SCRIPTURE: Genesis 27:22 NLT So Jacob went closer to his father, and Isaac touched him. “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s,” Isaac said.
THOUGHT: It’s ironic to me that Jacob, whose name means deceiver, is a beloved character in God’s big story. He tricks his hungry older brother (a twin, Esau, who was born first) into giving him his birthright in exchange for a meal. He tricks his blind, aging father into bestowing that blessing on him by wrapping his arms in goat hair, so they resemble Esau’s. And on it goes, until a fateful night when he wrestles with an unknown man (Gen. 32) for a higher blessing. Turns out, he’s been wrestling with God, and God blesses and gives him a new name: “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.” (Gen. 32:28)
Does it make you shake your head to remember we serve a God who blesses those who wrestle with him? One who would give a name that means “wrestles with God” to his special people? I think it’s not wrestling that God dislikes, it’s distance and disdain.
SONG: Reckless Love https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GGJ8cyYNzQ
PRAYER: How do you do it, God? How do you continue to wrestle with us and our small faith? I love it that you included stories about people like Jacob in your Big Story and that your love is big and reckless and long-suffering enough for someone like me.
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