Genesis 32:27-28 "And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. (28) And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed."
At this point, Jacob is about to confront Esau. He had no idea what was about
to happen, but he realized there was no way around it. He wrestled with God all
night. He had already strategically placed his livestock, his servants, and his
families in a particular order. His desire was to preserve his family and he
felt he had the best plan in order to accomplish that. But he had been brought
to the place where he knew his need for the Lord. We saw yesterday that his
prayer was, "Lord, you promised you would surely do me good." Now he
was at the place where he had extinguished all other plans and the Lord was all
he had left. This is not original with me, but it's true: "When you
come to the place where the Lord is all you have, then you have all you need."
There are times in the Bible when God asked questions. If you remember at the
beginning of this study of Genesis, God asked Adam, "Where art thou?"
Do you believe God was really needing to find out where Adam was located? No,
He already knew. The question was asked for Adam's benefit, not God's. God was
bringing Adam to the place of seeing where his disobedience had taken
him. Instead of looking forward to those daily walks with God, Adam had
then tried to hide himself from God. In today's verses, we see God asking a
question of Jacob. "What is thy name?" Did God not know who He
was talking to? Of course He did! This question was to bring Jacob to the
place of having to confront himself. He was having to admit to himself and to
God, when he answered, "Jacob," that his entire life had been based
upon his own misplaced ability to deceive people in order to obtain his own
desires.
When you and I are brought to the place where we see ourselves for what we
truly are, then we are ready to see God for who He truly is. He is our strength
and the light of our life. He is our everything! "Lord, my name is
Steve and that isn't enough. I need you."