Take a moment to center yourself as you listen to the words from "All Things Reconciled" by Tom Wuest on Spotify. The lyrics for the song are below as well:
This past weekend, we explored the story of the wrestling match between God and Jacob in Genesis 32:22 – 32. This story tells us much about Jacob, about the man he was, and about the man he becomes. We learned that Jacob’s new identity is not received without struggle. However, we also see that God did not punish Jacob’s deceiving and shady character, but instead, God challenges him and helps him see himself for who he has been up until this point in the story. As a result, Jacob can live into his promised destiny as Israel, which means “one who strives with God and humans.”
This is the truth of who Jacob is becoming, a new man, the father of a new nation. Traces of the old Jacob will remain, but he has matured from the person he once was. The once self-centered person will become the leader who, in his old age, leads his family down into Egypt and blesses Pharaoh himself (Genesis 47:7, 10). This is the good news of the story. God gives Jacob a new name, and a new identity, and he is changed forever!
Through the struggle, God was saying to Jacob, “This is your true identity. This is how I see you. This is who I created you to be.”
In the next chapter, the meeting between Jacob and Esau finally unfolds. Before Jacob wrestled with God, he feared the encounter with his brother. Now as Israel, he sees Esau coming with his four hundred men. He arranges his company, and then goes ahead of them to meet Esau. He has come into the light and leads from the front, instead of being overwhelmed by the shadows of his former self and cowering in the back. One wonders whether the long-dreaded encounter with his brother has lost some of its power over him, given the encounter he’s just experienced. Nevertheless, there must still be some fear in Jacob’s heart as Esau runs forward.
Instead of striking his brother, however, Esau grabs him in a bear hug, kisses him, and then weeps. It is a scene of reconciliation, a scene of gracious welcome, and overwhelming relief – a foreshadowing of the encounter between the father and the prodigal son we see in Luke 15:11-24. And somehow, this encounter, this reconciliation, is for Jacob something like the encounter he just had at the river’s edge with God. In an echo of his earlier statement, he says to Esau: “Seeing your face is like seeing the face of God” (33:10). Perhaps, God was softening Esau’s heart too over these many years. We knew Jacob first as the deceiver who took his brother’s blessing, and this scene illustrates a remarkable first step in the change of Jacob’s character.
When we learn through deep struggle that God sees ALL of us -- as we really are AND all we need to be, it is indeed a blessing. When we are honest with ourselves before God, we are always given a new identity. This new identity tells us that no matter what our past holds, God holds a new future for us. We are not defined forever by the choices, failures, and sins that previously led us further away from God.
So, how do we find out what our new name is? We rest in the loving arms of God as beloved children. Only then can we take the inward journey to face our inner shadows, secure with the knowledge that nothing we uncover can ever render us unlovable to God.
John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, reminds us of this core identity: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are” (1 John 3:1).
Help with Answering God’s Question
God’s question, “What is your name?” invites us to face up to ourselves. This is seldom easy. It usually takes a great deal of rigorous self-examination, courage, and honest reflection on the way we have been living. Telling the truth about ourselves to God can be one of the hardest things we ever do.
If it sounds too difficult, may I offer a simple word of encouragement. Becoming honest with ourselves before God opens our lives, like few other things can, to the incredible depth of God’s grace, acceptance, and power. Ultimately, our wrestling leads us to experience our being beloved by God in a deeper way.
Our truest name, our deepest identity, and our divine calling is as God’s beloved children! On our worst days, we may find ourselves struggling with negative images about ourselves. Perhaps we struggle with a low sense of self-worth and poor self-esteem. Or we may feel that we have sinned too greatly to be worthy of God’s love. Or perhaps considering some terrible and unfair tragedy, we believe God is against us. Yet the truth of the gospel is that each one of us is deeply loved, accepted, and forgiven by God in Jesus Christ. Indeed, we have been God’s beloved from the beginning of time.
Simple Steps to Take During Your Prayer Time:
- Ask God to reveal the Jacob who lives in you. In other words, ask God to shed light on those times when you deliberately deceive those around you; times when you pretend to be someone that you are not; times when you try to evade the hard issues, rather than face up to them; times when you try to manipulate others to do what you want them to do. Telling God your name involves sharing the truth about things like these and being prepared to wrestle with God until you receive God’s blessing.
- Remember also that God wants to bless you. Do not be shy about asking God for this blessing. Make Jacob’s prayer your own. “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” Try to be as open-ended as you can regarding the nature of God’s blessing. We usually don’t know what God’s blessing is going to look like. Even though God is dependable and trustworthy, there is always a surprising unpredictability in the ways God deals with us. So, be expectant that God is going to bless you so that you can become a blessing to those around you.
Above all, hear the whisper of the Spirit within you, telling you that you are God’s beloved. Claim your new name as the core truth of your existence. From your very beginnings you have been loved by God with the love of Jesus Christ which will never, ever let you go. Know this and live!
Reflection Prompts
- To be both blessed and transformed, Jacob had to be honest about who he was. What stops us from being honest with ourselves (and with God) about who we really are?
- What does it mean to you that your new name is “God’s beloved?” What passages of scripture most enable you to experience and remember your belovedness? For example, some of mine are Psalm 23; Psalm 139:13-14; Isaiah 43:2; Jeremiah 29:11 – 13, John 15:9; and Ephesians 2:10.
