Daily Meditation: Genesis Chapter 32

Although Jacob prayed for faith at the Jaber Ferry (section 9- 12) and exhausted everyone's methods (section 14- 19), he still felt uneasy. When he got up at night, he sent his wife and children across the river first, and he was alone on the other side, which just showed that he was upset and could not sleep. When Jacob was alone, he met the angel of God and wrestled with him.

In this noisy era, the loneliness of Christians is even more important. If we want to see God, our hearts will be closed to the world. The loneliness of Christian soul is more important than the loneliness of space. If our hearts are not closed to the world, even if we are alone in the room, if our thoughts are full of mobile phones or the voice of the world, we can't really meet the Lord. If we are quiet inside, we can see God even if we pray silently on the bus. Of course, if conditions permit, when we pray, we should also try to find a space alone to avoid being disturbed and tempted.

God wrestles with people, but people defeat God, which makes Christians very puzzled. God is omnipotent, how can he fail? It will be easier to understand this problem from a spiritual point of view. Comparing Esau with Jacob, Esau often goes out hunting, and his character is rough and heroic. Jacob stayed in the tent all day and was good at calculating. From the outside, Esau is more like a man. In the eyes of God, Jacob's inner perseverance is the real man. He wrestled with God, bent on winning, and would never stop until he reached his goal. There is nothing wrong with God looking at people, because the Lord doesn't look at people as he does. People look at the appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart (Sam 16:7). As it is written, "Jacob is my love, and Esau is my evil" (Romans. 9: 13). Jacob recognized that it was God who wrestled with him and said, "I won't let you go until you give me your blessing." Jacob's firm hope in God and trust in God's mind are extremely precious to God. God has won, which is God's affirmation of his mind. Just like wrestling between adults and children, in order to encourage children's courage, adults deliberately let children become winners, which is the greatest incentive for children.

The thigh fossa is the most powerful part of the human body. God touched Jacob's thigh. He was lame, which showed Jacob that he didn't win by his body at all. Only in the spiritual war will there be a win-win situation. In the battle of flesh and blood, it is often both sides lose. Jacob won the presence and blessing of God, and God also won Jacob's obedience and piety. Jacob changed his name to Israel, and he gained a new name and identity because of his new relationship with God, which also became a turning point in Jacob's life.

Today, are we willing to give the natural body to God, let God touch it and let God deal with it?

? Chen Lina and Xin Li.