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. Genesis 32:28

Some of you have been in a deep struggle. You haven’t understood that it’s been a wrestling with the Lord.

There’s a transition happening whereby He is moving you into a new place and space and along with it is a new name.

A good bit of who you were has been changing. New gifts have been revealed. The heart of the Lord has been leading you into new paths. You’ve noticed a new passion igniting for new directions. You are simply not who you once were. Grace is now gone for some old and familiar things but rising for others.

In God’s kindness He allows this struggle of identity. He makes it clear that the old you is dead and all that was with it. Any deception in our character, any deep seeded jealousy that causes faulty behaviors, and any desire to have what others are given by God will be, indeed, wrestled out of you at some point.

“You’ve struggled with God and with man.”

God has a way of bringing you to a place of honest reflection. It looks like the Angel of the Lord was pointing out Jacob’s shortcomings with man. He clearly saw it all. Something we tend to forget when we mishandle others.

But look at how God orchestrates a divine moment.

You see there came a time when God commanded Jacob to return to his family and country. He clearly knew the possibility of retaliation from past pains. In other words, he knew exactly who he was and what he had done to Esau in the past. Very often we are not oblivious to pain we’ve inflicted, we simply refuse to acknowledge it.

The old Jacob was a deceiver. A liar. A user. He was selfish and self absorbed. He didn’t really care who he hurt. From birth he had a character flaw. He wasn’t satisfied to be who he was and receive what was his. He wanted what others had and would do whatever necessary to get it.

Isn’t it just like God to bring you face to face with your own sin nature. He will show you how useless it was. How unnecessary. However, He will also have much needed mercy and allow a good wrestling season.

It had to be quite unexpected for Jacob to see Esau meet Him with love. God had given abundantly to him. Some of you are afraid to face your Esau because you know the depth of pain you caused. The consequences were far and wide yet nothing is impossible for the Lord. Jesus has prepared a mercy response for you in that heart but your wrestling will include your face to face.

Wrestling with God will likely bring you full circle with areas of pain but also areas where you caused pain. It will be at that point where you will get the new name.

Some choose to defy the Lord and let Him go instead of wrestling it fully out. Seeing it for what it really is. Owning our own baggage and sin. I fear many stop short of a new life and a new name merely due to pride.

Others, like Jacob, refused to let go and got the final victory.

Those who finish well will be noticeable. You’ll find them walking with a bit of a limp but within them is a knowledge of God that only comes through the wrestling out of a new name.

What’s beautiful is that the grace of God is always far greater than we can really ever imagine.