Prayer: Father, unlike Jacob, I choose not to wrestle with You, but I do. Help me to be submissive to Your will. Amen.
Reading: Hosea 12 key: vs. 5 “Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won; he wept and sought his favor. At Bethel he will find us, and there He will speak with us.” TLV
Attention: I remember a time when my brother and I took my dad on together. I do not recall why we initiated a wrestling session with dad, but I do remember his saying, “you don’t have enough lead in your pants.” It was his way of saying we individually, were not big enough to take him on. Most boys like to try themselves out against their dads physically. We cornered him into the master bedroom, and somehow, he went flying over the bed putting a hole in the wall, which mom was none to happy about. The damage to the wall stopped the wrestling match instantly.
Adonai is recounting to Hosea, His wrestling match with Jacob. In the account recorded by Moses, we are told that Jacob wrestled with a “man (Genesis 32:25-26).” In the following verse, the word “He” is capitalized recognizing deity. Adonai tells Hosea, Jacob wrestled with an “angel” of God and in verse 4-5, we are told that he “strove with God.”
How many times have you wrestled with God over something you did not understand? I have. I remember years ago, wrestling over the declarations of Adonai of David being a “man after His own heart (1 Samuel 14; Acts 13:22).” Considering the sins David had committed, how could that be? Then I lived a few more years, sinned, repented, sought forgiveness, and found understanding.
The Genesis text says that Jacob won the wrestling match. Some translations say he prevailed. Winning may be based on perception for the text says he suffered a dislocated hip socket, and he limped the rest of his life. My wrestling matches have ended in submission. You will get to know Adonai in a deeper way by wrestling with Him.
Action: I choose to wrestle and submit to the supremacy and wisdom of Adonai.
Yield: I choose to submit to the Lordship of Messiah.
Engage: I choose to engage with God in wrestling over my limitations.
Relationship: I choose to live in intimate relationship with God.
Prayer: Father, the older I get, the more I know that I do not know. You are the supreme God, I am not. I want to be considered a man after Your heart. Amen.
Memory Verse: Acts 13:22 “After removing him, He raised up David to be their king. He also testified about him and said, ‘I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do My will.’ TLV
Music Video: Gary Chapman—Man After Your Own Heart https://youtu.be/7EaOvw72DDQ?si=IFWBwBkX-emfavdj
Remember, “Abide in Yeshua, today!”