In Genesis Chapter 32 Jacob starts to get his gifts ready to give his brother Esau as they will eventually meet up in the future. These gifts are a way of Israel apologizing for the long ago incident where he stole his brother’s birth rite. The apology isn’t possible until Jacob becomes Israel. The name change is the result of an encounter with God that changes his life forever. Have you ever had an encounter with God that was so powerful you thought about legally changing your name? Like from Mike to ______?
The encounter in itself lasted part of one physical day,
but the effects change Jacob’s life forever. As dawn approached Jacob
suffered a physical injury to his hip, but the wrestling match that
lasted all night also caused his spirit to be broken as well. Suffering
in itself does not cause healing. Only suffering that has a meaning and
is accepted willingly has the power to heal, to transform an individual
into a whole person. That is, someone who is undivided, who can come to
terms with himself/herself, and even with his/her enemies, as Jacob did
with Esau and Laban. Transformation or real change of character, can
take place in a person only when, through suffering he/she engages in an
active struggle with the “Shadow,” which is the dark side of
himself/herself.
Jesus promises that if we are His servants we will go through suffering as it is a natural part of serving Him. Suffering so painful and powerful it forces us to look at the core of who we are. We have often heard it said, “Spiritual growth takes place in the valleys of our lives.” Have you experienced such suffering that when you looked in the mirror you didn’t recognize yourself? There was almost a demonic glow on our face and it scared us to humbly bow before His throne and seek restoration and forgiveness. Not just for ourselves, but now in a restored state for others that we have offended in our lifetimes.
Jacob can fully face his own past only has he seeks reconciliation with Esau, and this he can do only as he becomes a different man. The formerly self-assured and successful Jacob is now diminished in appearance; no longer with a proud purposeful stride but with a hesitant limp will he greet his brother. The reconciliation occurs because Israel, not Jacob, whom Esau meets, is a new man who asks forgiveness, if not in words then in manner, who limps toward him with a repentant air, not deceitful arrogance. He is not a man to be put to the sword, he is a man who can be loved by a brother.
Maybe we should all pray that God would bless us through suffering and we would start limping around in life. Or we should pray for some evidence of suffering that takes place in our lives and how it has forever changed us to look and act more like Jesus. We all desire, I am sure, to be loved as brothers and sisters in Christ. As we wrestle with God, may our names be changed!
