we have God with us in our lives, His grace will be sufficient for us, and He will add unto us other things that will satisfy our desires that we may have true happiness and life with His purposes in mind.

A True Father Who Loses to God

For a big part of his life, Jacob was wrestling with God, cheating and plotting against others. The mysterious person said that Jacob struggled with God and humans and have overcome/won. Did Jacob really win?

Verse 25: “When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.”

Jacob actually lost to God! The mysterious man “lightly” touched Jacob’s hip and made him limp. That person has a supernatural ability; he purposely let Jacob win when they were wrestling. He wanted to leave before daybreak to save Jacob from seeing the face of God and die.

What’s paradoxical is that after losing to God, Jacob became a true winner. He realized that God is bigger than him and that he would need to solely rely on God and obey God.

Now that Jacob was limping, he could not do anything by his own strength; not even flee by himself. Instead, he now relied on God’s blessing in his weakness and has victory. Limping, Jacob went to the forefront of his family and greeted Esau.

33:1-2 say this, “Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants. He put the female servants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.”

Jacob went on with his wound. However, these wounds were the mark of grace, reminding Jacob that God is with him. He overcame his difficulties solely by relying on God’s promises and grace. He was no longer a deserter. He shouldered the burden of being the head of a family and went forward to face the danger and struggles ahead!

Today, we might be like Jacob, consistently wrestling with others and with God. We fight for what we want. As long as we get what we want, we give no compassion for others. The end justifies the means; cash is king! We do not submit to God, nor do we submit to the authorities that God placed over us. We want to walk our own path. We fuss over every little thing with God. We want to hold on to fame, profit, power, love, wealth, career and so on. On the surface, we are winner, but in actual fact, we are the losers.

Life is uncertain and changes all the time. One day we might lose our fame, profit, power, love, wealth, career…. We will stumble and be depressed. We might even be unable to face reality and seek to end our own lives by then.

If one day we did finally obtain these things, we would realize that they do not bring us lasting fulfilment and happiness. We would realize that we held on to the wrong things. These things are “idols”; unable to give us happiness and the purpose of life.

People including Christians have many “idols” that replaced the true and living God in our lives. That’s why our lives are uneasy and day by day we live anxiously. Our hearts are not satisfied. We do not have peace and joy, only struggles and exhaustion. The purpose and happiness of our lives can only come from God Himself. Only God can truly satisfy the emptiness and longing in our hearts.

In the darkness at Golgotha, Jesus Christ hung tightly onto the cross in weakness in order to redeem us. Even though Jesus had the ability to come down from the cross, He did not, because he wants to justify us before God the Father and thus obtain His blessing. The blessing is not for Him, but for us.

Galatians 3:13-14 say, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

Just like Jacob, we were face to face with God, yet we did not die. Instead, we received blessing because Jesus died in weakness on the cross. He paid the debts of our sins, that we may be reconciled to God. In this way, God’s blessing on Abraham may come to us.

We cannot find blessing outside of God. In Christ, we are received as the sons and daughters of God.  The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” From God, we can receive the ultimate blessing of life.

Today, if we had taken the long way round, journeying through countless struggles and pursuing wrong goals to obtain happiness, it is time to turn back and receive Jesus as the lord of our lives and return to the embrace of God. The real winner is the person who loses to God.

To lose to God means to submit to God’s lead, putting down our rebelliousness and surrender to the majesty of God, obeying His will, fearing Him, and placing Him at the centre of our lives.

With God as our guarantee and refuge, our lives will be safe and steady, full of joy and purpose. We can accept our gains and losses in life, because we know that in all circumstances God loves us, he wants to bring the best out of us. We can rest in his embrace. Are you willing to be this great winner?