Daily Office Devotional....Read Genesis 32:22-26, 30
Jacob's name can mean "cheat" or "grabber," and he lives up to his name. He is manipulative , deceptive, and aggressive - not someone who could qualify as a well-scrubbed member of First Church. Jacob is a seriously flawed person growing up in a dysfunctional family. He seems to be either getting into trouble or just getting out of it or about to make some more.
Jacob's story is so universal because it is so personal. Throughout his life, Jacob had been stubborn and unwilling to trust anyone - even God. It is at the Jabbok Brook that Jacob is finally broken by God and radically transformed. He is given a new name and a new freedom to live as God originally intended. This comes, however, at the price of a permanent limp that now renders him helpless and desperate to cling to God. And it is out of this weak place of dependence that
Jacob becomes a nation (Israel) in order to bless the world.
In the same way God, sometimes, wounds us in our journey with him in order to move us out of an unhealthy, "tip of the iceberg" spirituality to one that truly transforms us from the inside out. When these come, we can deny them, cover them, get angry with God, blame others, or, like Jacob, we can cling desperately to God.
Question to consider: In what way(s) has God put your life or plans "out of joint" so that you might depend on him?
Prayer: Father, I relate to Jacob in striving, manipulating, scheming, denying, and spinning half-truths to those around me in order to get my way. At times, I too find myself serving you in order to get something from you. Lord, I invite you to teach me to live in dependence on you. Help me rest and be still in your love alone. In Jesus' name. Amen.
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