Genesis 32:22-31 (NRSV)
Read Genesis 32:22-31 on biblegateway.com
Verse 22The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. Verse 23He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had.
Verse 24Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. Verse 25When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Verse 26Then he said, "Let me go, for the day is breaking." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go, unless you bless me." Verse 27So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." Verse 28Then the man said, "You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed." Verse 29Then Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed him. Verse 30So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved." Verse 31The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.
Devotion
When most people come to me seeking an understanding of faith, they assume it has everything to do with Jesus. Although it's true the life, death and resurrection of Christ play a major role in our faith, it's Old Testament stories like Jacob's (or should I say Israel's) wrestling match with God that I encourage people to consider the most. I firmly believe and preach that God has created us to be curious like Jacob, to ask questions and have never-ending conversations about God. Essentially, we were created to wrestle with God, just as Jacob did. Wrestling doesn't imply doubt or denunciation of any belief in God, rather it exhibits a vigorous faith that seeks to understand our God and God's workings in this world all the better. In a way, Christ himself wrestled with God about the path to the cross that lay before him. But through that wrestling he came to understand the importance of God's love for the world through him.
Prayer
Lord God, give us the courage to wrestle with you rather than avoid you. And when the day dawns, give us the strength to lick our wounds and find hope in the fact that we can wrestle with you at all. Amen.