Genesis 32:24-32 
This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!” 

But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 

“What is your name?” the man asked. 

He replied, “Jacob.” 

“Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.” 

“Please tell me your name,” Jacob said. 

“Why do you want to know my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there. 

Jacob named the place Peniel (which means “face of God”), for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.” The sun was rising as Jacob left Peniel, and he was limping because of the injury to his hip. (Even today the people of Israel don’t eat the tendon near the hip socket because of what happened that night when the man strained the tendon of Jacob’s hip.) (NLT)

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In Jacob’s first recorded prayer (verses 9-12 in this chapter), he reminds God of his promises (verse 9), he confesses his unworthiness of the blessings of God’s nature and character (verse 10), and he acknowledges that everything he has came from the hand of God. 

He finished his prayer sounding a lot like you and me. If we could summarize verses 11 and 12 in one word, it would be “Help!”

After his prayer, he developed a plan to tilt the odds in his favor. As a man who had been abundantly blessed, he made a plan to return the blessing he had stolen from his brother. (See verses 13-23.)

Then God answered his prayer. Jacob had wrestled with his brother and his father-in-law intellectually, relationally, and emotionally. Now he wrestled physically with with a mysterious man of infinite patience and supernatural power. This is no metaphor, no symbolism, no clever allusion. This was a real-deal, down and dirty, grab and grasp, wrench and clutch, hand-to-hand fight. 

God was so kind that he called Jacob the winner. He also gave Jake a reminder of who really had the upper hand (verse 25). 

Part of God’s answer to Jacob’s prayer was a new name. Another part was a new pace and a lingering limp. Jake’s runaway days were over. He would have to stand his ground and fight right from then on. 

Jacob trembled at the thought of meeting his big brother and put as many obstacles between Esau and his army as he could. Israel “went on ahead,” (33:3). 

Character and calling are fully displayed in how we handle life’s biggest obstacles. When Jacob could no longer run, he knelt and bowed seven times. He agreed with God. His running days were over. So were his wrestling days. God’s Greater Yes to Jacob’s prayer included Esau running to meet him, grabbing him, throwing his arms around his neck—just as Jacob feared—and kissing him—just as Jacob never expected—and they both wept. 

God answers our prayers better than we pray them. Sometimes, he changes the circumstances. Sometimes, he changes us. Sometimes, he changes both. Since God loves everyone, and so should we, we should learn the lesson of praying for Both. 

• What are you wrestling with today?
• Who are you wrestling with?
• What is God’s best for all concerned?
• Do you trust God to be better to you than you would be to yourself? 

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I will stop running and get comfortable bowing while trusting God to be better to all concerned than I would be if I were in charge.

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Our Father, your purpose is sure, your timing is perfect, your goodness is better than we expect, and your kindness blesses everyone. Here I lay before you all of my problems, all of my struggles, and I entrust them to your care and supervision. I trust you. Amen.