Confrontation With God

Today is Guest Post Swap Day for the 2013 Wordcount Blogathon. I am so excited to have Kate Megill guest posting here today.  Her blog has already blessed me tremendously, and I know that you will be blessed by her as well.  I'm so excited that she chose to post on Jacob today! Her earlier post on Jacob, which she links to below, made such an impact on me. 

(I'm sharing over at her place today on our impact on others...I'd love for you to pop over and see me there!)

I’ve been reading in Genesis for several months (on and off) and recently wrote about the training Jacob received in his life from his family’s actions. Unfortunately, Jacob continued to live out this deceptive lifestyle for many years to come. 

And then one night, a confrontation with God changed him forever!

We know that Jacob:

• ·         Cheated his brother out of his birthright
• ·         Deceived his father into getting the blessing intended for his brother
• ·         Was deceived by his uncle/father-in-law into taking Leah as his wife
• ·        Was told by God he would be blessed financially regardless of how Laban treated him
• ·         Deliberately tried to manipulate things to make God’s promise come true
• ·         Stole away secretly with his wives and children and livestock to avoid Laban
• ·         Was afraid of his brother and sent several gifts on ahead
• ·         Sent his wives and children and all he possessed across the river before him and he stayed behind during the night

And a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

That confrontation, that wrestling, that one time of persevering, was the defining point in Jacob’s faith with God. He wouldn’t let go. He wouldn’t let go when his thigh was dislocated. He wouldn’t let go until he was blessed. This was the point when God changed Jacob’s name from Heel Sneak (literal meaning of Jacob) to Israel - God Prevails. I love that. 

Jacob probably thought HE was the one who wrestled all night with God.

But it was God who wrestled with him.

Jacob probably thought HE prevailed.

But God was the One who prevailed.

God finally got Jacob to surrender to Him. Jacob held on, but it was hold on or be defeated. In his fear of defeat, he learned surrender. Prior to this, he always thought of God as the God of his fathers. 

There was always the IF/THEN condition to his supposed faith. He always held back, always worked to con his way out of a situation, always kept his independence as his card up his sleeve!

The very next hour we see the results of his change. Instead of sending more gifts or his family out before him:

But he himself passed on ahead of them and bowed down to the ground seven times,
until he came near to his brother. Gen 33:3

He took responsibility! He put himself in harm’s way to protect those under his charge! He walked in humility! God prevailed in him – he became Israel!

What confrontations have YOU had with God where He has changed you? How has He prevailed in your life to bring you to fuller surrender?

 

Kate Megill is a wife and homeschooling mom of 8, with a passion for older women teaching younger women. She blogs over at: Teaching What Is Good.