“Then he said, ‘Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.’” – Genesis 32:28
At long last, Jacob came to truly know the Lord! It wasn’t easy for him (indeed, it was costly). It certainly wasn’t quick. Although he’d been raised in a home that knew the Lord, it just hadn’t resulted in a personal knowledge of God. That came after decades of God’s clear favor and provision that should have made God’s reality and presence obvious to Jacob long before. But it hadn’t. Jacob hadn’t been anti-God, just un-engaged, proud, self-reliant, and unwilling to acknowledge the obvious. It came after years of protection and abundant blessing that even Jacob admitted but without truly bowing to God. Perhaps you know people like him…
For Jacob, it took yet another crisis. After years of living by his wits, tricking, and grasping at what others had, Jacob finally reached the end of himself. The bridges he’d burned long before were catching up to him. He desperately needed God. Even then, it wasn’t easy! He had to wrestle with the angel of the Lord all night long. He’d limp for the rest of his life from that wrestling. Sometimes that’s just how it is for people, including people you care about deeply. You can share the truth… you can point out the obvious hand of God in their life… but they must wrestle with God and faith for themselves. You wish it weren’t so, but there are plenty of Jacobs in the world.
If you have a Jacob in your life, someone taking their dear sweet time to embrace the Lord in faith, don’t give up on them. Pray for them. Encourage them to actually wrestle with God. Don’t yield to frustration. Stay faithful while they aren’t. Pray for God to make Himself and His hand in their life obvious. Pray that if it’s a crisis they need to come to know the Lord, that He will be kind enough to send them that crisis. #FollowJesus