Genesis 32:28
And He said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed."

When I was younger I wanted to be a professional golfer. I dedicated all of my time, my money and resources to the pursuit of this dream. Of course it never happened and for that and all that the Lord has done in my life instead…I am eternally grateful. One of the things that told everyone around me that golf was my passion was the way I dressed. I was telling my wife about the crazy multi colored golf pants I wore in high school and then college. White shoes with tassels, flowered pants, pink shirts, orange shirts, white belts and pants were a part of my every day attire. In my insecurities I wanted my identity as a golfer to be communicated through my dress. I think that many of us are that way. Searching for our identity…who it is that we think we are or want to be and then making a public statement about it. This account of Jacob wrestling with God is an amazing bit of Scripture. Many believe that it is Jesus himself whom Jacob was wrestling with. This incident is about Jacob’s identity, who he thought he was in contrast to who God knew he was. I find it interesting that the Lord changed Jacob’s name to who he knew he was…who He knew he would be…but not until they had wrestled…and prevailed. We cannot expect to become who God wants us to be…unless we are willing to confront our issues, wrestle with God…so to speak, and prevail in our circumstance. That is truly when we will become all that God wants us to be. We must never be so content and determined in our own search for who we want to be…that we miss out on the opportunity to be who the Lord created us to be. The wrestling process is good…as long as we let Him have the final say. If it’s white shoes and flowered pants…bring them on…but if not we can always count on the fact that it will be all the better.

Father…may our identity always be in who you created us to be rather than what we think we should be. Help us in that time of wrestling to quickly surrender to You…knowing that when we do we become the person you want us to be. In Jesus’ name we pray…Amen!

I pray that you will allow the Lord to prevail in your life this week. And that, as a result, at the end of each day you will have been conformed into the man or woman that He desires you to be. You can expect that you and others around you will clearly see the difference…and as a result He will have been glorified in you.