Steps to Christ TOUCHED BY GOD
I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. Gen. 32:30.
After Jacob's final effort to secure his own safety, he had gone alone to the brook Jabbok. He had done everything he could do to save himself. It hadn't worked. He probably didn't think praying would work, either, if all his strategy and planning hadn't, but he wasn't going to take any chances. Then God came near to answer Jacob's prayer. He placed a hand on his shoulder. The night was dark, and Jacob was afraid. When he felt the touch of God, he thought it was the hand of an enemy. And so he fought Him. It took him all night, until the dawning of the day, to discover that God had come near to impart rich blessing.
This was a parable of his entire lifetime. For twenty years, whenever God placed His hand on his shoulder, he fought Him. He thought it was an enemy. God wanted to be in charge of his life, and Jacob wouldn't let Him. He wanted to be in charge of himself. That's the crisis of surrender. And it took pain for the day to dawn. But when the day finally dawned, then Jacob, instead of fighting God, clung to Him.
Our greatest strength is realized when we feel and acknowledge our weakness. Christ connects fallen men and women, in their weakness and helplessness, with the source of infinite power. What was it that dawned on Jacob's mind that night? He had been doing that which God did not expect or ask him to do. For twenty years Jacob had been trying to live up to the promises he had made to God at Bethel. Then he discovered that what he needed was to accept the promises God had made to him. He discovered that the effort God promises is not the fight to change one's life, not the fight to do what God has promised to do for us, but only the fight to maintain connection with Heaven, with God. There is something for us to do to secure salvation. We must come to Jesus. "Him that cometh to me," says Jesus, "I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37).
It was by self-surrender and faith that Jacob gained the victory he had failed to gain in his own strength. It will be by surrender of self and by trust in God that we can gain the victory in our lives. When God places His hand on our shoulder, wouldn't it be wonderful to recognize Him as a friend rather than as an enemy?
I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. Gen. 32:30.
After Jacob's final effort to secure his own safety, he had gone alone to the brook Jabbok. He had done everything he could do to save himself. It hadn't worked. He probably didn't think praying would work, either, if all his strategy and planning hadn't, but he wasn't going to take any chances. Then God came near to answer Jacob's prayer. He placed a hand on his shoulder. The night was dark, and Jacob was afraid. When he felt the touch of God, he thought it was the hand of an enemy. And so he fought Him. It took him all night, until the dawning of the day, to discover that God had come near to impart rich blessing.
This was a parable of his entire lifetime. For twenty years, whenever God placed His hand on his shoulder, he fought Him. He thought it was an enemy. God wanted to be in charge of his life, and Jacob wouldn't let Him. He wanted to be in charge of himself. That's the crisis of surrender. And it took pain for the day to dawn. But when the day finally dawned, then Jacob, instead of fighting God, clung to Him.
Our greatest strength is realized when we feel and acknowledge our weakness. Christ connects fallen men and women, in their weakness and helplessness, with the source of infinite power. What was it that dawned on Jacob's mind that night? He had been doing that which God did not expect or ask him to do. For twenty years Jacob had been trying to live up to the promises he had made to God at Bethel. Then he discovered that what he needed was to accept the promises God had made to him. He discovered that the effort God promises is not the fight to change one's life, not the fight to do what God has promised to do for us, but only the fight to maintain connection with Heaven, with God. There is something for us to do to secure salvation. We must come to Jesus. "Him that cometh to me," says Jesus, "I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37).
It was by self-surrender and faith that Jacob gained the victory he had failed to gain in his own strength. It will be by surrender of self and by trust in God that we can gain the victory in our lives. When God places His hand on our shoulder, wouldn't it be wonderful to recognize Him as a friend rather than as an enemy?
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