BROKEN TO BE BLESSED

"Jacob then named the place Peniel, 'For I have seen God face to face,' [he said,] 'and I have been delivered.' The sun shone on him as he passed by Penuel--limping because of his hip." (Genesis 32:30, 31 HCSB)

Jacob was broken to be blessed; crippled to be crowned.

God is the Potter and we are the clay. He will shape us according to His design for us. When He puts us on the wheel, He begins to apply the pressure of circumstances--sometimes gently caressing the clay and often more firmly. The Potter may even have to break us and start over.

This lesson was learned in art class. I recall some measure of joy as I began to mold the wet clay, spinning on the wheel, the clay beginning to yield to my hands--a vessel taking shape. Then, to my dismay, it started to come apart! Some grit had gotten mixed in with the clay and to continue meant the impurity had to be removed, the clay broken down, and starting the process again.

That was what God had to do to Jacob. The man had such stubbornness in him; the schemer always had a plan percolating in his cranium. No matter whether it was God's will or even if it was God's will, but done in the wrong way--Jacob had an agenda and he was going to achieve it. He wanted God's blessing and like so many of us was able to rationalize that what Jacob desired was according to God's plan. This folly was not just a lapse, it was a lifestyle--stubborn grit embedded in the human clay. To be the vessel God would use to bless the world, the Potter would have to break him.

It happened one dark night. Jacob's mood was darker still. He sat alone, bowed under a burden of doubt, his mind muddled with fear. What to do? How could he find a way out of this corner he had painted himself into? Esau was on the road to meet him--the brother whom he had cheated--this sibling he had fled Canaan to escape from--with his violent, vengeful hands longing to be put around Jacob's throat. The reports were that a small army was with him. With Jacob, there were mostly women and a lot of children. The odds were stacked against him.

Those thoughts were suddenly interrupted when strong hands did grab him! Jacob reacted instinctively to the threat. He did what he always did--he fought back. Surely, it was Esau come to get even.

No--not Esau, neither one of Esau's men--it was God Himself--taking the form He sometimes did in the Old Testament era, as the Angel of the Lord. The wrestling bout was a microcosm of the patriarch's life--wrestling with the will of God, clay resisting the Potter's hand. It was time to break Jacob.

Why did God not quickly impose His will on the man? Surely, He had the power to overcome Jacob! Yet, God condescends to wrestle with Jacob. It had been that way for decades, but now it was coming to the final round. God wants to do more than overpower Jacob and have him cry, "Uncle! Uncle!" God wants his heart, his love, his worship and for him instead to cry, "Father|"

The decisive moment comes as God puts Jacob's hip out of joint. The wrestling match essentially over--the grappler became a clinger, the fighter became a beggar. Jacob is a defeated, desperate man--right where God wanted him!

"What's your name?" That was the Lord's question. He wasn't seeking information; God was soliciting confession. So the answer comes: I am a cheat, a scoundrel, the twister, supplanter, heel-grabber--Jacob. That was his name--that was his nature. But, that night everything changed! God changed his name to Israel--the Prince of power with God--and, more importantly, that signified his change of nature. God still had some shaping to do--more pressure to apply--but, now He has good clay.

A new day dawns! Jacob--Israel--walks on the rest of life's journey with a limp. Every step was a painful reminder of the transformation in his life. Each step was to be a step of faith and not self-reliance. He was broken to be blessed; crippled to be crowned.

That painful circumstance in your life, the frustrated plans, the family strife, the financial struggle, the physical sickness--it could be a host of things--pressures you have prayed and asked God to remove. The prayer is unanswered and the blessing has been withdrawn. Maybe. It might be that your prayer is being answered in a better way and the blessing you desire is coming disguised as a burden. The darkest night in your life may yield to the dawn of your brightest day! It did for Jacob.