Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. (Gen. 32:24-25)
Jacob would not let go – he would not abandon himself, or lose himself to God by faith. He relied on his natural strength. So God broke his natural strength. For us, this means that God will NEVER allow our natural man to succeed in wrestling from out of Him what He has already freely given in Christ. He will NEVER give us anything on the basis of ourselves. Rather, God will allow this to prove to be futile. He will cripple our natural man – expose us as weak and empty. For it is only when we learn by experience that there is no hope in ourselves that we will REST in Christ and receive by faith what God has freely given to us in His Son.
God will allow whatever it takes to bring us to the end of our rope. And when we come to the end of our rope, God is not going to give us the strength to grip our rope tighter. No. He wants us to LET GO of our rope – to God. God wants to cripple our natural man to the point where we no longer try to walk with Him on that basis. And then if we are made weak, then Christ in us can BE our strength.
About The Author
