Eugène Delacroix [Public domain] |
“Until
You Bless Me” by Melanie Rigney (@melanierigney)
The man then said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob
said, “I will not let you go until you bless me.” (Genesis
32:27)
In justice, I shall
behold your face, O Lord. (Psalm 17:15a)
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is
abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out
the laborers for his harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38)
Piety
Lord, break me, bend me as You must…
but bless me.
Study
He was alone.
Or so he thought.
Jacob was
concerned about the meeting with his brother Esau—as well he should have been.
After all, he’d tricked the man out of his birthright.
Then a being
appeared out of nowhere and the wrestling match was on. We might infer the
issue was Jacob’s lack of confidence that God would be with him at the meeting.
Or maybe it was guilt over his original trickery. Or maybe it was something
else. Regardless, the match went on and on and on. The being was ready to go;
not even dislocating Jacob’s hip had given him the upper hand. But then Jacob
said those ten words that should put shivers down your spine and hope in your
soul:
“I will not
let you go until you bless me.”
And the being
does, giving Jacob the new name of Israel in recognition of the struggle.
Who among us
has not been fearful of the consequences of something we’ve done? The immediate
outcome may not be sunshine and lollipops, rainbows and unicorns. People may
turn away from us forever. We may lose our jobs, our belongings, our freedom,
perhaps our earthly lives as a result of what we’ve done, regardless of whether
our original action found favor with the Lord. We may be injured in ways that
hurt even more than a dislocated hip.
But here’s
the thing. We are not alone. When we realize that and stop struggling with God
over our lack of trust that He’ll take care of us, we let go… and are blessed. All
we have to do is stop wrestling.
Action
Let go so He
can bless you.
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