JULY 5, 2024
READ: Genesis 32:22-32
MEMORY VERSE
“So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.” Genesis 32:24
BACKGROUND
A longtime friend sent me a note after my husband’s death: “[Alan] was . . . a grappler with God. He was a real Jacob and a strong reason why I am a Christian today.” I’d never thought to compare Alan’s struggles with the patriarch Jacob’s, but it fit.
Throughout his life, Alan struggled with himself and wrestled with God for answers. He loved God but couldn’t always grasp the truths that He loved him, forgave him, and heard his prayers. Yet his life had its blessings, and he positively influenced many.
Jacob’s life was characterized by struggle. He connived to get his brother Esau’s birthright. He fled home and struggled for years with his kinsman and father-in-law, Laban. Then he fled Laban. He was alone and afraid to meet Esau.
Yet he’d just had a heavenly encounter: “The angels of God met him” (Genesis 32:1), perhaps a reminder of his earlier dream from God (28:10-22).
Now Jacob had another encounter: all night he wrestled with a “man,” God in human form, who renamed him Israel, because he “struggled with God and with humans and [overcame]” (32:28). God was with and loved Jacob despite and through it all.
All of us have struggles. But we’re not alone; God is with us in each trial. Those who believe in Him are loved, forgiven, and promised eternal life (John 3:16). We can hold fast to Him.
By: Alyson Kieda
INSIGHT
Jacob’s wrestling match with a stranger, who turns out to be God in human form (Genesis 32:24-30), marks a turning point in his life and is the event that explains the origin of the name of the nation of Israel.
The name Israel can be translated “the one who strives with God” or “God strives.”
Israel is a combination of the Hebrew words sarah (“to rule,” “contend with,” or “strive”) and El, the Hebrew name for God. Jacob names the place of his life-changing encounter with God Peniel, which means “the face of God.”
By: Monica La Rose
APPLICATION
When have you wrestled with God? How is it comforting to know He’s with you in your struggles?
PR’s RE-EMPHASIS (From Post)
“All of us have struggles. But we’re not alone; God is with us in each trial.”
PR’s (PASTOR RICHARD) TAKE
“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” James 1:2-4 nlt
PRAYER
“Dear God, please help me to bring my questions and troubles to You knowing You hear them. One day my questions will be no more.”
TODAY’S HYMN/WORSHIP/PRAISE/GOSPEL SONG
“THROUGH IT ALL” Andrae Crouch
I’ve had many tears and sorrows
I’ve had questions for tomorrow
There’s been times I didn’t know right from wrong
But in every situation
God gave me blessed consolation
That my trials come to only make me strong
I’ve been to a lot of places
And I’ve seen millions of faces
But there were times that I felt so all alone
But in my lonely hours
Yes, those precious lonely hours
Jesus let me know that I was his own
That’s the reason I say that
Through it all
Through it all
I’ve learned to trust in Jesus
I’ve learned to trust in God
Let me tell you that
Through it all
Through it all
I’ve learned to depend upon his word
So I thank God for the mountains
And I thank him for the valleys
And I thank him for the storms
He brought me through
For if I’d never had a problem
I’d never know that God could solve them
I’d never know what faith in His word could do
That’s the reason I say that
Through it all
Through it all
I’ve learned to trust in Jesus
I’ve learned to trust in God
Let me tell you that
Through it all
Through it all
I’ve learned to depend upon his word
Oh, let me tell you that
Through it all
Sometimes in through fire
Through it all
My-my-my Lord
I’ve learned to trust in Jesus
I’ve learned to trust in God…
Through it all
Let me tell you that
Through it all
Oh, God Lord
I’ve learned to depend upon his word
I’ve learned to depend upon his word
I’ve learned to depend upon his word
READING THROUGH THE BIBLE THIS YEAR (DAILY)
PROVERBS 10
