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.

God's Sustaining Hope

Hope seldom excludes fear, anxiety and worry. Yet hope gives assurance to press on even when it’s necessary to hold other emotions in check. When Jacob made peace with his father-in-law, he immediately had to prepare to meet his brother Esau. These meetings proved to be a turning point in his life.

The night before Jacob was to meet the brother, it wasn't just his brother he had the face; he had to face God and himself. To think of facing God is an awesome thought. Jacob had to do business with God, who held his destiny in his hands. Whatever Jacob had done could not be hidden from the Lord God.

Jacob was fearful and worried about meeting his brother, but his hope lay in the power of God to deliver him. Listen as he reminds God. "You, O God, promised, 'I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea.'" Hope in God's unfailing promises will sustain all who believe, even in life’s worst crises.