“…and have prevailed…”
He was a scoundrel and a rascal. Depending who you asked, this guy was bad to the bone. He was a born heel snatcher. Probably no one liked him, although, if they were wise about it, they did their best to not show it to his face. They did their best to stay on his good side… or, at least, the side of him that could be construed as being almost a good side.
Then one day, the heel snatcher got ambushed. He fought his assailant all night long and the result of the fight was a limping old man walking away with a blessing he had wrestled out of his assailant.
Who just happened to be God.
Okay, so you have figured out the scoundrel was Jacob and you know the story I am telling is in the Bible. Somewhere in Genesis.
Good for you.
There is something wild going on when God tells a lying, cheating, deceptive, cowardly SCOUNDREL, “you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
Wonder what God sees (pretty much always) that we don’t?
Yesterday evening, while absorbing the news of the day, from around the world, I asked Papa, “What is your word for us at this time?”
In a few minutes, the words, “If my people, who are called by my name…” That is about as far as the quotation itself went. Of course, I know there is more to the verse than that.
Okay, Papa, explain yourself. What is that supposed to mean?
“Israel”. Think about the meaning of the name Israel.
“You have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
Okay…? What is that supposed to mean?
Gradually, the following began to rise up in my spirit. “What happens when we begin fighting “with” God? What happens when we begin fighting “with” men? (As opposed to “against” them)
What would happen if those who are actually EXPECTED to fight alongside God and man actually would do it?
What if we actually woke up to who the enemy isn’t? (God, men, the government, etc) and what if we started acknowledging who the real enemy IS? And What if we started acknowledging whose the battle really is, and joined HIM in HIS agenda?
One of these days, I hope to have experienced, or witnessed, the answer.
