The Touch of God

Today's Verse:

And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. ~Genesis 32:25 

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As a servant of God, it is my desire that God is glorified through my life. My daily prayer is, "Not I, but Christ." There is the fine balance between working for God and letting God work through me. This morning, we are looking at one of my favorite passages of Scripture. It is a passage with a powerful lesson on the only way we can prevail with God. It is a valuable lesson on what needs to happen in our lives for God to bless us and use us to full capacity. 

We see Jacob and his misgiving. 

Jacob was alone at the brook Jabbok. Up to this point of time, Jacob had done things his way. He had manipulated and supplanted others since the day of his birth. He had been “grabbing the heel” of other people and taking advantage of them for his own benefit. He had received a command from God to return home. However, he received word that his brother Esau was coming with 400 armed men to meet him. Jacob interpreted this as Esau coming out to meet him with much anger and retaliation in mind. Jacob was filled with much misgiving for his years of taking advantage of others. He was out of options and had nowhere to go and hide. When we live our lives independent of God and think that we can control our fate and affairs, God will allow our circumstances to be turned upside down and cause us to see how helpless we really are. 

We see Jacob and his match. 

That night would change Jacob’s life. “There wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.” The Lord came down that night and wanted a complete surrender from Jacob. Jacob wrestled with the Lord. Jacob wanted to impress the Lord that he was in control of his situation. Jacob wanted to prove that he was still strong and could handle anything. So, the Lord personally met him and engaged with Jacob in a wrestling match. When we get to the place where we think we are strong enough to handle our situation and do not need God, He will meet us and put our strength, wit, and resources to the test.

We see Jacob is manhandled. 

As the match continued through the night, the Lord touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh to disable him. The strongest part of the body is the thigh. God touched and disabled the strongest part of Jacob. When this happened, Jacob’s thigh was put out of joint. For the first time in his life, Jacob had been manhandled and brought to the end of himself. Jacob held tightly to the Lord. You see, the touch of God in our life begins when the Lord touches the strongest part of us to make us realize that He is in control. Once Jacob felt the touch of God, he realized he needed to hold on to God or he will be in bigger trouble. The touch of God disabled Jacob, but it also moved him to ask God for His blessing upon him. Jacob told the Lord, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.” He wanted the touch of God for his life going forward. The touch God both broke him and blessed him. 

We see Jacob and a metamorphosis. 

The Lord asked Jacob what his name was. Jacob admitted his name and manipulating nature. It was after this that the Lord blessed Jacob, and He announced that his name was changed to Israel and that he would have power with God. From that point forward, Jacob would spend the remainder of his life leaning upon a staff. Jacob experienced the touch of God upon his life. 

We need the touch of God in our life! Without this touch, we will spend our lives trying to please God in our power and strength instead of His power and strength. Get alone with God, and spend a night with Him. Let Him touch what needs to be broken in you, but hold on for dear life. As you do, the blessing that your soul longs for will be yours. 

Have a blessed God Morning! 

Bible Reading Schedule: Deuteronomy 32-34

#Genesis #Blessing #Disablement #PowerofGod #TouchofGod #Weakness