When Loss Becomes Gain
“When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him…But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” (Genesis 32:26)
Two things characterized young Jacob. The first, we know well – deception. What provoked this deception? Of all things was impatience and a desire to have things the quick and easy way. For what is deceit but a shortcut, a bypassing of lawful means? Over the last twenty years, God slowly wore down both the deception and the impatience through an uncle who was as slippery as a snake, but the task was not quite over. Jacob’s fear of Esau began to bring back those old schemes - divide the camp, send the gifts, and flee if the scheme fails. God would break Jacob, and it would be for Jacob’s good.
Notice that God takes away Jacob’s ability to run. No longer can Jacob scheme and plot, nor can he trust his quick thinking and fast feet. These were the tools by which Jacob attempted to escape Laban, and they were the very tools that sped him away from Esau initially. Jacob’s strength would be broken this day, and weakness would fill the void. Not a day would pass when Jacob did not limp, when his hip did not pulsate from pain. Many of us know this chronic pain, don’t we? It does more than change our pace; it changes our person. Like an old man whittling a big stick, each sensation of pain peels off another layer of our lives. How we think, how we respond, how we view the world becomes unmistakably different.
Don’t we see this in Jacob? Now that he cannot run, he cannot let go. He has no other option, no other hope outside of God. What he loses in physical power, he now gains in spiritual strength. Jacob can no longer take the easy way out; therefore, he gives himself to persevering prayer. He cast himself wholly upon the provision of God. Have you not experienced the same? How many times has God brought us to the end of ourselves that we may begin to find our rest in Him? He knocks away every earthly crutch – our strength, our wisdom, our resources, our contacts. He knocks it all away that we may lean wholly upon Him.
Reader, like Jacob, we have all lost something, and that loss has changed us forever. But hear me clearly – when God takes an earthly thing away from us, He extends His hand to put a heavenly thing in its place. Will we turn from Him, or will we come to Him? Will we throw up our hands, or will we persevere in prayer?
