Focus: Divine Injury (continued)

Text: Gen.32:25.

"He touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him."

Jacob's encounter with God left him limping. The limping lingered to his death. God injured him for life. He lost strength and speed. He walked with the support of a stick. Jacob's strength was indeed a weakness.

The author of Hebrews says, "By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, LEANING upon the top of his staff" - Heb.11:21.

Jacob leaned, blessed, worshipped, and passed on to glory.

Moses reports, "And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh" - Gen.32:31.

Divine encounter left him halting and limping. His life is altered. I pray: may the Sun of righteousness rise upon you in the journey of this life!

God wounded Jacob. He left a mark on him. Jacob never forgot it for the rest of his life. God schooled him on the weakness of strength and the strength of weakness.

The battle is not always to the strong, and by the arm of flesh shall no man prevail. God taught him reliance on him. Jacob lost his own strength and gained the strength of the Lord. Leaning on his staff, not on his strength, he blessed his children and declared their future.

Out of his encounter with God a law was enacted for Israel. Moses wrote, "Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank" - Gen.32:32.

I pray you experience the touch of God at a deeper level, and as a result, may you bear a divine mark that will always refresh your memory in your daily walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. Divine touch always leaves an indelible mark on us. We exchange our strength for God's. We learn to rest and rely on the Lord, not wrestling him. Amen.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter