I Surrender!

When Jacob lay down to sleep on the night before he was to meet his estranged brother, he had a visitor who engaged him in a wrestling match for an entire night. It's not uncommon to a have sleepless night because of anxiety or worry about the next day’s events. Jacob’s past had caught up with him, which put his future in jeopardy.

          In this wrestling match God made an all-out effort to penetrate the defenses Jacob erected. He wanted to do as he pleased and to use all his schemes and tools of deception in order to wring out of life everything it was ultimately worth. Yet God intended for Jacob to live by a different ethic, a code of conduct that reflected God's grace and deliverance.

          Surrendering to God's leadership isn't easy. We're afraid to let go and turn everything over to God. It may take a crisis where everything is in danger of being lost and we're powerless to stop it. It's at this juncture where we can exercise hope that the God of all hope will intervene on our behalf to save and change us.