Wrestling for a Blessing

"Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger." - Gen. 37:1

God's dream since creation is for a people He could plant in a better land. Joseph's story actually begins where another great figure’s ends. Joseph is the eleventh son of Israel, the father of the Jewish nation. Israel's story is recorded in the Chapters 27-37 of Genesis, a tale fraught with deception, dysfunction, depravity, and desperation. But through all his failings, Jacob wrestles his way into the heart of God and history, and ends up fathering the twelve tribes of the Hebrew nation who inherit the Promised Land.
Jacob's defining moment is an all-night wrestling match with God Most High. Left alone before facing the brother from whom he has stolen everything, Jacob encounters a pre-incarnate Christ who "wrestles with him to the breaking of day." (Gen. 32:25) The result of this wrestling is a face to face encounter with the living God who redefines Jacob’s life forever. As the angelic figure says, "Let me go!" Jacob retorts, "I will not let you go until you bless me," and it is with that tenacity that a trickster becomes transformed into a Prince with God—Israel who will father the Jewish lineage and nation.
Perhaps you have had such an encounter with God. Probably most people who read this book will have already had some salvation experience in which they gave their lives to the Lord and received, in essence, a new name and a new calling to obey God. Wrestling with God is a prerequisite to working under his blessing. Something in us must be touched as Jacob's hip was, and our walk will be forever changed. This defining moment for many is salvation. For others the touch comes at a vital period of transition in their lives. On the edge of a blessing and the verge of entering the promise, God has for you an encounter with an angel of the Lord. For many, this encounter is anything but friendly and fun.
You are being tossed out of your normal career or life into a new and Promised Land. You are wrestling with angels in the dark. Your muscles are tired, your grip is loosening, but something deep inside is welling up and saying, "I will not let you go until you bless me."
Congratulations. You are on your way to a destiny. You have decided the ordinary American dream of 1.8 kids and a picket fence will not satisfy your soul, so you have thrown your lot in with Jesus, like the early disciples, "forsaken all to follow him." You need a new name. This period of your life is a defining chapter, and the name God chooses for you from these wrestlings is a legacy that will endure forever. But you must realize that history and destiny is much larger than yourself. It goes beyond Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and touches all future generations.

Let me not let you free
until you bless me.