A God Willing to Wrestle; Genesis 32

If you have ever changed the clothing or diaper of a 6 month old child, you have
wrestled. They kick, turn over, grab the diaper, try to crawl away, and try squirm their way off the table and out of reach. You need 3 extra arms and hands to gently clean the child and get him out of the his own mess into clean dry clothing that will soon be a mess again. God is gentle, firm, loving, just, tough and kind all at the same time. His goal just like any good parent is to help us grow up. He knows when we are ready for the next steps in our training. He also knows when we just need to be wrestled with, cleaned up and sent on our way again, to repeat the process. We eventually get tired of sitting in messes and look to him to teach us what we need to know. Jacob is no different.
In this passage Jacob; learns to trust God as he wrestles with Him. As a reminder he receives a permanent limp and new name from God (Israel). His next task is to reconcile with his brother Esau. Which he does. Israel will now be the family name. The twelve tribes of Israel will be Jacobs children, also known as the Hebrews. They will continue to wrestle with God throughout their history.

Tidbits from Genesis 32

• Jacob sought reconciliation with his brother with careful planning, but should have sought God for help, instead of trusting himself.
• Jacob is 97 years old at the time of the wrestling with God in Peniel
• Peniel means "face of God"
• Jacob which meant "heal catcher of deceiver", has a new name Israel which means "God fighter or he struggles with God"

Dig Deeper

Read Genesis 32
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+32&version=NIV