Hold On To God's Blessing Genesis 32:22-30

Today we’re going to talk about a famous wrestler who took part in the most famous wrestling match in the Bible: Jacob!

Like the professional wrestlers have a ring name, so Jacob’s wrestling match would earn him a new name.

Jacob was often wrestling with someone, always in trouble, it seemed, always trying to trick people and manipulate his way through things, always trying to be in control.

He would learn that truly being in control is holding onto to God, and letting him work things out for our good.

In our Old Testament lesson today, Jacob is on the run, as he often was. In this case running away from Laban, his uncle, whom he had tricked.

Jacob was headed south with his herds, into the region where his brother, Esau, was.

Remember, Jacob had stolen his father, Isaac’s, blessing and inheritance from Esau. So Jacob was afraid that Esau would get even with him, especially when he heard that he was coming toward him with 400 men, a sizable fighting force!

So he had trouble behind him and trouble ahead of him.

The cynic might say that’s the way life is. And there’s some truth to that. But as we’re going to see, when you hold on to God, there’s also always a blessing ahead.

Afraid that Esau was seeking revenge, and was out to destroy him, Jacob divided his herds and sent some of the livestock to Esau as a gift. But it was actually a diversionary tactic. While Esau was accepting the gift, Jacob would be running away in the other direction.

Which bring us to the Jabbok River, east of the Jordan River, in the modern day country of Jordan.  

Jacob, camped there, and during the night, sent his family across the river where they would be safe. They would go before him and he would catch up. He stayed behind, as a sort of rear guard, to give his family time to get away.

And soon he confronted a stranger. Jacob didn’t know his intentions, and probably thought that he was sent by Esau, so he fought with him through the night, keeping him from crossing the river and pursuing his family, or so Jacob thought.

But it turned out that the man was not who Jacob thought he was. After a night of wrestling, the man reached out and touched Jacob’s hip, and it was instantly dislocated. It was obvious that he could have overpowered Jacob any time he wanted to.

At that point Jacob’s eyes were opened, and he realized that he was encountering no ordinary man. In fact, it was the Son of God, in human form.

This is something that happened a number of times in Genesis, and it was a foreshadowing that the Son of God would become a man in Jesus Christ.

Even though Jacob’s hip was out of joint, he wouldn’t let go of God, not until he blessed him. When God saw Jacob’s resolve, his faith, he blessed him, but not before giving him a new name: Israel, which means to wrestle or struggle with God.

As Jacob, or Israel, was always wrestling with someone, and was often wrestling with God, so his descendants, the nation of Israel would also often be wrestling with God and with each other.

But Jacob, for all his short-comings, and his trying to take things into his own hands, still believed in God’s blessing. Even though Jacob was often wrestling with God and with the people God had placed in his life, God was still was at work blessing Jacob.

After wrestling with God and having his hip dislocated, Jacob, couldn’t run away. So he had no choice but to meet Esau, who was bearing down on him. This time he couldn’t weasel his way out of it, like he had always done before.

To his surprise Esau was happy to see him, and he ran up to him and embraced him; all was forgiven.

God had a plan for Jacob, to not be able to run away, as he always did. And as it turned out, in having to stay and face his troubles, and depend on God to help him, instead of depending on his own conniving, Jacob was given a tremendous blessing, his brother’s forgiveness. They were reconciled and Jacob no longer had to worry about the day his brother would take his revenge. They were friends at last. 

Sometimes, like Jacob, we, too, can wrestle with the people in our lives; we can wrestle with our relationships and with God’s plan for our relationships: He wants our relationships to be built on His Word and grace; but we might try to have relationships that are merely or mostly secular.

God has something better to give us in our families and our friendships, if we hold on to Him, and His Word.

Sometimes we wrestle with the people God has placed in our life, and sometimes we wrestle with God in our life.

It might be temptation, or trouble, or grief, or disappointment, or a myriad of challenges that people have to go through in life. We can blame these things on God; or take them as proof against God.

If you let go of God in the midst of your struggles, and try to go it alone, you’re making it so much harder than it needs to be.

God has a plan for you, as he did for Jacob. So hold on to his blessing, and never let go; don’t try to face your challenges alone, without God’s blessing; hold on to God’s blessing in all circumstances.  

We’re going to look at three things that are important in holding onto God’s blessing.

1) Hold on to the cross of Christ…

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes…

All God’s blessings flow to us from the cross…

Without the main blessings, forgiveness and salvation, all other blessings are not what they could be.

Earthly blessings mean so much more to us, we’re so much more appreciative of them, in light of our heavenly blessings.

We shouldn’t be satisfied with just the temporary, earthly blessings in life… we should especially strive for the eternal blessings.

Hold on to something more, like Jacob did.

2) Hold on to the truth of God’s Word…

Continue in what you have learned… All Scripture is God-breathed (inspired)... 2 Tim. 3:14, 16

Paul told Timothy to continue in what he had learned and firmly believed, in the sacred writings, or Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ.

And the reason we can hold on to God’s Word and be sure that it’s true is because it’s God-breathed, inspired.

God put into the minds of the writers of the Bible the very words they wrote, so we can trust all of it.

This secular world can wrestle with your mind, and diminish your appreciation for the spiritual and eternal truth. But the Holy Spirit will enlighten your mind to appreciate the truth of the gospel.

God’s promises are true. The blessings of the cross, are taught to us in the inspired Word, so hold on to the truth of God’s Word.

3) Hold on to the blessing of prayer…

[Jesus said that we] Ought always to pray and not lose heart. Luke 18:1

Sometime we can wrestle with God in our prayers. Tragedy or disappointment can strike, and we pray for God to fix it, and if He doesn’t we can be disillusioned, and let go Him, and of the blessing of prayer.

Our Gospel today teaches us to never give up on prayer. Jesus uses the analogy of an unjust and heartless judge, who gave justice to a woman just because she continued to ask for it.

How much more will God, who is entirely just and completely caring, answer the prayers of his children - not always in the way we want them answered, but always answered. So never let go of prayer; it’s too great a blessing to let go of.

There’s a lot in this world that we have to wrestle with, a lot of trials and troubles that tempt us to let go of God and His Word.

God reaches down and takes hold of your hand, to hold you close to him and his love; he never wants to let go of you; he always wants to bless you.

So never let go of him! Hold on to Him and you will always have his blessing, including his peace, which passes understanding, and guards your heart and mind, though Jesus our Lord. Amen.